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The technology issue

Does location top innovationin the tech industry?

PR advice forstart-ups

The next bigtech townsWhy headlines regardingclimate science are wrong

Blogs: your key tobusiness-to-business success

Novmagazine:Layout 1 10/31/12 6:06 PM Page 1



January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s GuideFebruary: Environmental & P.A.

March: Food & BeverageApril: Broadcast & Social Media

May: PR Firm RankingsJune: Global & Multicultural

July: Travel & TourismAugust: Financial/I.R.

September: Beauty & FashionOctober: Healthcare & Medical

November: High-TechDecember: Entertainment & Sports

EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL CCAALLEENNDDAARR 22001122

Vol. 26, No. 11November 2012

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24 PPRROOFFIILLEESS OOFF HHIIGGHH--TTEECCHH &&TTEECCHHNNOOLLOOGGYY PPRR FFIIRRMMSS

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O’Dwyer’s is published monthly for $60.00 a year ($7.00 for a single issue) by the J.R. O’Dwyer Co., Inc., 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. (212) 679-2471; fax: (212) 683-2750. Periodical postage paid at New York, N.Y., and additional mail-ing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to O’Dwyer’s, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. O’Dwyer’s PR Report ISSN: 1931-8316. Published monthly.

Atomic.............................................11Catapult..........................................20Finn Partners....INSIDE BACK COVERKaplow..............................................5

KEF Media........................................3Live Star.........................................17Log-On...........................................23Matter Communications.................21

NAPS...........INSIDE FRONT COVEROgilvy..........................BACK COVEROmega World Travel.......................27Open Channels Group......................7

Premiere TV....................................13Ruder Finn......................................19Trevelino/Keller...............................15TV Access......................................38

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PPRROOFFEESSSSIIOONNAALL DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTTFraser Seitel

FFIINNAANNCCIIAALL MMAANNAAGGEEMMEENNTTRichard Goldstein

PPEEOOPPLLEE IINN PPRR

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EEDDIITTOORRIIAALLThe 2012 election showed the extentof corporate influence in politics.

6PPRR,, MMAARRKKEETTIINNGG SSEEEE QQ33SSLLOOWWDDOOWWNNGlobal marketing and PR conglomer-ates, as well as services companies, sawrevenues slump, amid a few surprise gains.

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EEDDEELLMMAANN CCEELLEEBBRRAATTEESS6600TTHH AANNNNIIVVEERRSSAARRYYRichard Edelman paid tribute to thecompany started by his father at a party cel-ebrating the firm’s 60th anniversary.

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SSCCIIEENNCCEE SSLLAAMMSS MMEEDDIIAA’’SSTTAAKKEE OONN CCLLIIMMAATTEE CCHHAANNGGEE Members of the science commu-nity are fighting back in response tomedia’s mistreatment of climate change.

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WWHHAATT’’SS TTHHEE NNEEXXTT BBIIGGTTOOWWNN FFOORR TTEECCHH??A few regions are emerging topotentially compete with Silicon Valley asthe tech mecca of tomorrow.

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DDOOEESS LLOOCCAATTIIOONN TTRRUUMMPPIINNNNOOVVAATTIIOONN IINN TTEECCHH?? The coastal hubs for technologyhave created a misconception that innova-tion is limited to these regions.

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PPRR HHEELLPPSS PPHHAARRMMAA’’SSCCHHAANNGGIINNGG LLAANNDDSSCCAAPPEE PR pros should recognize oppor-tunities to aid consumers amid changingfederal regulations in healthcare.

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AA SSTTAARRTTUUPP’’SS GGUUIIDDEE TTOO PPRR SSUUCCCCEESSSSMany great startups have failedbecause marketing efforts didn’t alignwith ideas invested in development.

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18 BB22BB SSOOCCIIAALL MMEEDDIIAA:: IITT SSTTAARRTTSSWWIITTHH TTHHEE BBLLOOGGSocial media in the business-to-businessspace is an opportunity for reaching cus-tomers and establishing influence.

20 NNEEWWSSWWEEEEKK’’SS PPRRIINNTT DDEEMMIISSEE IISSPPUUBBLLIICCAATTIIOONN’’SS OOWWNN FFAAUULLTTNewsweek is the victim of poor man-agement, weak content and changingconsumer reading habits.

21 MMOONNSSTTEERR MMOOUUNNTTSS CCRRIISSIISSDDEEFFEENNSSEEMonster is relying on PR support afteran FDA probe into deaths and illnessespossibly linked to the energy drink.

NNEEWW SSEERRVVIICCEE OOFFFFEERRSSSSEELLFF--PPUUBBLLIISSHH PPLLAATTFFOORRMMA father and son team haveformed a self-publishing platform wherePR firms can write their own news items.

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22 WWHHEENN TTEECCHH MMEEEETTSS TTHHEE TTIIMMEE--LLEESSSS CCRRAAFFTT OOFF RREEPPUUTTAATTIIOONNAs demand elevates the roles of techcompanies in the public eye, reputationmanagement becomes paramount.


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EDITORIAL

The 2012 presidential election drew more political and financial influence from U.S. cor-porations than any other in history. It soon became clear that it wasn’t the political can-didates, their advisory teams, the media or the public who steered the course of 2012’s

political discourse, but a handful of powerful political action committees and their armory ofcorporate sponsors. A barrage of divisive campaign ads sent a clear message, albeit one thatwasn’t intended: corporate interest has become the most resounding voice in U.S. politics.We’ve been conditioned to vote not for the candidate who shares our beliefs, but to supportthe candidate who promises to acquiesce to the private sector. In this sense, corporate andpolitical objectives have become virtually inseparable. A vote for one is simply a vote for theother by proxy. It’s not like we didn’t warn you. The deluge of commercial speech in the 2012 election was

a direct result of the Supreme Court’s historic 2010 Citizens United decision, which removedspending limits by independent campaign supporters, essentially allowing corporations toengage in limitless political fundraising efforts as long as they didn’t work directly with thosecandidates. Total outside spending during the 2012 election reached an astounding $1.1 bil-lion, according to a report by OpenSecrets. Super PAC spending alone was $465 million,according to an October report by the Wall Street Journal. Compare these figures to the 2010Midterms — the first election to occur after Citizens United, where spending by interestgroups accounted for only about $300 million, already more than four times 2006 Midtermelection spending — and it’s clear Citizens United was a watershed for what’s now becomethe election standard. Nearly half the money raised in the 2010 election was done so by only10 groups. In 2012, the largest five Super PACs raised as much. The largest — Restore OurFuture ($118 million), Priorities USA Action ($54 million) and American Crossroads ($41million) — each reported campaign contributions and spending that would have dwarfed totalcampaigns in elections only a decade prior. Corporations are incapable of participating in nuanced, balanced conversations. In fact, cor-

porations only “talk” when it serves their bottom lines. With corporate speech now unchainedin the political arena, the barons of U.S. enterprise have denigrated our political discourse withmeaningless in-house patter that selectively appeals to faith, values and reason only when itserves their interests. The language of even the most vicious attack ads are simply profitmotives couched in partisan politics or vague appeals to no-duh morality. Interest groups scarethe public on the future of their jobs or the state of the country, hoping that by repeating thesefears enough the dumbest will seek guidance from the messengers. They achieve consensusthe same way they get anything else: by paying for it. Meanwhile, the actual messages underthese tactics are clear: charity is anathema, taxes on the wealthy are an attack on free enter-prise, and trickle-down economics works, despite decades of evidence that says otherwise. In the best cases, their messages have resulted in comedy gold. Campaign for American

Values PAC produced a hilarious piece of fear-mongering schlock in an ad that claimed“Obama is trying to force gay marriage on this country.” American Crossroads PAC ran an adthat claimed Obama’s “celebrity” persona had left a nation damaged by slacker aplomb.Things were just as ridiculous on the other side. Priorities USA Action, the largest of the pro-Obama Super PACs, famously ran an ad that said Romney was indirectly responsible for awoman’s death from cancer after her husband was laid off at a steel plant. Obama Super PACAmerican Bridge 21st Century flooded the airwaves with a series of stupid Big Bird ads, mak-ing Obama’s political directives seem frivolous simply by dint of association.In the worse case, commercial language bypasses disseminating false information and

attempts to threaten voters outright. David Siegel, billionaire CEO and Founder of WestgateResorts, warned employees of mass layoffs if Obama was reelected. Mike White, CEO ofindustrial manufacturer Rite-Hite, threatened employees with “personal consequences” ifObama remained President. Jack DeWitt, CEO of Request Foods, wrote a missive in his com-pany’s newsletter in which he urged his workers to vote for Romney. Arthur Allen of ASGSoftware Solutions suggested employees might lose their jobs if Obama was reelected. Like it or not, this is the future of U.S. politics. The elections of tomorrow won’t be battle-

grounds of ideas as much as milestones in corporate control, where vague promises of newideas are parlayed through the company puppets who exemplify these sponsors on a politicalstage. Maybe in fifty years or so we’ll be honest enough to bypass political officials altogeth-er and vote for the real candidates: McDonald’s versus Whole Foods, Coke versus Starbucks,News Corp. versus NBCUniversal. Pundits will then wax on the brave communications strate-gies executed in these campaigns, what thinly veiled commercial talking points were especial-ly effective at duping the masses, who was buttressed by the most funds, or which campaignhad the best celebrity endorsements. If you think the 2012 election was ugly, just wait. �

— Jon Gingerich

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Elections, democracy: meet your corporate sponsors

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SPECIAL REPORT

Paris-based Publicis’ organic growthslipped in the third quarter to 2% asbudget cuts triggered by sluggish

economies in Europe stalled strong summerrevenues.North America, Publicis’ largest market,

ticked up 3.2% over Q3 2011 to 805 millioneuro ($1 billion), below expectations, whileoverall the advertising, PR and marketingconglomerate saw revenue of 1.6 billion($2.1 billion) euro.Organic growth of 2% was below earlier

expectations.Chairman and CEO Maurice Levy called

it a “summer of contrasts” where July andAugust trended upward until a suddendownturn in September — “as sharp as itwas unexpected” — centered on Europe.“September bore the full brunt of budget

cuts triggered by the marked downturn ineconomies: instead of the 6.6% growthforecast for September, the month endedwith negative growth of -1.6%, mainly as aresult of Europe.Levy said North America remains

“resilient” and believes the factors that hurtrevenue in Q3 — loss of GM’s media andsearch account, as well as cuts to healthcareand retail budgets — are “more non-recur-rent than structural.”The first slide of Levy’s investor presen-

tation for the Q3 results included a collageof headlines about economic troubles inEurope, U.S. and China.Big wins for MSLGroup included Wal-

Mart (Hong Kong) and Taitra (Taiwan).PR perks up IPGDespite a strong PR performance,

Interpublic in October reported a 3.2% slidein Q3 revenues to $1.7 billion and a 24.1%drop in operating income to $131.4 million.CEO Michael Roth said the “year has

proven to be more challenging on the rev-enue front than anticipated.” A key hurdlewas “incremental client caution being feltacross our industry,” according to Roth.U.S. revenues fell 5.5% to $940.5 million,while international was flat at $729.9 mil-lion.Roth added “we continue to manage the

business effectively and will deliver

increased full-year profitability relative to2011.”Interpublic’s PR units turned in a “terrif-

ic” performance and see more opportunitiesahead (e.g., content-creation, social media),Harris Diamond, Chief of the constituencymanagement group, told O’Dwyer’s.He said PR combined for a 5.9% “organ-

ic” growth rate during the 3Q period, whichcompares to an overall 0.9% decline at thecorporate level. Weber Shandwick, GolinHarris, DeVries

PR, Rogers & Cowan and PMK*BNCspearhead IPG’s PR unit. For the nine-month period, IPG showed a

one-percent decline in revenues to $4.9 bil-lion and an 11.1% dip in operating incometo $268.4.WPP: Q3 revenues slow, cuts outlookWPP reported third quarter revenue rose

1.6% to £2.5 billion amid a slowdown inNorth America and Continental Europewhich hit advertising, media, PR and publicaffairs.In dollars, revenues were nearly flat at

just under $4 billion.“Functionally, both consumer insight and

public relations and public affairs experi-enced slower growth than in the first half,again particularly in September,” WPPChief Martin Sorrell said in a statement,which noted a “difficult” quarter in the sec-tor.PR and public affairs ticked up 2.3% to

£227 million, but fell by 1.7% over Q3 of2011 on a like-for-like basis (excludingacquisitions and currency fluctuations).North America was down in Q3 across allof the PR group’s brands, which includeOgilvy PR, Burson-Marsteller andHill+Knowlton Strategies, offset by growthin the U.K., Latin America and Africa.Through the first three quarters, PR and

public affairs revenues were flat (+0.1%)on a like-for-like basis at £686 million. WPP sees revenue growth slowing for

Q4 in North America, Europe and LatinAmerica, particularly in PR, PA, brand-ing/identity, healthcare and other specialtycommunications.For North America, revenues on a like-

for-like basis were down 0.4% at £885.

WPP cut its like-for-like revenue outlookfor the year from 3.5% forecast in August tothe range of 2.5% to 3.0%.PR software providers see Q3 gains

amid weaknessPR and marketing software providers

Vocus and Cision saw third quarter gainswhile noting weakness and slower growthin North America and PR.Maryland-based software giant Vocus

reported third quarter revenues rose 57% to$45.2 million as the PR and marketing soft-ware provider chalked up a net loss of $3.8million for the quarter. Vocus, which doesnot break out acquisition-related gains, paid$169 million in Q2 for email marketingcompany iContact.CEO Rick Rudman said Vocus’ market-

ing suite and iContact acquisition showedmomentum for the quarter, but its largemarket PR customers and France operationcame in below expectations. “We saw someoverall weakness in bookings in theseareas, and we made some operationalimprovements that we believe will lead toimproving performance going forward,” hesaid. Vocus said it added 1,015 net new annu-

al subscription customers during Q3, aswell as an additional 63 sales reps for a totalof 474. It ended the quarter with 15,131annual subscription customers.Looking ahead, Rudman said Vocus will

focus on marketing automation, socialCRM (customer interactions, contacts), andmobile marketing in 2013.Cision, which is reworking its U.S. oper-

ations after the third quarter sale of its printmonitoring business to BurrellesLuce for$2 million, said Q3 organic growth rosetwo percent to SEK 240 million as NorthAmerica growth slowed over the first quar-ters. CEO Hans Gieskes said the company is

“significantly transforming” its U.S. busi-ness, centered on the CisionPoint PR soft-ware service, this year after overhauls inEurope over the past two years. Net profit for the quarter rose 9.5% to 23

million SEK.North American revenue rose organically

by 4% but the company warned its “healthyrate” of growth will be more difficult torepeat amid the divestment of its print mon-itoring unit, which came weeks after a mul-timillion-dollar settlement with Dow Jonesafter a copyright infringement claim. Thesale, to be completed in Q4, will shed 150staffers at Cision. Through the first three quarters, Cision

revenue is up five percent to 745 millionSEK compared with 2011.Cision has nearly 13,000 customers. �

Global marketing and PR conglomerates, as well as servicescompanies, saw revenues slump, in some cases markedly, dur-ing the latter part of the third quarter after solid gains throughthe summer. But Interpublic offered a glimmer of positive newsas its robust PR operation propped up flagging revenues else-where in its marketing orbit.

PR, marketing see Q3 slowdown

By Greg Hazley and Kevin McCauley


NOVEMBER 2012 � WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 9

Speaking before a packed audienceat the stately University Club ofChicago, Edelman called himself

a proud Chicagoan who committed “anact of treason” when he moved to NewYork to head up the Big Apple office. Areason for the shift: “People in Chicagokeep calling me Dan,” he joked. Chicago, according to Edelman, brims

with creativity andrecognition of theimportance of clientservice that make it“one of the best cities inthe world for a commu-nications firm.”Ever the shrewd busi-

nessman, Dan saw anopportunity to workwith many of Chicago’sad agencies to extendthe reach and cred-itability of their adver-tising, said Edelman. That led to the firm’s

collaboration with LeoBurnett to promote thepresidential candidacy of Morris theCat, spokescat for 9-Lives. Said Edelman: “Believe it or not,

Morris had more base name recognitionthan candidate Michael Dukakis.”Creator of media tourNative New Yorker Dan moved to

Chicago in 1948 as PR director of theToni Co., maker of the do-it-yourselfpermanent.It was there that he created the “first-

ever product media tour to capture theattention of news editors and consumersacross the countrythrough a 70-citytour featuring sixsets of real-lifetwins,” his son said.As the twins trav-

eled throughout theU.S, politicos wouldline up to get theirnames in the papersby kissing the Tonitwins. “Dan evenmanaged to get

vying vice-presidential candidates —Alvin Barkley and Earl Warren — tokiss the twins,” said Richard.He told how a visit to Tulsa resulted in

the arrest of the twins due to a localordinance banning the practice of cos-metology without a license. When contacted by the Tulsa police,

Edelman joyfully jumped at the PR giftand called the Associated Press. The

resulting stories aboutthe arrest received hugeplay coast-to-coast.Richard said the Toni

campaign was the firsttime that PR, whichwas mostly dealingwith corporate reputa-tions, was so closelyaligned with a product.He said the firm fol-

lows Dan’s operatingprinciples of hire thebest talent, work hardto retain staffers byoffering entrepreneurialopportunities, invest inintellectual capital,

expand in new markets through re-investing earnings and avoid debt. Richard said “as long as you’re inde-

pendent and family-owned, you’ll serveno one’s interests before those of yourclients’.The 92-year-old Dan Edelman could

not attend the anniversary party. He’sbeen hospitalized since early August. Into the futureEdelman spoke about the changing

communications scene that presentsgreat opportunities for firms that can

help clients evolvefrom “rules-basedleadership to princi-ples-based leader-ship.”For instance,

Edelman said that“instead of waitingfor government torespond and regu-late, business mustaddress the issuesand challenges of

our time. It should move from licenseto operate, to license to lead, setting theagenda on issues like fracking, estab-lishing the context and then provingperformance through transparency.”PR, at its best, can help move busi-

ness and society forward in a complexworld. “Let’s compete not just withother PR firms but with ad agencies anddigital firms for budgets and for ideasthat are catalysts for change,” urgedRichard.There’s a need for PR to lead under

the public engagement framework.“Fittingly, it’s the leadership Danalways believed that PR should have.He believed it sat above advertising inthe communications hierarchy,” saidRichard.Personal thank-you’sRichard thanked the many clients in

the audience and members of his fami-ly. He praised mother, Ruth, “who inevery sense of the word has been mydad’s business partner in buildingEdelman from the beginning. No onebelieved more or gave more than shehas.”Ruth received a rousing standing ova-

tion.He commended brother, John, for

“starting our human resources functiona decade ago, then helping us continueour involvement in the community,”and sister, Renee, for “championing thetechnology sector at Edelman, now oursecond-largest line of business.” He concluded: “To Dan, it is a rare

gift to find work that sustains you, andkeeps you curious for a lifetime. But itis rarer yet to share that gift for 34 yearswith your father.” Richard expressed gratitude to the

audience and “to the city of Chicago forall that you have given us.” �

Richard Edelman speaks inChicago.

Photos: Kevin McCauley

Richard Edelman praised sister Renee forthe firm's growth in technology.

GolinHarris co-founder Al Golin with RuthEdelman.

Edelman CEO Richard Edelman paid tribute to his father andfirm founder Dan, as well as Chicago, hometown of the No. 1independent, during an October talk to celebrate the 60thanniversary of the firm. By Kevin McCauley

Edelman celebrates 60th anniversary



REPORT

The Union of Concerned Scientists, ascience-based nonprofit organiza-tion headquartered in Cambridge,

Massachusetts, released a report inSeptember titled “Is News Corp. FailingScience?” UCS examined two popularnews outlets owned by News Corporation— Fox News Channel and the opinionpages of the Wall Street Journal —recording and analyzing every mention ofthe term “climate change” over a six-month period. The group’s findings con-cluded what many have suspected for along time: that both outlets “heavily mis-interpret” facts surrounding climate sci-ence more often than they make state-ments grounded in scientific fact. In all occurrences in which climate

change was mentioned on Fox News dur-ing this period, 93% were misleading, orabout 37 out of every 40 references,according to the report. Regarding theWall Street Journal’s opinion section,81% of occurrences mentioning climatechange were misleading, or about 39 outof every 48 references. The study found that not only is it stan-

dard fare for News Corp.’s media proper-ties to make misrepresenting or inaccurateclaims regarding climate science, in manycases these outlets made claims designedto denigrate climate science or profession-als who believe in global warming(according to the report: “The most com-mon form of criticism regarding climatescience on Fox News Channel was tobroadly dismiss the scientific conclusionthat climate change is occurring orhuman-induced.”). The study also foundFox News and the opinion pages of theWall Street Journal often frame the notionof climate science in terms of mere opin-ion or ideology, choosing to ignore anoverwhelming corpus of evidence in sci-entific research that goes back decades.The study concludes that while it remainsto be seen if some in-house policy isresponsible for shaping opinion on cli-mate science at these news organizations,the repeatedly incorrect informationoffered by these outlets could potentiallymisled a broad swath of the public on thisissue.Not surprisingly, the UCS study is seen

as a disturbing trend by members of the

scientific community.“It’s like they’re talking

and writing about a paralleluniverse,” said UCS cli-mate scientist BrendaEkwurzel. “Their viewersand readers simply aren’tgetting an accurate story onclimate science.”On September 21, the

UCS held a press confer-ence and media panel at theNew York Public Library’sScience, Industry andBusiness Library to discussthe report’s findings.Joining them were JamesMcCarthy, UCS BoardPresident and a Professor ofBiological Oceanographyat Harvard University, as well as TimeSenior Writer Bryan Walsh.Speaking to a room of scientists,

reporters and curious members of the pub-lic, McCarthy said there is far more con-sensus regarding climate change in thescientific community that the publicmight be led to believe. “If you look at any society that climate

scientists belong to, you’ll find our state-ments on this issue are consistent. That’swhy there’s a confidence on our end of theconversation. What we know about cli-mate change is a lot clearer than it appearsto be,” he said. However, McCarthy believes one of the

main problems in the debate surroundingclimate change is that the science commu-nity isn’t particularly adept at sharing itsfindings with the public. Moreover,McCarthy noted there’s a discord betweenwhat the press wants in a story and thehighly nuanced nature of science. Climatechange is a complex issue, but because it’salso a divisive issue, the onus is on thescientific community to speak out.“A lot of scientists won’t pick up the

phone if there’s a reporter on the otherend. There are a lot of uncertainties in sci-ence, and reporters don’t like uncertain-ties. Reporters want a quick quote, and asa result these issues are often put in starkarrangement,” he said. “But most of thepublic doesn’t get to have conversationswith scientists. The people they do speakwith are people close to them, who often

aren’t terribly informed. As people, we’rejust not very good at dealing with long-term issues. It’s not just climate change.Look at the financial crisis. It’s hard for usto focus and respond to the long term.” “Those who are the most skeptical tend

to be the loudest,” said Walsh. “One of thethings that complicates climate change isthat it’s a chronic tradition. It’s long termand that’s hard to visualize. We still haveto serve the public function by reportingwhile being sensational.”McCarthy believes there are ways to

change the conversation, and it involvesdiscussing the benefits of climate changeawareness: benefits to health, nationalsecurity, appeal to religious convictions orhow lives could be saved by awareness ofthe harmful effects of pollution. Walshbelieves both parties might find a broaderbase of agreement by aiming at businessobjectives, such as ideas of clean energy. After the panel, UCS members and

attendees convened in Bryant Park to par-ticipate in a “Stand Up for Science” rally.UCS staff handed out postcards addressedto News Corp.’s New York headquarters,with the words “not science” emblazonedacross Fox News and Wall Street Journallogos. On the other side of the cards, thepublic could pen personal letters to thecompany, asking them to improve theirstandards for science coverage. The panel was moderated by Angela

Anderson, Director of UCS’ Climate andEnergy Program. �

Scientists slam media’s treatment of climate changeA study by a leading science industry group has found an alarming disconnect between the U.S.media’s treatment of climate change and scientific consensus. Now members of the sciencecommunity are banding together to set the record straight.

By Jon Gingerich

Dr. James McCarthy, a Harvard University Professor andChair of the Union of Concerned Scientists, stamps thephrase “Not Science” on a copy of a recent misleading WallStreet Journal editorial regarding global warming.

Photo by Desdemona Burgin.




FEATURE

When I began my career in1981 at Atari, tech marketingwas a nascent field. We tried

our best to apply tried-and-true market-ing principles to a new game. One ofAtari’s last acts was to hire consumerpackaged goods marketing experts,believing that the principles that guidedmarketing for those products would holdfor tech. Nothing could have been further from

the truth. It failed miserably. We knowbetter now, and over time some keytruths have emerged that all savvy start-ups can learn from. We’ll start byreviewing a few important things youshould consider as you search for youragency partner.

Tech PR is its own beast. There arecomplicated nuances, a myriad of bestpractices, landmines, important skillsand strategic judgments that areacquired over a long period of time. HirePR agency senior advisors that not onlyhave at least twenty years of tech PRexperience, but also have their fingerson the pulse of today’s constantly evolv-ing PR ecosystem.

Make sure the leaders of the firmare working on your business everyday. I can’t tell you how many horrorstories my partner, Dave Fonkalsrud and

I have heard from Marketing VPs orCEOs about hiring an agency. After thebig guns have come in to pitch the busi-ness — enthusiastically promising theirday to day involvement — these startupsfind themselves with a well-meaningjunior person with a couple of years ofexperience running their PR efforts.When you get references, ask theagency’s clients, “Who works on yourbusiness every day?”

Look at a person or agency’s trackrecord. There should be frequent exam-ples of companies in similar situationsto yours that have been taken to marketleadership.Once you find the best partner, it’s

important to remain diligent in yourefforts to secure the greatest value fromeach PR dollar spent.

Make sure your PR team has accessto your marketing and business plansas well as important primary and sec-ondary research. The belief that a PRagency doesn’t require the same busi-ness and market data that you need tomake effective decisions is antiquatedand will ultimately hamper the efficacyof your PR efforts. Over share ratherthan under share. If available, K/Frequired reading includes businessplans, investor, partner and customerpresentations, marketing plans, targetand customer demographic and psycho-graphic profiles, focus group or otherprimary research, competitive analyses,outside market research reports, MRDs,etc.

Ask your agency to recommend PRobjectives that will help the companyachieve articulated business and mar-keting goals. Discuss customized meth-ods to measure the efficacy of PR pro-grams. Be prepared to help your agencymeasure success. For example, if a criti-cal objective is to help to drive sales —which it should be — establish toolswith which you can determine if incom-ing leads are due to specific PR efforts.Or if an objective is to drive a certainnumber of people to the website, be pre-pared to provide a breakdown of visitor

traffic and visitor characteristics aroundsignificant PR events.Reference partners and customers are

absolutely essentialto the success ofyour long term PRefforts. Manyreporters won’twrite about yourproducts if theycan’t validate com-pany claims byspeaking to yourcustomers or part-ners. Of coursethere are exceptions,but don’t severely handicap your impor-tant announcements by not providing anumber of customer references forreporters.As the CEO or VP of Marketing, you

should serve as a conduit between thecompany and your agency. Participate instrategic decisions; serve as the compa-ny representative in press activities. Onthe back end, ensure that you are gettingvalue from the relationship.Micromanaging your account team,however, is not a good use of your time,nor will it ensure you get the most out ofyour agency. When you’re tempted tohelp write PR plans, draft press releases,dictate PR tactics and review pitches,just remember the wise saying — “Theperson that represents himself in courthas a fool for a lawyer.”Savvy tech executives realize the

value of PR over and above many of theother promotional elements of the mar-keting mix. Bringing in a top notchagency early in the process and devotingthe time and financial resources neces-sary to succeed will be a determiningfactor in whether or not your companynot only achieves your short term objec-tives, but survives. The smartestfounders and executives bring the besttalent to the table and set a course toconquer the market.Julie Karbo is Partner and Co-

Founder of K/F Communications, Inc. inSan Francisco. �

A startup’s guide to PR successThe roads of the Valley are littered with companies that believed that having the best technol-ogy would automatically ensure market success. If only it were that simple. Many great prod-ucts or services have failed because the associated marketing efforts did not match thethought and labor invested in product development.

By Julie Karbo

Julie Karbo

Company-wide layoffs at Conde Nast have hitmost of the company’s media properties as well ascorporate communications, according to a reports.

Among the 60 or so staffers let go was VP ofMedia Relations and Digital CorporateCommunications Strategy Susan Portnoy, a six-year Conde Nast vet and former PR director forOscar de la Renta, according to CN’s Women’sWear Daily.

The New York Post reported Oct. 5 that thecompany slashed budgets by about 10 percent forthe current fiscal year and is mulling budget cutsfor next year with a goal of another five percent.

WWD said Portnoy and another comms. stafferwere that unit’s casualties. Portnoy’s duties willfall to senior VP/Corporate Comms. PatriciaSteele.

Media briefs

CONDE NAST LAYOFFS HITEDITORIAL, PR


It’s a topic that sparks never-endingdebate, but when one of the mostpowerful CEOs publicly regrets not

building his company outside of theBay Area and a slew of others paintinga bleak picture for the sustainability ofSilicon Valley, the relocation of the cur-rent tech scene seems inevitable.As CEOs continue to urge for geo-

graphic change and startups endlesslysearching for the next best place tothrive, we decided to look beyond thenormal data and figures to highlight afew regions that could become the nextSilicon Valley.Washington, DC — The politicization

of softwareGranted, everyone knows that DC is

and will always be known as the politi-cal hub of the US, but a 21 percent risein high-tech employment since 2001 isreason enough for this political capitalto make the LEWIS 360 shortlist. Add

that to the trend of tech giants and start-ups increasing lobbying efforts, and it isno surprise that Washington is becom-ing a prime location for corporategrowth. Where else can a CEO spendthe morning negotiating the next bigmerger, then walk a few blocks to leg-islative debates that will potentiallyimpact billions of dollars in tech spend-ing?Raleigh, North Carolina – Tech meets

southern hospitalityRaleigh is an easy contender based on

the corporate data pointing to anupward trend in economic success,specifically in tech. Combine the fastestgrowing job market and the fastestgrowing city (according to the 2010Census) with a dedicated push for moretech and innovation-based companies,and the city has a proven recipe for suc-cess. While this southern city may nothave the size and infrastructure thatmany other big-city contenders boast,

the relative youth and public backing inthe tech market makes it one of the mostexciting locations to watch.San Diego, California — Endless sun,

endless profitsThe final city on the list comes as no

surprise to some. San Diego has been onthe high-tech watch list for the pastdecade, largely thanks to the growth ofbiotech and life sciences in the region.With so much tech talent located in one,c l im a t e - f r i e n d l ylocation, thisSouthern Californiacity is capitalizing ona diverse range oftech industries todrive growth anddraw companiesdown from the north.While the same

state business lawsthat Bay Area CEOsdislike still play a role in overall growth,the climate, tech culture and broadindustry knowledge keep this city grow-ing toward the top.Justin Nunez is Senior Account

Executive at Lewis PR. �

For years, Silicon Valley has been the clear winner when itcomes to tech hotspots in the US, but more recently, many up-and-coming regions are emerging to challenge the NorthernCalifornia hub for the tech throne.

By Justin Nunez


Justin Nunez

What’s the next big town for tech?



FEATURE

Not surprisingly, the media tech com-panies target are typically clusteredwhere the action is. This includes

the mainstream business press with influen-tial tech coverage, such as The Wall StreetJournal, New York Times, and BusinessWeek; the IT trade media that grew up withthe industry (InformationWeek, eWeek andothers); and popular tech blogs such asTechCrunch and GigaOM.Other than a few exceptions, building

relationships with these media requiresmaking connections with reporters and edi-tors on the coasts. Does this put companiesthat aren’t located in these hotbeds at a dis-advantage?“I wouldn’t say disadvantage,” said

Vince McMorrow, APR, a media relationsspecialist at Fahlgren Mortine. “But theymay have a smaller margin of error. Theycan’t afford missteps, particularly early inthe relationship.”Two challenges, in particular, should be

considered: proximity and perception.To think there is no benefit to being locat-

ed in the same physical community as themedia that is covering you, to share thesame local news outlets and, in some cases,the same roads on the daily commute, isdangerous. Media are naturally going to bemore aware of companies that are emergingin their backyard than they are of thoseacross the country.In addition, there’s the perception that, if

the company is a serious player, it would belocated on the coasts rather than in theMidwest. Like most biases, this one is oftensubtle and exists to varying degrees withinthe PR industry itself and with venture cap-italists and the tech media. Fortunately it’s less prevalent today than

it was during the dot-com boom, whenthere was a high premium on style andimage. Today the premium is firmly on sub-stance. Dave Kishler is a tech PR veteranwho has worked with industry leaders andstartups before, during and after the boomand is now Director of Industry Relations inthe Dublin, Ohio office of Overland Park.“One result of the dot-com frenzy and sub-sequent fallout is that tech and industrymedia now look more closely at the contextof acquisition, partnership and productannouncements,” he said.

In some cases, an existing bias can evencreate opportunity. This has been the casefor TechColumbus, a tech incubator locatedexactly where the name suggests. “Ourstory is about our location,” said TimHaynes, Vice President of TechColumbus.“We stress the advantages of our location inthe form of an educated workforce fed bythe second-largest collegiate population inthe U.S., funding and infrastructure supportfrom the city and state, great researchorganizations and tremendous collaborationamong those. National writers on bothcoasts have been surprised by what is hap-pening here, and they have turned that sur-prise into some good stories.”The lesson? Regardless of location, the

right story at the right time is still essentialto generating coverage. “Overall, a goodstory angle and knowledgeable sources out-weigh geographical location,” said Kishler.McMorrow agreed, but encouraged

clients not to underestimate the challengesof coverage, particularly for companieswith whom the target media is unfamiliar.“You have to realize you are competingwith every other company in your spaceand related spaces,” McMorrow said. “It’slike being an undrafted free agent in anNFL training camp. Those guys have towork extra hard just to make the roster andthey can’t afford the mistakes a high draftpick can get away with. But if they can play,it usually gets recognized, as once undraft-ed free agents who became NFL ProBowlers Antonio Gates, Wes Welker andJosh Cribbs demonstrate.”It’s also important to ensure that third-

party validation is integrated into the story.“It’s always better to have a third-party tellyour story whenever possible,” McMorrowsaid. “With no track record, the media hasno reason to take your word for anything.”This can create a chicken-and-egg situationfor those at an emerging business who feelthey need media coverage to get customers,while their PR firm is telling them theyneed customers to get media coverage. Butthat’s the reality. If you can’t sell potentialcustomers, you probably aren’t ready forthe media.One way to build credibility is to take

advantage of the opportunities that existwith local or niche media. Resources maybe scarce, particularly with a startup, but it

can be short-sighted to take too limited aview of media relations and focus only ontop-tier publications. TechColumbus attrib-utes some of its success to being willing to“climb the ladder.” The organization tookadvantage of localand regional mediaopportunities toenhance credibilityand build momentumthat led to coveragein The Wall StreetJournal. It also hasleveraged a broadercommunity-wide ini-tiative aimed atincreasing nationalawareness ofColumbus and itseconomic development efforts, believingthat successes there — including recentNew York Times and Time features — con-firmed and reinforced the TechColumbusstory. These low-hanging opportunities can

also provide necessary encouragement tokeep going. Persistence is paramount. Here,technology can be an ally. “Technology haserased barriers,” Kishler said. “Editors caninstantly access all kinds of informationabout companies and their customersregardless of their location. With socialmedia and other new media, PR profession-als have multiple ways of getting the atten-tion of editors for awareness and story cul-tivation.”Still, nothing cements relationships like

meaningful face-to-face engagement. Thiscan be accomplished through desk-sidebriefings or at conferences and trade shows.“Even with all the technology available, aface-to-face briefing, in the right situation,can take a relationship to a different level,”McMorrow said. “Expenses are higher for acompany that needs to travel, but it oftenpays dividends well into the future.”So, are Midwest companies at a disad-

vantage in the battle for tech media cover-age? Few will admit it. They are basedwhere they are for a reason, and any chal-lenges created by physical distance fromtheir target media are small compared to thebenefits their location provides. Better still, the solution to overcoming

those challenges — strengthening the story,gaining third-party support, being persist-ent, optimizing every opportunity andstrengthening relationships — create a solidfoundation for any PR program.Dennis Brown is Senior Vice President of

Fahlgren Mortine in Columbus, Ohio. �

Tech and recognition: does location trump innovation?Despite the myriad changes that have affected both the techindustry and the media that covers it, a geographical perceptionremains: that U.S. coasts are the primary hubs for tech activityand recognition. By Dennis Brown

Dennis Brown


Tech and recognition: does location trump innovation?



FEATURE

The latest addition to the U.S. Foodand Drug Administration’s accel-erated review options,

“Breakthrough Therapies,” has created anew vehicle that will lessen the time ittakes for patients to receive potentiallylifesaving therapies. The new “break-through” category is intended to assurethat drugs with extraordinary Phase Iresults follow the shortest path to provesafety and efficacy. It also aims to mini-mize the number of patients whose onlyoptions are treatments that are, for them,weak or ineffective. “Breakthrough Therapies” is the

newest of several programs being imple-mented by FDA to bring promising drugsto patients faster. Of course, there arepros and cons that come with a quickerFDA approval process. For many peopleliving with deadly diseases, new thera-

pies still in the pipeline are the onlychance they have to extend their life. But,they don’t have time to wait. Patientadvocates have praised the acceleratedprocesses as a way to “shave years” off ofthe traditional regulatory course. Thegroups argue that many living with incur-able diseases would gladly take on theadded risks if the therapy shows promisefor effective treatment, and in manycases, prolonged survival.The challenge, however, is the poten-

tial negative side effects of these thera-pies that could later emerge and providefodder for public backlash. Drug-safetyexperts have voiced concerns that theaccelerated review effort is bringingdrugs to patients without a proper analy-sis, compromising prescription-drugsafety. Every time an adverse event asso-ciated with an accelerated therapy hits thepublic domain, the opportunity for nega-tive media exposure is great.While pharmaceutical companies work

quickly to identify and submit drugs forreview — using this new acceleratedprocess — they need to carefully consid-er their communication programs. Thereare clear benefits to educating patients,providers and the public about balancingrisk and benefit and preparing to addresspossible consequences that could comefrom later adverse events. Outlined below are four ways pharma-

ceutical companies can partner withadvocacy organizations and regulatorysavvy public relations experts to provideproactive communications and preparefor any reactive communications needsassociated with expedited review.Partner with advocates Public education on the benefits of the

accelerated review process can be doneproactively, before pharmaceutical com-panies are permitted to promote the drugto patients. Companies can work withFDA and patient groups to educate thepublic about the importance of the bal-ance between risk and benefit of acceler-ated therapies to patients dealing withlife-threatening diseases.

Begin communications early When companies move through any

accelerated application process, ensuringcommunications are fluid and everyoneis on the same page can be a challenge.Public relations professionals can leadcommunications throughout the applica-tion and approval process to ensure inter-nal and external stakeholders are aligned,while meeting FDA’s requirements. Engage key influencers By proactively identifying and engag-

ing with a group of top stakeholders,pharmaceutical companies can shareinformation with key groups and individ-uals, field directquestions and openup opportunitiesfor dialogue. Anadvisory board canwork to report anddiscuss challengesthat arise post-approval, beforethey reach the cri-sis point. Forgingrelationships withinfluencers earlyon will also allow pharmaceutical com-panies to form allies to call on for supportthroughout the approval process and dur-ing times of crisis.Prepare for crisis A detailed crisis communications plan

outlining varying scenarios will allowpharmaceutical companies to prepare inadvance and be nimble in response to anysurfacing side effects of the therapy. Theycan then take action to respond quickly tonegative media stories, drawing on theallies identified and secured through theproactive communications process.While many patients are willing to bal-

ance the risk with the benefit of acceler-ated reviewed therapies, any adverseevent that occurs as a result provides crit-ics with an opportunity to highlight thechallenges of these processes — thuspointing to the therapy and company asvillains. By proactively communicatingabout the benefits of expedited review,pharmaceutical companies are laying thegroundwork to position themselves tomove promising therapies through theprocess and address any negative back-lash that may result when adverse eventsarise. Valerie Carter is Senior Vice President

of JPA in Washington, D.C. �

In a changing Pharma landscape, PR offers solutions

Valerie Carter

As a result of new federal regulations, people suffering fromlife-threatening diseases can now have access to ground-breaking therapies sooner. Pros working in the public relationsindustry should recognize the opportunity to now play a keyrole in this process.

By Valerie Carter

Lance Armstrong is stepping down as head ofLivestrong, the cancer patient support juggernauthe founded in 1997 that became one of the world’smost recognizable charity brands.

“I have had the great honor of serving as thisfoundation’s chairman for the last five years and itsmission and success are my top priorities,” he saidin a statement Oct. 17. “Today therefore, to sparethe foundation any negative effects as a result ofcontroversy surrounding my cycling career, I willconclude my chairmanship.”

Armstrong, who started the organization after about with testicular cancer, last month pulled theplug on his years-long legal and PR fight againstdoping charges as the World Anti-Doping Agencyclosed in on the seven-time Tour de France winner.The organization in October released a report con-taining significant evidence and testimony fromteammates that Armstrong led a doping scheme forhis racing teams.

His resignation from the charity sparked one ofhis biggest corporate backers, Nike, to end its long-standing relationship with the cyclist.

The New York Daily News reported in Octoberthat Nike paid $500,000 to cover a positive test forArmstrong, an allegation the company said it“vehemently denies.”

PR news briefs

ARMSTRONG CAMPAIGNDROPPED BY NIKE



Our vision is that new products andservices should be easy to find andshare,” said Trace Cohen.

“Entrepreneurs and big brands alike willno longer be challenged to present them-selves honestly and fully to deservingcustomers,” he added. The slogan of thesite is “If it’s new, it’s here first.”Products posted on the site will be sub-

jected to reviews by users.“You can call this tough love or detox

for overhyping marketing executives butthe emphasis is on getting the truth welltold,” said Brian Cohen, who foundedTechnology Solutions, Inc., in 1983 andsold it to the McCann Erickson WorldGroup in 1997, becoming its ViceChairman.He pioneered in founding computer

publications including Computer SystemsNews and InformationWeek magazine. Hechairs the New York Angels investmentgroup that has put $45 million into start-up companies.Firms write own storiesProduct launchers write their own sto-

ries “but readers have the ultimate powerto make or break your new product,” saidBrian Cohen.He added: “Launch.it will create better

marketers based on their willingness tolisten to their customer base and changetheir habits. We are filling a void sincethere was no single destination site for allnews of the new.”An “Action Box” on launch.it lets

readers comment. Users can also buyproducts via a “buy” button next to theeditorial content. Not only will visibility

be obtained, but possiblyfinancing for worthwhileideas, said Cohen.The site will be “communi-

ty-curated by multiple hori-zontals and verticals so thatthe most popular news willrise to the top.”A social network lets users

follow their favorite productlaunchers and companies.Partnerships for syndicationto leading publications areavailable.Once a news release is

posted, the issuers can accessa wide range of analyticssuch as page views, com-ments, demographics, info-graphics and psychographics.Launch.it has already

obtained key placements for itself includ-ing features in Business Insider and theNew York Times.

PR people who sign up can post theirnews in less than ten minutes, said TraceCohen. “No new product, service or ideawill ever get left behind,” he added. �

New service offers free self-publishing platformThe father and son team of Brian and Trace Cohen have founded www.launch.it, a free self-publishing platform that allows users to write their own headlines for new products and services.

By Jack O’Dwyer

“

The launch.it site launched in October. It promises a commu-nity-sourced solution to product and service launches, wherePR professionals and entrepreneurs can write about andshare new product releases in their own words.

Shutterstock, the digital imagery giant, is work-ing with ICR for investor relations counsel on its$76.5 million Oct. 11 initial public offering.

ICR Senior VP Denise Garcia, who handles thefirm’s Internet and e-commerce clients, is headingthe IR account.

The nine-year-old New York-based stock photocompany in March tapped Ogilvy PR as its PRagency of record.

Shutterstock’s shares debuted — selling 4.5 mil-lion shares at $17 — on the New York StockExchange under SSTK.

The company claims a database of 20 millionphotos, vector graphics and illustrations, addingabout 80,000 each week.

Media briefs

ICR UPS SHUTTERSTOCK IPO



REPORT

According to a Social Media B2Breport, 65% of B2B marketersbelieve social media is critical to

the success of their business, and 41% ofthose companies are prepared to increasetheir budgets to further leverage socialmedia in 2013.Content is king in this market, and 65%

of B2B marketers have turned to bloggingas the chosen form of content creation. TheContent Marketing Institute reported thatalmost 75% of the content created by B2Bcompanies is marketed across social mediachannels. This movement to a style of self-publishing is understandable, given therampant changes in the media landscape,with news rooms and news holes shrinkingdramatically. According to the American Society of

News Editors, which conducts an annualcensus of daily newspapers, the populationof daily newspaper reporters has dwindledby 14,400 since 2007. And the journalistswho are still writing for well-establishedpublications are covering a variety of beats,rather than honing in on a specific technol-ogy or sector. The content supplied throughblogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn,YouTube and, more recently, Pinterest, cangive B2B organizations opportunities toshare their stories with targeted audienceswhile also providing context and contentfor short-staffed publications. Can you spell RFID?It’s possible that eight out of 10 people

wouldn’t know what Radio FrequencyIdentification Readers are, but it’s likely10 out of 10 of those same people rely onits technology at least once a day. RFID isthe use of radio frequency electromagnet-ic fields to transfer data from a tag to anobject. How is it used? Well, if you’vebeen to your local library recently, thelibrarian used RFID to check the bookout. Have you run a road race recently? Ifso, when you crossed the finish line yourtime was recorded using an RFID tagembedded in your race bib. When youdrive through a toll on a highway, the tollis collected via the RFID tag inside theSmartPass transponder. This B2B company needed to promote

the benefits of RFID technology — in theface of industry confusion and distortion

— across industries ranging from health-care to construction to retail to hospitality.The strategy was not to promote its owntechnology, but to educate and influenceabout the benefits of this category of tech-nology, providing an overall understand-ing of RFID that would dispel the perva-sive myths. The company’s blog was the focal point

for a social media strategy that highlight-ed the 100 uses of RFID, with each repre-senting a blog post over 100 business daysthat were then promoted across Twitterand YouTube. Some examples wereMacy’s use of RFID for tracking restock-able items, tracking large amounts oflaundry (i.e. professional sports teams andhotel linens) via RFID, and paying forgoods and services with Google walletthrough RFID. A dedicated landing pageon the company’s website brought atten-tion back to the company itself, establish-ing its spokespeople as thought leadersand go-to sources on this technology. The campaign resulted in a 40%

increase in visits to the company’s web-site, a 20% increase in its blog sub-scribers, close to 9,700 blog page views inthe final 30 days of the campaign, a 230%increase in Twitter followers, 58 lists onTwitter following ThingMagic and a 16%increase in lead generation during the pro-gram. Grab attention with strong viewpointsSimilar to the RFID company, an emerg-

ing security vendor with several high-pro-file contacts within the federal govern-ment and enterprise markets, faced a com-munications quandary. Despite great cus-tomer successes, the company was oftenunable to discuss the specifics of its workgiven its mission critical and confidentialnature. Its customers were similarly con-strained from talking specifically aboutthe company’s work for them.Given these constraints, a strategy was

devised to launch a corporate thoughtleadership blog with content that wouldbe attractive to core security and ITmedia, as well business press. The goalsfor the blog were to highlight the compa-ny’s security expertise and leadership;provide a catalyst for media coverage;respond quickly to security industryevents, offering a solid point of view; and

create a channel for the CEO to discusshis thoughts on issues facing the industry.A team of executives, who would make

up the stable of contributors to the blog,was assembled and assigned coverageareas based on their areas of expertise.Ultimately, the goal was to make the bloga destination for par-ties interested inlearning more aboutkey issues affectingthe network securityindustry. To achievethis, the bloggerswere chartered to beaggressive in tacklingsensitive topics andoffering provocativeopinions. As the famous line

in the movie, “Fieldof Dreams” states, “If you build it, theywill come.” Since it was launched just over a year

ago, this blog has drawn, on average, morethan 1,000 weekly site visits. It ranks inthe top 10 of Google SEO rankings for 33of the company’s top 50 SEO keywords,and has eclipsed the company’s own cor-porate site as the highest ranking authorityin this area of expertise. Additionally, ithas garnered coverage from Bloomberg,Xconomy, SC Magazine, Dark Reading,Government Security News, NetworkWorld and many others.The advantages of using social media in

the B2B world aren’t just for driving cov-erage and thought-leadership metrics.More than 56% of B2B companies wereable to develop new business partnershipsthrough use of social media; 60% of thesecompanies witnessed enhanced searchrankings through the use of social media;and almost 70% of B2B companies wereable to gather more intelligence into theirrespective marketplaces from their socialmedia efforts.Social media is not a present day trend;

it’s a new medium for reaching out to tar-geted audiences, to share specific messag-ing and the future of how business will beconducted. And B2B companies are defi-nitely on board and driving forward.Mike Sullivan is Strategic Media manag-

er at Lois Paul and Partners in Boston. �

B2B social media: why it all starts with the blogSocial media in the business-to-business space is a growing opportunity for reaching cus-tomers, as well as establishing influence and thought leadership. In recent years, enterprisecompanies in the technology, health care and clean energy spaces have begun adopting socialmedia strategies in a much broader way. By Mike Sullivan

Mike Sullivan




FEATURE

The magazine started on the road toits demise in 2008 when theWashington Post Co. sold it to new

owners for a total of $1. That move trans-lated as, “Thank you very much for tak-ing this magazine off our hands — andgood luck.” The next tragic step came with the hir-

ing of its most recent editor, Tina Brown,a celebrity editor known for producingcontroversial, push-the-envelope covers,but who brought no news or reportingexperience when she arrived two yearsago. The magazine spiraled out of con-trol, losing a reported $40 million a yearduring her tenure. Its Oct. 29 issue con-tains just 54 pages — compared withTime’s 79 — for the same price of $4.99.Samir Husni, a journalism professor andmagazine expert from the University of

Mississippi, wrote on his blog: “Print isnot dead. Newsweek is committing sui-cide that is leading to its death in printfirst, and demise second. The magazinelost its DNA …. [and] stopped giving theaudience the intellectual stimulationmagazines of that genre are in the busi-ness of giving.”In fact, news magazines are competing

with the Internet, which provides news asa free commodity with thousands of out-lets. Between 2001-2010, Newsweek lost53% of its readers; U.S. News and WorldReport (which ended its print edition in2010) lost 51%; and Time lost only 21%.But, Newsweek’s closing does not mean

that print is dying. Magazine circulationand advertising revenue surpassed that ofnewspapers in 2008 and is predicted torise 2.6% this year to $18.3 billion,according to research firm eMarketer.

That’s the third increase in three years. Last May, I presented “American

Magazine Winners and Losers, 2001 to2010” at the International Conference onCommunication and Media in Istanbul,Turkey. My paper summarized thedecade’s circulationtrends for 168 lead-ing magazines in 20special interest sec-tors, and found thatwhile total circula-tion did decline byabout 10%, the greatmajority of those168 magazinesgrew. Total losseswere accounted forby just six publications, including the topthree news magazines. Yet there is a clear indication that mag-

azines are offering information on sub-jects we want to read about. For exam-ple, food, gardening, travel, health andfitness magazines grew by 20% or more.Other growth sectors included music,sports, women’s and Hispanic maga-zines. Go to any retail magazine displayand those are about the only kinds oftitles you will see.Americans have turned increasingly

towards leisure interests in print maga-zine reading habits. We want servicemagazines that benefit us personally —telling us how to cook, exercise, garden,dress, groom ourselves, take care of ourchildren and pursue our hobbies. Wewant magazines that offer tips on whereto dine, travel and be entertained. We donot as frequently read magazines thatinterpret the latest news or debate politi-cal and social topics.The passing of Newsweek’s print edi-

tion is sad. But Newsweek was a victimof its own mismanagement as well as anindication of our changing reading habits— and not a sign of the decline of themagazine industry.David E. Sumner is a professor of jour-

nalism and head of the magazine pro-gram at Ball State University. He is theauthor of “The Magazine Century:American Magazines since 1900.” �

Newsweek’s recent announcement that it will end its print edition in December marked anoth-er sign of its troubled history. The news publication enjoyed some successes here and thereduring its 79 years in print, but always lagged behind Time and never found its identity.Newsweek is mostly a victim of poor management, poor editing and weak content, as well asthe changing reading habits of Americans.

Newsweek’s print demise is publication’s own fault

By David E. Sumner

David E. Sumner



Newsweek’s print demise is publication’s own fault

Los Angeles-based Pondel Wilkinson,which has handled investor relationsfor the publicly traded company, is

working the PR front and speaking forMonster. PW VPs Evan Pondel, aformer journalist and son of PWfounder Roger Pondel, and JudyLin Sfetcu, are serving as spokes-men for the company, whichchanged its name from HansenNatural in January.A negligence lawsuit was filed

this month against Corona,Calif.-based Monster by thefamily of a 14-year-old girl,Anais Fournier, who diedlast year from a heart arrhyth-mia after drinking Monster bever-ages. The suit accuses the company offailing to warn of the risks of its drinks. A Freedom of Information Act request

related to the suit revealed the FDA inci-

dent reports, which date back to 2004.The New York Times reported the deathshave occurred in the last three years,however.

“Monster does not believe thatits products are in any wayresponsible for the death of Ms.Fournier and intends to vigor-ously defend the lawsuit,” thecompany said. “The FDA hasmade it clear that it has notestablished any causal linkbetween Monster Energy drinksand the reports it has received.”Monster notes that “tens of

billions” of energy drinks havebeen sold and safely consumedfor the past 25 years, includingeight billion cans of Monster

Energy since 2002.An FDA director told the Times that

energy drinks are not defined by any reg-ulation and noted the phrase is a “market-ing term.” But the American Beverage

Association says energy drinks, like allfoods and beverages, are regulated by theFDA, adding they contain half the caf-feine of a similar size cup of coffee.The Washington, D.C.-based American

Association for Justice, the trial lawyertrade group formerly known as theAssociation of Trial Lawyers of America,is helping to publicize the Fournier law-suit and pushing for oversight of theproducts.“I was shocked to learn the FDA can

regulate caffeine in a can of soda, but notthese huge energy drinks,” Fournier’smother, Wendy Crossland, said in a state-ment. “With their bright colors and nameslike Monster, Rockstar, and Full Throttle,these drinks are targeting teenagers withno oversight or accountability.”Monster shares surged more than 12%,

up $5 to $46.15, in morning trading Oct.24. �

Monster Beverage Corp. is relying on PR support as the ener-gy drink titan copes with a lawsuit and Food and DrugAdministration probe into five deaths and other illnesses pos-sibly linked to its products.

Monster beverage mounts crisis defense

By Greg Hazley

Multivitamin makers are cheering a 13-year studypublished in October in the Journal of the AmericanMedical Association, which found men who tookPfizer’s Centrum showed a reduced cancer risk of eightpercent.

Pfizer Consumer Healthcare and agency Ketchumare jumping on the study, which used its CentrumSilver multivitamin.

The PR victory for Pfizer came just months after thecompany removed claims related to breast and colonhealth on advertising and labels for Centrum products,after pressure by the Center for Science in the PublicInterest.

The new study, published Oct. 17 in the Journal ofthe American Medical Association, saw researcherstrack 14,641 men, all doctors, from 1997-2011, finding“daily multivitamin supplementation modestly but sig-nificantly reduced the risk of total cancer.”

The study was conducted by researchers at theBrigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard MedicalSchool.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition, the tradegroup for dietary supplement makers, said the study isa key endorsement for its members’ products. DuffyMacKay, VP of scientific and regulatory affairs, addedthat the study “pushes the door and the windowswide open to the benefits and safety of multivita-mins.”

The findings are being presented this week at the11th Annual AACR International Conference onFrontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in Anaheim.

News briefs

MULTIVITAMIN MAKERSLEVERAGE PRODUCT STUDY



FEATURE

Idon’t think anyone would refute thatin the last 15 years, technology hasbeen a benchmark industry for our

economy. As a result, it’s been nothingshort of a catalyst for significantgrowth and renewed optimism withinthe public relations industry. When Ispeak about technology, I use the termas loosely as the brainiacs in SiliconValley; technology refers to everythingfrom enterprise technologies to hard-ware and infrastructure to Internet andecommerce to mobile applications andconsumer electronics. It’s become a bitof a catchall — one deserved due to itsreputation — but now more than evertechnology resides at the center of ouruniverse, no matter how hard or soft thesolution, the product or the service.Despite all the good, the bad and the

ugly we’ve witnessed in the last 15years — and public relation’s impact onthe reputation of marquee brands andsegments of the technology industry —we seem to have failed to embrace theincreasingly important relevancebetween public relations and reputa-tion. Moreover, we seem to have leftour invitations on the table, for othersto wine and dine and outmaneuver usfor budget when we should be feastingon bottomless dishes of start-ups, cate-gory disruptors and aging giants. Idon’t have an explanation for why weseem to look the other way other thanto hypothesize that we are still enam-ored with this notion that content isking and though leaders pay the bills. Just look at what we, as an industry,

are selling: storytelling, buildingawareness, driving recognition, estab-lishing brand narratives and startingnew conversations. I’m paraphrasing,but for the most part those are literalsentiments from some of the most “rep-utable” firms in the country. That’s notto say that these industry pros aren’tfocused on reputation, but within thetech sector no one is standing on theshoulders of the rest pontificating the

relevance of protecting, preserving andpromoting a company’s reputation.Admittedly, we’ve lined up with therest of the tech-focused firms, preach-ing the importance of getting influ-encers talking about the brand, its lead-ership, its products and services. I believe we live in a “social econo-

my,” where everyone has a shot at yourreputation. Today the world is full ofboth ambassadors and bridge trolls,each proselytizing from their Facebookor Linkedin or Twitter pages. It’s nolonger good versus evil, or big versussmall. A simple misstep from an other-wise good company confronted by anangry customer can create a mob men-tality. That’s where the notion of “pro-tect” comes into play. If you’re seriousabout reputation, at the very least youshould have a “protect our reputation”strategy. More often, quick respondingPR professionals can silence thosebridge trolls. Without said strategyhowever, you’ll find the resulting sto-ries that cover the social mobs’ take onyour brand to be the most offensive,damaging and long-lasting. Tech brands of reputation If tech agencies aren’t paying atten-

tion to reputation, should we assumesome technology companies have littleregard for it as well? I can’t say conclu-sively other than to share some datafrom Forbes and its “Global RepTrakPulse,” which ranks what it refers to as“pure” technology and consumer elec-tronic companies. Apple (#5), Google(#6), Microsoft (#7), Intel (#16) andIBM (#19) lead this cause for the indus-try. On paper, it seems as if these com-panies have a thoughtful reputationstrategy, that their boardroom decisionsinvolve high-ranking communicationsprofessionals, and that their agenciesare talk about the importance of pro-tecting, preserving and promoting theirreputations. Let’s assume that everyone agrees

that reputation is important and that asocially negative epidemic can cause

catastrophic impact on your brandovernight. The first step in developinga reputation strategy is to know whereyou stand in what we call the “threatzone.” Factors like corporate status(public versus private), size, industrysector, product mix, years in businessand audience weigh in on your riskmanagement. Take Apple or microsoftfor instance. Bothcompanies aresimilar in that theyare large, public,in their 40s, andoffer predicts forboth business-to-business and busi-ness-to-consumeraudiences. Yetwhen Applelaunches theiPhone 5 with amajor snafu like a failed Maps app, lifegoes on because its reputation is intact.However, this would have crushed astart-up or undermined the integrity ofa company with a lesser reputation.Now, if we look at Microsoft, the com-pany took a media and blogger beatingthis summer with its much-anticipatedSurface product. Its history with hard-ware can’t weather an Apple-like fias-co, no doubt due in part to a poor repu-tation associated with hardware deviceslike Zune. Could it be that our industry is so

attached to generating media attentionand building social community that thecomplexity around protecting, preserv-ing and promoting a company’s reputa-tion is simply too complicated? I don’tknow. But I do believe the days of sell-ing thought leadership, storytelling andbrand awareness seem dated. I knowthese ideas won’t save many brands.But I know if Microsoft has a hiccupwith its Xbox, I can forgive and forgetbecause its target audience — my 13-year-old son — says they’ve nailed itwith products in the past.Fortunately for the PR industry, the

ball is ready to drop on 2013, and Ican’t think of a better time to re-thinkyour position on public relations, wherereputation is front and center. Call it amission statement. Dean Trevelino is Principal of

Trevelino/Keller. �

Fads in the communications industry come and go. As consumerdemand elevates the roles of technology companies in thepublic consciousness however, the notion of preserving,protecting and promoting clients’ reputations becomesparamount.

New technologies require timeless craft of reputation

By Dean Trevelino

Dean Trevelino


New technologies require timeless craft of reputation

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AFFECT

989 Ave. of the Americas, 6th Flr. New York, NY 10018 212/398-9680 www.affect.comBlog: www.techaffect.com Twitter: @teamaffect www.facebook.com/affect

Sandra Fathi, President &Founder Katie Creaser, Vice PresidentMelissa Baratta, Vice President

Affect is an award-winningpublic relations and social mediaagency specializing in B2B andB2C technology and professionalcommunications services. Wecombine smart people, creativeideas and hard work to achievestellar results for our clients. Our team’s shared love for and

experience in technology publicrelations allows us to bring a deeptechnical comprehension to everyengagement. We’re an agency

designed to feel like a true exten-sion of your team, and we’reknown for our ability to translatehighly technical stories intomeaningful coverage in verticalmarkets, business press, and evenfor consumer audiences. Affect’s work has earned

recognition and awards fromsome of the public relationsindustry’s most respected associ-ations and publications includingBulldog Reporter, O’Dwyer’s,Hermes, BtoB Magazine and thePublic Relations Society ofAmerica.Affect is also part of the Global

Reach PR Network, a worldwidecommunity of award-winningtechnology PR consultancies.For more information on

Affect and our clients, please visitwww.affect.com.

AIRFOIL

1000 Town Center Drive, #600Southfield, MI 48075248/[email protected]

150 Mathilda Place, #202Sunnyvale, CA 94086650/[email protected]

Lisa Vallee-Smith, Co-CEO

Janet Tyler, Co-CEOTracey Parry, Leah Haran,Sharon Neumann, Sr. VPRich Donley, Keith Donovan,Amy Bryson, VPsKevin Sangsland, VP, Sales &Marketing

Airfoil is an independentmarketing communications firmthat has served as the perceptualarchitect for many of theworld’s best-known technologybrands. With offices in tech-rich regions including SiliconValley, Detroit and London,Airfoil is recognized for deliv-ering strategic solutions builtupon market insights and calcu-lated, creative communicationrisks. The firm develops strate-gies that maximize clients’ com-petitive advantages in local,national and global businessarenas, and with target audi-ences through traditional andemerging channels. Airfoil’s team of progressive

account professionals and vitalglobal partners apply a multi-disciplinary lens to client com-munication challenges, provid-ing content development,design, digital marketing, mar-ket research, mobile marketing,public relations and socialmedia services to help meettheir objectives.The firm elevates positioningfor brands across consumer,enterprise, health care, clean-tech and industrial segments. Since its founding in 2000,

Airfoil has built a reputation forresults and earned its placementon prestigious industry lists likeO’Dwyer’s “Top 50 IndependentPublic Relations Firms,” TheHolmes Report “Top 12Technology Firms,” andAdvertising Age “Best Places toWork.” The firm has earnednumerous accolades includingPRNews “Small Agency of theYear,” PRSA’s “Silver AnvilAward of Excellence” and“Bronze Anvil Award ofCommendation,” and multipleHermes Creative awards.Airfoil Client List: ABB,

Altair Engineering, Inc.,Brookstone, CiRBA, Inc., eBay,

Faurecia, FordDirect, LinkedIn,Microsoft, NVIDIA, Parrot,Plex Systems, SurveyMonkey.

ATOMIC PUBLICRELATIONS

735 Market St., 4th FloorSan Francisco, CA 94013415/[email protected]

Andy Getsey, Co-Founder &CEOJames Hannon, Co-Founder &CIO

Atomic tuned its approachworking with top technology,consumer & entertainmentbrands — re-energizing pro-grams, repositioning establishedbrands & launching new compa-nies and products. Usingsophisticated analytics to guidecampaigns for more than 10years, we’ve learned importantthings about mass & nichemedia, digital & social media.And the interplay between digi-tal and physical activities. It’s adifferent model that makes areal difference; often 100%+across numerous kinds ofresults you can measure. Atomic PR has powered

numerous breakthrough cam-paigns for progressive con-sumer, technology and enter-tainment brands from excitingstart-ups like Mint.com,LivingSocial, DropBox, andSmule, to larger brands andleading publicly traded compa-nies including SONY, Verizon,Intuit, IMAX, LinkedIn,Polaroid and Pioneer.Atomic has offices in San

Francisco, New York, LosAngeles, Orange County,London and Munich. Atomic ispart of Grayling, a leading glob-al agency with 73 offices in 40countries across the world.More information:www.atomicpr.com. FollowAtomic on Twitter:www.twitter.com/AtomicPRand like us on Facebook:www.facebook.com/AtomicPR.

Profiles

HIGH-TECH AND TECHNOLOGY PR11.12

O’Dwyer’sGuide to:

NOVEMBER 2012 � WWW.ODWYERPR.COM � ADVERTISING SECTION24

The December issue of O’Dwyer’s will pro-file PR firms that specialize in sports andentertainment. If you would like your firmto be listed, contact Editor Jon Gingerich at646/843-2080 or [email protected]

The Airfoil team (from L to R): Janet Tyler, Lisa Vallee-Smith andTracey Parry.


PROFILES OF HIGH-TECH & TECHNOLOGY PR FIRMS

ADVERTISING SECTION � NOVEMBER 2012 � WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 25

BATEMAN GROUP

1550 Bryant St., Suite 770San Francisco, CA 94103415/503-1818Fax: 415/503-1880info@bateman-group.comwww.bateman-group.comwww.batemanbanter.com

20 Jay Street, Suite 1005Brooklyn, NY 11215718/576-2463

Fred Bateman, CEO andFounderBill Bourdon, SVP/GM of SFOTyler L. Perry, SVPLisa Melsted, VPElissa Ehrlich, Acct Dir.Shannon Hutto, Acct Dir.Mina Manchester, Acct Mgr.Rod McLeod, Acct Mgr.Audrey Sahl, Acct Mgr.Shannon Osthimer, Mgr. ofOperations

Bateman Group, Inc. is afull-service public relations andsocial media communicationsfirm focused on disruptive com-panies re-shaping the way wework, live and play.Differentiated by genuine

content expertise, exceptionalwriting skills and a senior-levelstaffing model, BatemanGroup’s objective is to make abigger market impact for asmaller, more select group ofcompanies. Bateman Groupwas among the first to architect

a truly integrated service offer-ing combining traditional PRbest practices with the latesttechniques in social media mar-keting. Clients turn to BatemanGroup to improve customerconnectivity, corporate reputa-tion and sales lead generationas well as nurture individualopinions and attitudes abouttheir brands. The firm is head-quartered in San Francisco withadditional offices in Brooklyn,NY.Clients include: Antenna

Software, Adchemy, Animoto,App Annie, Baynote, CambiumNetworks, CoreMedia, edo, GetSatisfaction, Greenstart,Heroku LifeStreet Media,MemSQL, The Open Group,Payfone, Qualys, Recyclebank,Sociable Labs and Zenprise.

BORDERS +GRATEHOUSE

207 Powell St., 8th floor San Francisco, CA 94102415/963-4174info@bordersgratehouse.comwww.bordersgratehouse.comwww.bordersgratehouse.com/blogTwitter:@BplusGPR

Emily Borders, Co-Founder &PrincipalKathleen Gratehouse, Co-Founder & PrincipalCarol Carrubba, Principal

Borders + Gratehouse is atechnology and consumerfocused communications firmthat offers a unique combina-tion of drive, imagination andexperience that only comesfrom decades of success in PRand journalism. With key prac-tice areas ranging from cloudcomputing/infrastructure, con-sumer applications to greentech, Borders + Gratehouse’sservice offerings include mediaand influencer relations, socialmedia programs, research andmeasurement, crisis counseland issues management, mediatraining, global account man-agement, quantitative marketresearch, infographic develop-ment and event support.Since its founding in 2008,Borders + Gratehouse hasemerged as a leader in high-tech public relations and hasbeen growing rapidly eversince. At Borders + Gratehouse,we begin with the end in mind— meeting your business

objectives through strategiccommunications. We transcendthe “same old same old’’ PRstrategies with the same zealyou bring to your own business— and we do it with a smart,informed approach that’sfounded on relevance andinsight. We roll up our sleevesand immerse our experts inyour business, turning yourchallenges and goals intogreater awareness, growth andsales. Our client expertise spans

consumer and lifestyle brandsto mobility and enterprise tech-nologies. Borders + Gratehousewas the second biggest gainerin this year’s O’Dywer’s Top100 Independent PR Firms cat-egory and the firm was recentlynamed one of Small BusinessTechnologies’ Small BusinessInfluencers.

CATAPULT PR-IR

6560 Gunpark Dr., Suite CBoulder, CO 80301303/581-7760Fax: 303/581-7762gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.comwww.catapultpr-ir.comwww.catapultpr-ir.comwww.catapultpr-ir.com

Terri Douglas, Co-Founder andPrincipal

Ranked the leading technolo-gy PR agency in Colorado,Catapult PR-IR helps B-2-Btechnology companies establishmarket-leading positionsthrough strategic positioningand messaging, aggressivemedia and industry analyst rela-tions, and social media andcommunity building.Hence the name, “Catapult,”

is expert at coordinating andexecuting high-impact compa-ny/product launches. It stronglybelieves that relationships stillmatter and that it is vital forcompanies of all sizes and typesto connect with key influencerson a personal level. The result isclear and consistent messagingto the market, and an ongoing“win-win” relationship that ben-efits both parties. Catapult’s success stems from

its personal and professionalservice, along with partner-levelaccount involvement and strate-gy. It is the preferred agency fortechnology companies lookingto establish and build market-leading positions.

The Borders + Gratehouse team(from top): Carol Carrubba,Principal; Kathleen Gratehouse,Co-Founder & Principal; EmilyBorders, Co-Founder &Principal.

Terri Douglas, Co-Founder andPrincipal of Catapult PR-IR.




COOPERKATZ &COMPANY INC.

205 Lexington Avenue, 5th FloorNew York, NY 10016www.cooperkatz.com

Andy Cooper, PrincipalRalph Katz, PrincipalAnne Green, President, CEO

CooperKatz & Company hasa 16-year track record of devel-oping creative, high-impact,technology-focused marketingand public relations programsand initiatives for clients suchas AWS Weatherbug,Capgemini, Carrier, InvestNorthern Ireland, S1, TelcordiaTechnologies, Teliris,TowerGroup, MSN, OtisElevator Company, Polar,Virgin Mobile USA, WindowsPhone, Ziff Davis and Zipcar.Our award-winning firm servesa range of needs includingbrand positioning, media rela-tions, analyst relations, socialmedia / digital strategy and exe-cution (through our dedicatedDigital practice), editorial serv-ices, new product introductions,meeting planning and execu-tion, special events, advertising,video production and collateralmaterials design. FindCooperKatz on the Web,Facebook, Twitter, YouTube andLinkedIn.

COYNE PUBLICRELATIONS

5 Wood Hollow RoadParsippany, NJ 07054973/588-2000www.coynepr.com

1065 Avenue of the Americas,28th FloorNew York, NY 10018212/938-0166

Thomas F. Coyne, CEOBrad Buyce, Executive VicePresident, Client StrategyDr. Norman Booth, VicePresident, Business andTechnology Practice

Coyne Public Relations hasestablished itself as one of theleading independent full-servicepublic relations firms in thecountry representing an impres-sive collection of internationalcorporations, top nationalbrands and first-class organiza-tions. No agency possesses abetter combination of strategicperspective, business and tech-nology experience, unbridledcreativity, and client-centeredservice than our nationally rec-ognized firm. Coyne’s Business and

Technology group has extensiveexperience representing clientsin a variety of sectors, includ-ing: consumer and enterprisetechnology, business and finan-

cial communications, technolo-gy infrastructure and applica-tions, professional and consult-ing services, health care infor-mation technology, mobility andconsumer electronics. Our teampossesses a wealth of businessand technology experience,which connects key influencersand audiences across the entirebusiness and technology spec-trum.

CRENSHAW COMMUNICATIONS

36 West 20th St., 5th FloorNew York, NY 10011212/367-9700Fax: 212/[email protected]

Dorothy Crenshaw, CEO

Crenshaw Communications,created to meet clients’ needsfor creative public relations inthe digital age, specializes inmaking technology attributesrelevant and translating propri-etary differences into customerbenefits. Our roots are in con-sumer technology, video gam-ing, and CE. For 13 years weacted as AOR for SharpElectronics, deeply immersedin key product categories ofdisplay; MFPs/business sys-tems; appliance; and solar ener-gy, and handling successfulproject engagements forCall2Reycle (battery recycling)Gamestop, avast! and more. In

recent years we have expandedinto digital and mobile services;digital content; software; andmedia. Current digital technolo-gy and tech services clientsinclude Verizon Wireless,Kantar Media, skobbler,Silverpop, Netpage, andTechMediaNetwork.

EDGE COMMUNICATIONS

INC.

5419 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 727Los Angeles, CA 90027323/469-3397Fax: 323/645-7054www.edgecommunicationsinc.comwww.edgewise.us.com

Kenneth Greenberg, PresidentSara Flint, Vice President

Established in 1996, EdgeCommunications, Inc. is aninnovative all-star team of sen-ior-level communications pro-fessionals, unified by a no-non-sense approach that builds com-panies, brands and reputations.Through “better thinking andrelentless execution,” weexpress our work ethic and ourcore value of premium, personalservice. We complement ourmedia relations expertise with afull suite of writing services.Our clients range from startupsto members of the Fortune 1000— in technology, professionalservices, emerging media andconsumer products.

To re-establish Casio America’s leadership, Coyne executed an inte-grated PR campaign to introduce the new XW-G1 GrooveSynthesizer, which included leveraging celebrity endorsers TheCrystal Method and Enferno, publicizing retail launch events forenthusiasts and traditional product publicity. The efforts generatedmore than 135 million media impressions and reminded the musicworld of Casio’s role inventing the electronic keyboard in 1980.

Neil Mortine, President and CEO of Fahlgren Mortine.

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FAHLGREN MORTINE

4030 Easton Station, Suite 300Columbus, OH [email protected]: @fahlgrenmortine

Neil Mortine, President and CEODennis Brown, SVP, TechnologyJulie Russo, SVP, Technology

Fahlgren Mortine brings a newperspective to technology publicrelations and marketing driven by aservice philosophy that reflects ourMidwestern roots and a solutions-oriented approach that enables us to“think wider.” In addition to results-oriented media relations programs,which represent the core of our pub-lic relations offering, FahlgrenMortine specializes in helping tech-nology companies (and B2B com-panies differentiating on the basis oftechnology) crystallize their mes-sages and develop content that sup-ports inbound marketing, drivesmedia relations success, and fuelssocial media engagement. OurSocial Media Opportunity Researchand Evaluation (SMORE) tool cre-ates a competitive benchmark toprioritize and shape social mediaplans, while our custom listeningposts allow us to monitor activityaround issues and brands acrossplatforms. Our public relationsservices are supported by a fullcomplement of advertising and dig-ital capabilities.

FEINTUCH COMMUNICATIONS

245 Park Ave., 39th FloorNew York, NY 10167212/808-4901Fax: 212/[email protected] www.feintuchcommunications.comwww.PRWorldAlliance.com

Henry Feintuch, President

The recipe for smart and impact-ful technology public relations isn’tcomplex — develop a clear andconcise message, target it carefully,tell a story and engage with youraudience.Our team has specialized in tech

PR for nearly three decades — fromyesterday’s bag phones, room-sizedsupercomputers and mainframevoice response systems to today’scutting edge mobile apps, securitysolutions, ad tech, biotech, fintechand green tech.Feintuch Communications is a

boutique strategic relations firmwhich develops and delivers inte-grated plans — from PR to businessdevelopment, investor relations tosales and marketing and beyond.For us, it’s not about selling a partic-ular tactic — it’s all about the busi-ness result that delivers ROI.Our team enjoys helping our

clients think through their businesschallenges and developing smartsolutions that impact their business.We welcome the opportunity tothink through your needs.

FINN PARTNERS

301 East 57th St.New York, NY 10022415/348-2733 (New York)212/ 593-6343 (San Francisco)[email protected]@finnpartners.com

Howard Solomon, AliciaYoung, Technology PracticeLeaders

At Finn Partners, 90 of our com-munications professionals arefocused in technology, and wepride ourselves on our in-depthexpertise with nearly 200 years ofcombined experience. Clients, amajority of which have been withus for several years, include someof the biggest and most respectednames in the sector, includingLogitech, IEEE, AVG, Rovi,Fujitsu, Exact Target, StubHub,Irdeto, Marvell Technology andVonage.We believe traditional PR alone

will no longer reach audiences aseffectively as it once did, and weseek to combine our traditionalexpertise with forward-lookingcreative solutions and socialmedia, to connect clients withinfluencers who will understandand propel their story into themainstream. Our expertise spans the gamut

and includes consumer marketing,enterprise, networking, and theindustry’s only dedicated practiceto mobile technologies. We have

deep expertise in key vertical mar-kets, including manufacturing,financial services, education, gov-ernment, healthcare and telecom-munications.Specific services include: CEO

positioning, thought-leadership,new product launches, technicaland non-technical writing, socialmedia program development andexecution, industry analyst rela-tions, trade show and event sup-port, competitive monitoring andissues management. As one of theindustry’s fastest growing PRagencies, our technology practicehas been key to our growth, soFinn Partners is looking forward tocontinuing our good work by col-laborating with you to grow yourbusiness in 2013 and beyond.

THE HOFFMANAGENCY

70 N. Second StreetSan Jose, CA 95113408/286-2611Fax: 408/[email protected]

The Hoffman Agency advisescompanies on applying commu-nications to build brands, fortifyreputations and sell prod-ucts/services.With a heritage in the technol-

ogy sector, the firm today focuseson markets of complexity.In contrast to the mega shops,

all of our senior consultants man-

Feintuch Communications helped OLED microdisplay client eMagin Corp. promote its new augmentedreality headset technology by creating this mock-up photo showing the user experience.

Luica Mak, Managing Directorof Hoffman’s European opera-tions.




age and are actively engaged inclient work. Our senior peopleboth oversee and contribute to theimplementation of client pro-grams. Everyone, including ourmanaging directors, vice presi-dents and general managers, useshis or her relationships and assetsto drive the success of our clients’programs.We take a holistic approach in

creating communication cam-paigns as opposed to solelydepending on media relations.Our work often combines socialmedia, digital, search engine opti-mization (SEO), thought leader-ship as well as traditional PR.Such an approach puts a premiumon not just building content, butbuilding the “right” content.Toward this end, the Agencyembraces storytelling techniquesand even conducts workshops onstorytelling (for both in-housecommunicators and executives).For clients with global needs,

The Hoffman Agency’s operationextends across Asia Pacific,Europe and the United States. Bytaking a collaborative approach toimplementing programs, thecompany can leverage contentand thinking across geographies.This mentality is further cultivat-ed by a financial structure thatdoes not place P/L at the individ-ual office level.In short, our work reflects the

sophistication of a large agencywith the handcrafted executionexcellence of a boutique.

HUNTER PUBLICRELATIONS

41 Madison Avenue, 5th FloorNew York, NY 10010-2202212/[email protected]

Grace Leong, Jason Winocour,Jonathan Lyon, Claire Burke,Mark Newman, Donetta Allenand Gigi Russo, Partners

Hunter Public Relations is anaward-winning consumer prod-ucts public relations agency withdeep experience in the consumertechnology sector. In business for23 years, the 80-person, inde-pendently owned and operatedagency offers strategic marketingPR services including creativebrainstorming and facilitation,consumer research & insights,traditional and digital media rela-tions, social media marketing,special event production, new

product introductions, local mar-ket events, spokesperson toursand crisis counseling. Hunter PR’s experience in the

tech sector has been driven bypublic relations campaigns asinnovative as the products werepresent, including ground-breaking developments from cat-egory leaders such as 3M andMotorola. A strong foundation intraditional media layered withthe viral power of social plat-forms delivers clients with thekind of hard-hitting, buzz-build-ing placements that move prod-uct, build brands and redefinecategories.

KAPLOW

19 West 44th Street, 6th FloorNew York, NY 10036212/[email protected]

As an independent, award-win-ning public relations firm, Kaplowhelps best-in-class companies telltheir stories and change conversa-tions.For more than two decades, the

firm has cultivated brand identitiesand reputations that nurture happy,loyal consumers. Kaplow’s holis-tic communications programsleverage the best of traditionalmedia relations and digital/socialcampaigns to ensure that ourclients’ brands are front and centerwith their target consumers andthe influencers who matter themost.With a world class media rela-

tions team, and in-house socialmedia and video production divi-sions, Kaplow exists for a singularreason: to create emotional con-nections between brand and con-sumer. Our new Knext businessunit focuses on the strategic com-munications challenges of agile,young and driven entrepreneurialbrands that have the opportunity tobecome household names. Knextturns great ideas into engagingstories that bring a new brand tolife.Some of our recent technology

experience includes: Skype,Kynetic, Case-Mate, TheFind,Enterproid, Peekseed, SequoiaCapital and New York Angels.Other best-in-class clients include:Target, CVS/Pharmacy, Avonmark & Avon Foundation, Timex,Unilever (Nexxus & St. Ives),Shiseido, Gurwitch (LauraMercier and RéVive), Kellwoodand CEW.

K/F COMMUNICATIONS

INC.

601 Fourth St., Suite 204San Francisco, CA 94107415/[email protected]

Julie Karbo & DaveFonkalsrud, Partners

K/F Communications is arespected, award-winning PRfirm specializing in technology,with an exceptional track recordof establishing clients as marketleaders. From consumer tech tonetworking and enterprise soft-ware, K/F has consistently helpedto drive many of the top techtrends. Client experience includes

Chomp, Intel, Digg, Apple,TagWhat, HipGeo, TechBargains,TwitVid, Edgewater Networks,Recurly, SimpleGeo, Equinix,Composite Software, Oracle,FairCom, Revision3, Billeo,Covia Labs, Alacritech, TalariNetworks, and the PeninsulaTraffic Congestion ReliefAlliance. Senior staff personallylead each account’s day-to-dayefforts in collaboration with clientteams. K/F employs a proprietary

methodology that results in a dif-ferentiated market positioning andstrategic, well executed programsthat focus on our clients’ specific

business goals, such as increasingrevenues, maximizing valuation,creating industry-leading staturefor the company and executives,and attracting employees, partnersand funding.

LAUNCHSQUAD

116 New Montgomery St., Ste 620San Francisco, CA 94105415/[email protected]

443 Park Ave South, #310New York, NY 10016212/564-3665

222 Third St.Cambridge, MA 02142617/945-1915

Jason Mandell, Jesse Odell andJason Throckmorton, Co-Founders and PartnersBrett Weiner, PartnerJeff Davis, Editorial DirectorBrian Omlor, Creative DirectorGavin Skillman, SVPMike Farber, General Manager

LaunchSquad partners withinnovative and fast-growing com-panies by sharing their storieswith the world, which fostersbusiness growth and emergingmarket leaders. The firm has 80professionals in San Francisco(headquarters), New York andBoston, and provides a suite ofboth traditional and digital PRservices, including video andcontent production. Founded in

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At South by Southwest , Hunter PR worked with 3M to display some oftheir most innovative technologies, including 3M virtual presenter, 3MMulti-touch displays and 3M Mobile Screen Protectors for mobiledevices. As a way for millennials to engage with the 3M brand and posi-tion 3M as the innovation company, Hunter PR developed a novel aug-mented reality app where attendees could submit ideas they heard atthe SXSW conference, take a photo of themselves, and then share it viasocial networks and a virtual augmented reality wall.




2000, LaunchSquad was namedthe 2009 Boutique PR Agency ofthe Year and Crunchies Finalistfor Best Tech PR Firm in 2010.The LaunchSquad portfolio isdiverse and their approach ishandcrafted to suit the needs oftheir clients, which include inno-vators in software, consumertechnology, entertainment,mobile and infrastructure,lifestyle and more. They havepartnered with incredible compa-nies such as AOL, Coursera,Evernote, J. Hilburn, LevelUp,Monitise and Wine.com.

MATTER COMMUNICATIONS

50 Water StreetMill #3, The TanneryNewburyport, MA 01950978/499-9250www.matternow.com

Scott Signore, Principal & CEOPatty Barry, Principal

Matter Communications, anaward-winning, full-servicepublic relations agency special-izing in consumer and high tech-nology markets, works withclients across the U.S. andEurope to deliver creative andeffective programs that generatebusiness. Matter provides a full suite of

strategic public relations servic-es — from traditional corporatecommunications work, to com-pany/product launches, productreviews programs, analyst andmedia relations, blogger andambassador programs, socialmedia programs (content andmanagement), and thought lead-ership campaigns. In addition,Matter offers services for clientswith focused PR needs throughits Precision group, and a fullrange of creative, video produc-tion and graphics services withits Studio-C group.Matter Communications is

headquartered north of Bostonin historic Newburyport, MAwith an office in Providence, RI,and is recognized by clients andpartners as a results-focusedpublic relations agency. Amongothers, clients include: Cartera,CommVault, Crimson Hexagon,CVS/pharmacy, Harris

Corporation, Lexar and VerizonWireless of New England. Formore information please visitwww.matternow.com.

M/C/C

8131 LBJ Freeway, Ste. 275Dallas, TX 75251972/[email protected]

Mike Crawford, PresidentPam Watkins, SVP, Business &Media StrategyJim Terry, SVP, Account Service

M/C/C has spent the past 26years creating quality and suc-cessful PR strategies for the bestand brightest companies inenterprise information technolo-gy, the public switched network,the wireless network infrastruc-ture, the electronics OEM andmobile service markets. M/C/Chas served high-tech clientsRaytheon, Ericsson, TrilogyCircuits, Accudata, L-3, PrivusMobile, AEG Power Solutions,Harris CapRock andImageVision to name a few.M/C/C is dedicated to meet-

ing technology clients’ businessobjectives through insightfulpublic relations strategy andexecution. Because M/C/Cknows who’s who in the tech-nology sector, the agency is ableto provide step-by-step solu-tions that connect clients withindustry influencers.The agency’s mantra, “living

the unexpected,” has not onlyhelped clients exceed their mar-keting goals, but has also con-sistently made M/C/C one of thetop PR, social media and adagencies in Dallas for 25 years.

MERRITT GROUP

11600 Sunrise Valley Dr., Ste 320Reston, VA 20191 703/390-1500Fax: 703/[email protected] www.merrittgrp.com

Ben Merritt, CEOAlisa Valudes Whyte, SeniorPartner & COO

With offices in Reston,Virginia and San Francisco,Merritt Group helps create andmove markets for forwardthinking companies. MerrittGroup determines the right mixof communications channels —PR, marketing, digital, social

media, Web — and implementsstrategic campaigns to makeour clients’ messages resonatein the marketplace. Bringinginnovation and creativity to ourclient engagements, MerrittGroup places a premium onbuilding long-standing relation-ships with our clients. Ourexpertise is focused in six prac-tice areas — EnterpriseTechnology, Security,Communications &Networking, Government,Healthcare, and Energy. Someof our clients include MicrosoftPublic Sector, Booz AllenHamilton, U.S. Pharmacopeia,(ISC)² and Teradata.

MWW

304 Park Avenue SouthNew York, NY 10010212/704-9727Fax: 212/704-0917www.mww.com

Michael W. Kempner, President /CEOEphraim Cohen, EVP,Technology and Digital ContentEric Villines, Senior VP, GeneralManager, Deputy HeadTechnology

MWW is one of the nation’stop mid-sized public relationsfirms and one of the ten largestindependent global agencies.At a strategic level, MWW’stechnology and digital contentpractice is driven by expertisethat focuses on how consumerelectronics, enterprise IT anddigital content have becomefully integrated. At a tacticallevel, our core team deliverstrue 360 expertise combinedwith meaningful influencer rela-tionships and true subject matterknowledge. As a result, we notonly know how to find the influ-encers most relevant to yourbrand, but how to engage themin a meaningful dialogue. Our technology and digital

content expertise includes:Strategy Planning; Consumer,Business and Trade MediaRelations; Industry AnalystRelations; Industry Speaker’sBureaus, Trade ShowMarketing; Consumer andIndustry Custom Events forProduct Marketing andLeadership; Online/OfflineCommunity Building; MediaMeetup Programs; Tech andContent Influencer SocialMedia Outreach; and CustomNews and Content Hub Sites.

OPEN CHANNELSGROUP

101 Summit Ave, Suite 208Fort Worth, TX 76102817/332-0404www.openchannelsgroup.comtwitter.com/openchannelsprfacebook.com/openchannelsgroup

Tonya Veasey, President & CEO

Based in Fort Worth, Texas,Open Channels Group (OCG) isa full-service public relationsagency specializing in digital,multicultural communicationsand public participation. Ourteam works in collaborativepartnerships with our clients toconnect with the diverse com-munities and customers theyserve. Digital communication is a

key component to successful,well-rounded public relations.Our digital experience includescomprehensive online strategyand branding; email marketing;social media strategy, training,consulting, and communitymanagement; video production;and website strategy, copywrit-ing, design, and development.With our experience in multi-cultural communications, weare especially adept at devisingdigital strategies to reachdiverse audiences. We take time to get to know

each client and customize ourapproach based on your needsand objectives. OCG will helpyou harness the power of digitalto extend your brand directly toyour audience and achieveresults.

PADILLA SPEERBEARDSLEY

1101 West River Pkwy.Minneapolis, MN 55415612/455-1700www.padillaspeer.com

Matt Kucharski, EVPAmy Fisher, Senior Director

Padilla Speer Beardsley is anationally recognized integratedcommunications firm with head-quarters in Minneapolis and anoffice in New York City. Our firmhas extensive technology experi-ence in both B2C and B2B mar-keting with award-winning capa-bilities in advertising and brand-ing, digital and social media, cri-

LAUNCHSQUAD�Continued from page 27




sis/critical issues management,investor relations, media and com-munity relations, corporate com-munications and market research.Padilla understands that cut-

ting-edge marketing and commu-nications for technology organiza-tions requires a blend of technicalaptitude, strategic marketingexpertise and the ability to exe-cute. Whether counseling con-sumer or business-to-businessorganizations, Padilla is adept atdeveloping and managing market-ing programs that include salessupport, events, media relations,interactive and social media,research, investor relations andpublic affairs.Current clients vary in size and

geographic reach, including SAP,Microsoft, Rockwell Automation,Five9, Fuzion Analytics, DirectSource, Tyco Retail Solutions,Restaurant Technologies and oth-ers.As a founding member of the

Worldcom Public RelationsGroup, our global clients haveaccess to the local-market knowl-edge of our 108 partner firms in 96cities on six continents. Worldcomtechnology clients include:IBM/Tivoli Systems, MazorSurgical Technologies, Fujitsu,Flextronics, Sony Ericsson,Xerox, Verbatim, ComputerSciences Corporation (CSC),Panasonic, Travelex and others.

RF|BINDER

950 Third Avenue, 7th FloorNew York, NY 10022212/994-7600www.rfbinder.comTwitter: @RFBinder

Amy Binder, CEO

Over the past decade, technol-ogy has shifted from being thedomain of engineers to beingsomething that comfortably per-meates and enhances all of ourday-to-day lives. Technology PRhas undergone a similar sea ofchange. Today, companies mustcommunicate to a broader set ofaudiences with more personal-ized messages and calls to actionthan ever before. Whetheryou’re in the cloud, mobile orvirtual (or all three), whetheryou’re in big data or a smalldevice, RF|Binder provides thetechnologies, strategies and tac-tics you need to effectively com-municate today.RF|Binder’s technology and

innovation practice combines

deep technology expertise, busi-ness acumen and communica-tions excellence to deliver pro-grams that significantly influ-ence consumer and business-buyer beliefs and behavior. Wework closely with our clients toeffectively communicate theirmessages through words,images, sounds and experiences.We help technology companiestranscend traditional product-centric PR in a way that buildsboth sales and lasting marketvalue.Our clients run the gamut —

from the world’s leading multi-nationals to venture-backedstart-ups who are upending orcreating new industries.Regardless of your size,RF|Binder will work with you todevelop the communicationsprogram that meets your specificbusiness and marketing goals.

ROGERS ANDCOWAN

Pacific Design Center8687 Melrose Ave., 7th FloorLos Angeles, CA 90069310/854-8117Fax: 310/854-8106www.rogersandcowan.com

Tom Tardio, CEOSallie Olmsted, Executive VicePresident

Rogers & Cowan specializesin working with emerging andestablished technology brandswhose products and services areat the intersection of technology,entertainment, digital contentand healthy lifestyles.Our dedicated team of special-

ists has in-depth knowledge andexperience working with con-sumer electronics hardware,mobile content/devices, embed-ded and core technologies andsoftware, distribution technolo-gies, video game products, con-sumer health and wellness, sus-tainable / green technologies,and social / digital media compa-nies to introduce their productsand services to the trade, busi-ness and entertainment commu-nities as well as ultimate end-users.We take a 360 degree

approach to helping our clientsintroduce technologies, productsand services to current as well asnew industry sectors. Ourclients benefit from senior levelcounsel and advisory services

derived from decades of hands-on work, including new categoryintroductions.From concept creation to trade

and B2B outreach and consumerlaunch to sustaining critical massand momentum, we maximizemedia exposure, brand position-ing and consumer buzz for ourclients’ digital content, servicesand devices. We are adept attranslating buzzwords and jar-gon to into “Plain English” todeliver marketing solutions thatcan be clearly understood andabsorbed by both B2B and con-sumer target audiences.Representative clients/projects

have included: Rdio, Sonos,Kobo, Amazon Studios,Microsoft, Myspace, Viggle,YooToo Social TV, IMAX, 3DEntertainment Summits,Multiscreen Summit, NVIDIA,Razer, Cie Studios, 505 Games,GenAudio, Laser Light Engines,Warner Bros InteractiveEntertainment, RentrakCorporation, Shangri-LaIndustries, GlaxoSmithKline,University MedicalPharmaceuticals and TEDMEDconferences.

RUDER FINN, INC.

301 East 57th StreetNew York, NY 10022www.ruderfinn.com

Kathy Bloomgarden, CEORachel Spielman, Global Headof Corporate CommunicationsJen Long, Director of Technology& Innovation

Whether you’re powering thecloud, connecting people to real-

time information or paving theway for entirely new computingmodels, our team of passionatestorytellers is committed to help-ing innovative technology com-panies develop and tell their sto-ries. Ruder Finn has deep knowl-edge of the technology sectorwith strong expertise in key ver-ticals across the spectrum, fromaerospace to healthcare, andmanufacturing to mobile andconsumer technologies. RuderFinn works with some of theworld’s leading technology com-panies to create meaningful con-tent, including engaging visualsand videos, and dynamic storiesfor digital and traditional medi-ums that resonate with importantstakeholders. Ruder Finn alsospecializes in working with tech-nology companies aroundimportant corporate milestones,including financial earnings andIPOs.Ruder Finn’s expertise lies in

helping technology clients,whether their lesser-known startups or some of the largest globalsoftware providers enhance theirpositioning in competitive mar-kets. Ruder Finn works withtechnology clients on corporatereputation, brand awareness,stakeholder mapping, C-suitethought leadership, global mediarelations, new product and serv-ices launches, industry analystrelations, marketing communi-cations, corporate social respon-sibility, online engagement andmobile marketing to establishconsistent brand communica-tions and build awareness withconsumers, thought leaders,journalists and other key stake-holders.

RANKINGS OF PR FIRMS SPECIALIZING IN AGRICULTURE

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Edelman New York

Gibbs & Soell New York

Morgan & Myers Jefferson, WI

Padilla Speer Beardsley Minneapolis

Standing Partnership St. Louis

French | West | Vaughan Raleigh

Levick Strategic Comms. Wash., D.C.

Guthrie/Mayes & Associates Louisville

Feintuch Comms. New York

$39,843,916

7,674,914

4,934,650

4,008,110

703,353

212,000

199,366

90,687

34,650

© Copyright 2012 The J.R. O'Dwyer Co.




SCHWARTZ MSL

300 Fifth Avenue Waltham, MA 02451781/684-0770Fax: 781/[email protected]

595 Market StreetSan Francisco, CA 94105415/512-0770Fax: 415/882-5787

Bryan Scanlon, President

Schwartz MSL is a full-serviceglobal PR and engagementagency specializing in technolo-gy, healthcare and energy innova-tions. Part of MSLGROUP, oneof the five largest agencies in theworld, Schwartz MSL designsand executes award-winningcommunications programs com-bining the best of traditionalmedia and influencer relationswith social, digital and contentmarketing. We help innovators ofall sizes in medical devices anddiagnostics; biotechnology;healthcare IT; information securi-ty; data center and cloud innova-tions; sustainability; and con-sumer, B2B and enterprise soft-ware, hardware and services. Noone does a better job of drivinginfluence across public relations

channels — from the dailies tothe digital — that deliver realbusiness and brand impact atevery turn. Current and pastclients include: GE Healthcare,Kimberly-Clark, Lexis Nexis,MicroStrategy, Imation, FiServ,RetailMeNot, BillMeLater,Netezza, Boston Scientific, BlueCoat, Ancestry.com, SoftwareAG, Dow Corning, E Ink,Medtronic, Epocrates, LifeLock,VMware, Red Hat, Thales,Borrego Solar, Elster andNational Grid. Follow our story atwww.schwartzmsl.com

SHELTON GROUP

12400 Coit Road, Suite 650Dallas, TX 75251972/239-5119Fax: 972/[email protected]

Jodi Shelton, President & CEOStacey Gaswirth, Exec. VicePresident, PRKatie Olivier, Vice President, PR

Shelton Group is a full-service,strategic PR and IR agency pro-viding customized programs andservices to public and privatelyheld companies across multipleindustries. Shelton offers a teamof professionals with diversebackgrounds that uniquely blend

business acumen with creativityto deliver the highest quality ofservice. Applying an integratedapproach to corporate communi-cations, Shelton Group delivers acompany’s unified story to all tar-geted audiences. Through a dedi-cation to value-added service anda national network of key strate-gic relationships, Shelton Grouphas built a trusted reputation withthe media, industry experts andthe financial community that pro-duces immediate results foremerging and established compa-nies. The company has offices inTexas, California and Taiwan. Formore information visitwww.sheltongroup.com.

SPARKPR

2 Bryant St., Suite 100San Francisco, CA 94105415/962-8200www.sparkpr.com

Alan Soucy, CEODonna Sokolsky Burke, Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Sparkpr celebrates over 12years as one of the world’s topindependent PR agencies.Working with businesses thatrange from stealth start-ups toglobal public companies, Sparkprhas been built by a team of enthu-siastic, brainy individuals with aknack for cultivating some of thebest media and influencer relation-ships in the industry. Known for cutting-edge social

and traditional media, Sparkpr’s

services are designed to helpclients achieve their businessgoals through creative, well-exe-cuted and sometimes unconven-tional public relations campaigns.The company’s track record forresults has earned a number ofindustry awards, including TheHolmes Report “Tech Agency ofthe Year 2012” Award, SanFrancisco Business Times “BestPlaces to Work in San FranciscoAward” from 2010-2012,PRSourcecode’s #1 Mid-sizeAgency Award, and a top 10 spotin O’Dwyer’s rankings of PRfirm revenue gainers, for twoyears running. Sparkpr’s clients span across

numerous areas of expertise includ-ing Advertising & Media,Consumer / Lifestyle, ConsumerElectronics, EmbeddedTechnologies, Enterprise & OpenSource, Entertainment, Gaming,Green Tech, Mobile & Wireless,Social Media & Networking,Venture Capital and FinancialServices. We maintain an elite teamof more than 45 PR professionalsand are headquartered in SanFrancisco, CA, with offices in NewYork, London, Los Angeles, andCape Town. Clients in our current account

roster include: Barclaycard US,Blinkx, DuPont Innovalight, Etsy,Good Technology, GreylockPartners, Hootsuite, iHealth,Intelius, Love Home Swap, NEA,Nielsen, Pinnacle Engines, Rdio,Spiceworks, SugarCRM, TheToday Show, Vevo, and VirginGreen Fund.

Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, President and Founder ofWaggener Edstrom Worldwide.

Bryan Scanlon, President of Schwartz MSL.


1,600 FIRMS LISTED IN 2012 DIRECTORY

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TREVELINO /KELLER

949 W. Marietta St., Ste. X-106 Atlanta, GA 30318 404/214-0722www.trevelinokeller.comwww.wheelhousetk.com www.prstarbase.com

Dean Trevelino & Genna Keller,Principals

Trevelino/Keller, a full-servicepublic relations, social media andmarketing firm, features one of theSoutheast’s largest technologypractices. It works with establishedand emerging brands on a region-al, national and international level.Client experience includestelecommunications, wireless,manufacturing, network security,software, SaaS, SAP, retail technol-ogy, business intelligence, ecom-merce, online applications, fintechand consumer electronics. Servicesinclude media relations, analystrelations, executive visibility, crisispreparedness, award programs,trade show representation, socialmedia, mobile app launches, onlinecommunities, SEO, brand identity,marketing collateral and interac-tive.As an independent PR firm,

Trevelino/Keller is recognized forproprietary methodologies andvalue-added partnerships. In 2005,it created the Atlas Alliance, agroup of like-minded boutiquefirms that deliver integrated mar-keting and public relations servic-es domestically and in Europe,Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.In 2006, it created the Start-UpCouncil, focused on supportingstart-up companies by deliveringmulti-disciplined counsel in a gratisenvironment. In 2009, it launchedPR Starbase, which has becomeone of the industry’s largest talentportals. In 2010, it launchedWheelhouse, an extended commu-nity of experts who offer comple-mentary services to the firm,including video production, inter-active programming and SEO andPPC. Recognized as a Best Placesto Work firm in Georgia andAtlanta, it’s also recognized as oneof the 30 best firms to work for inNorth America.

TRYLON SMR

41 East 11th Street, Suite 1100New York, NY 10003212/[email protected]

www.trylonsmr.com

Lloyd P. Trufelman, President

Since 1990 Trylon SMR hasbeen an innovator in developingand implementing successfulstrategic media relations cam-paigns specifically for clients inthe technology, media, telecomand related industries, utilizing awide portfolio of integrated new,social, digital and mainstreammedia strategies. Trylon SMRdevelops and implements individ-ually designed, cost-effectivecommunications campaigns basedon precise strategic planning andtactical execution that consistentlyproduce tangible results. Theagency’s process is based on aproprietary “reverse reporting”model. Trylon SMR servesdomestic and international clientsfrom its headquarters in New YorkCity, leveraging its knowledge of,and relationships with, top nation-al, consumer, business and trademedia/blogs, all without strict bill-able hours or long term contracts.

WAGGENEREDSTROM

WORLDWIDE

225 108th Ave. NE, Suite 600Bellevue, WA 98004www.waggeneredstrom.com

Waggener Edstrom Worldwide(WE) is a global, integrated com-munications agency. For more than25 years the independently ownedfirm has developed strategic com-munications programs for innova-tive and world-changing clients,working to influence markets,inspire people and improve lives.With more than 850 employees in19 offices around the world, and itsGlobal Alliance partners whichexpand the agency’s reach to morethan 80 additional internationalmarkets, WE leverages IntegratedInfluence, its planning, executionand measurement methodologythat uses channels of earned, paidand owned media to help clientsmake a positive impact andachieve their business outcomes.To learn more, visitwww.WaggenerEdstrom.com.

WCG

60 Francisco StreetSan Francisco, CA 94133415/362-5018Fax: 415/362-5019www.wcgworld.com

[email protected]: blog.wcgworld.comTwitter: @WCGWorld

Jim Weiss, Founder and CEOBob Pearson, PresidentTim Marklein, Practice Leader-Technology & Analytics

WCG is a global communica-tions agency offering integratedcreative, interactive and marketingcommunications services to clientsin healthcare, technology, con-sumer products, and entertainment.WCG is creating the positive futureof communications by focusing onthe corporate, product marketingand communications needs of theworld’s leading companies.Established in 2001 by Jim

Weiss, a 25 year veteran in health-care communications, the agencyhas grown to 289 employees serv-ing clients globally with offices inSan Francisco, New York, Chicago,Washington, D.C., Austin, LosAngeles and London.WCG’s seasoned professionals

remain the greatest asset we offerour clients. Our teams specialize inbranding, design, digital, socialmedia, interactive, social and tradi-tional marketing, location basedmarketing, corporate and productPR, media, investor and advocacyrelations, clinical trial recruitmentand grassroots direct-to-patientcommunications.For more information, visit our

website at www.wcgworld.com orfollow us on Twitter@WCGWorld.

WEBER SHANDWICK

919 Third AvenueNew York, NY 10022415/[email protected]

Brad Williams, President, NorthAmerican Technology Practice

Technology is transformingevery business, every industry andevery life. And every story: Techhas gone mainstream.To be meaningful and relevant in

the engagement era, technologyneeds context. So today, we tellhuman stories about innovation’simpact. We talk technology with ahuman accent. Weber Shandwick’s Technology

Practice delivers impact for tech-nology clients across all the majorindustry verticals: consumer elec-tronics, digital media and entertain-ment, e-commerce, telecommuni-

cations & mobility, enterprise &consumer software, cloud services,security, storage, clean-tech/sustainability and more. Andincreasingly, we work with non-tech companies to showcase theirinnovative applications of technol-ogy — telling the stories of criticalinvestments in business transfor-mation. Our global network of specialists

serves large and emerging technol-ogy clients around the world. Ourpeople deliver best-in-class publicrelations, digital, social and mobilemarketing, content developmentand strategy and reputation man-agement services. Weber Shandwick technology

clients include Amazon.com,American Airlines, Bank ofAmerica, Capgemini, Concur,General Motors, GSMA,Honeywell, Iron Mountain,Microsoft, Motorola Mobility,NCR, NetApp, Samsung, Sonos,Symantec, VeriSign, Verizon andZipcar.

ZENO GROUP

275 Shoreline Drive, Suite 530Redwood City, CA 94065650/801-7950www.zenogroup.com

Barby Siegel, CEO (New York)Todd Irwin, Managing Director,Technology (Silicon Valley)

Zeno Group’s technology prac-tice was reinvigorated in the pastyear with the opening of its SiliconValley office in December 2011.Since then, the firm has won sever-al significant engagements, includ-ing Micron, Brocade and McAfee.The firm represents business-to-business tech and consumer techcompanies, implementing cam-paigns that integrate traditional PRwith social media. Zeno representsclients in online entertainment andservices, clean energy, enterprisehardware and software, andembedded systems. It also repre-sents venture capital and privateequity firms focused on technologyinvestments. Zeno’s Silicon Valley,Los Angeles, Chicago and NewYork offices work together in a sin-gle P&L on tech clients, includingWargaming, VeriFone, Webtrends,Expion, and more, and does probono PR for the Churchill Club, aSilicon Valley thought leadershipforum. Zeno recently announced asignificant international expansionin the UK, Singapore, India andIndonesia, with China pending,making it a mid-sized agencyoption for global engagements. �


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Edelman New York

Waggener Edstrom Bellevue, WA

Text 100 Global PR New York

APCO Worldwide Wash., D.C.

Atomic PR San Francisco

Qorvis Communications Wash., D.C.

Sparkpr San Francisco

The Hoffman Agency San Jose

Davies Murphy Group Burlington, MA

Finn Partners New York

Airfoil PR Detroit

Horn Group San Francisco

MWW Group E. Rutherford, NJ

LaunchSquad San Francisco

Merritt Group Reston, VA

Allison+Partners San Francisco

Padilla Speer Beardsley Minneapolis

Matter Communications Boston

Fahlgren Mortine Columbus

Shelton Group Dallas

Formula PR San Diego

Coyne PR Parsippany, NJ

Jackson Spalding Atlanta

Gibbs & Soell New York

Makovsky + Co. New York

Borders + Gratehouse San Francisco

Bateman Group San Francisco

Kaplow New York

Black Twig Communications St. Louis

Ruder Finn New York

WCG San Francisco

CJP Communications New York

Trylon SMR New York

Gregory FCA Ardmore, PA

Levick Strategic Comms. Wash., D.C.

Lambert, Edwards & Assocs. Grand Rapids, MI

Trevelino/Keller Comms. Atlanta

$126,752,418

59,305,000

50,425,771

31,080,000

12,006,603

10,458,650

10,396,043

9,150,000

8,883,415

8,700,000

8,127,627

7,900,000

7,603,000

7,573,405

6,573,638

6,300,000

6,026,509

5,750,000

5,527,786

3,398,270

3,395,989

3,373,000

3,250,339

3,125,853

3,000,000

2,982,627

2,337,557

2,100,000

2,050,000

2,044,000

2,001,200

1,886,160

1,881,321

1,750,000

1,679,969

1,250,000

1,150,000

© Copyright 2012 The J.R. O'Dwyer Co.

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CRT/tanaka Richmond, VA

Zeno Group New York

5W PR New York

Schneider Associates Boston

Catapult PR-IR Boulder, CO

Maloney & Fox New York

Bender/Helper Impact Los Angeles

RF | Binder Partners New York

Open Channels Group Ft. Worth

Nyhus Communications Seattle

Dye, Van Mol & Lawrence Nasville

K/F Communications San Francisco

Hunter PR New York

Linhart Public Relations Denver

Guthrie/Mayes & Associates Louisville

Phillips & Co. Austin

Feintuch Communications New York

Moore Consulting Group Tallahassee

Casey Communications St. Louis

CooperKatz & Co. New York

Rasky Baerlein Strategic Comms. Boston

L.C. Williams & Assocs. Chicago

Dukas Public Relations New York

Lane PR Portland, OR

Seigenthaler PR Nashville

Beehive PR St. Paul

Kohnstamm Comms. St. Paul

French | West | Vaughan Raleigh

Public Communications Chicago

McNeely Pigott & Fox Nashville

Rosica Comms. Paramus, NJ

CJ Public Relations Farmington, CT

Red Sky Public Relations Boise

O’Malley Hanson Comms. Chicago

Stuntman PR New York

Furia Rubel Communications Doylestown, PA

1,144,460

1,132,920

1,100,000

1,098,013

1,044,924

957,500

944,635

920,000

842,058

827,104

802,267

779,169

776,520

719,709

714,211

702,775

665,220

651,027

556,171

471,185

403,030

349,170

345,000

343,370

298,000

234,558

232,080

225,000

194,583

126,266

80,937

61,875

58,300

51,000

41,700

39,150



Professional DevelopmentOPINION

Last month, Greg Smith’s eagerly-anticipated memoir, “Why I QuitGoldman Sachs,” hit the book

stores — or Amazon.coms or whateverbooks are hitting these days.

Smith, of course, isthe erstwhileGoldman Sachs vicepresident who, disheartened andexasperated over thedeteriorating cultureat his grand old firm,walked away fromhis $500,000 job andspilled his guts in aNew York Times op-ed.Almost immediate-

ly, Smith received a$1.5 million bookdeal, which no doubt

cushioned the blow of the 12 years hehad invested in the tiresome first classflights and four-star hotel stays that isthe thankless lot of a Goldman equitiessalesman. Smith was all set for a rip-roaring

publicity tour when a funny thing happened. Goldman answered back. The normally tight-lipped investment

bank — the softest political punchingbag this side of Big Bird — launched itsown campaign to discredit Mr. Smithand his meritorious musings. • Smith, said one Goldman source,

regularly received performance ratingsin the bottom half of the company’sscale, even though he, himself, pickedthe reviewers.• Although Smith claimed that

Goldman executives called their clients“muppets,” the company produced anine-page document that turned up a lotof references to the Muppets movie, butno systematic discussion of clients asmuppets.• The coup de grace, said Goldman,

was that three months before his poisonpen letter in the Times — Smithdemanded to be paid more than $1 mil-lion and sought a promotion from vicepresident to managing director.It was all deliciously diabolical. And

whether you’re a Goldman “fan” or,more likely, “despiser,” you’ve got to

admire the company for striking back inthe face of an antagonist. More often than not, closed-mouth

companies and their CEOs — fearful offighting back — choose the coward’sway out, hiding behind oppressiveattorneys who always counsel, “Saynothing.” But “silence,” as they say in politics,

“grants the point.” And in the 21st century in the minds

of most, “no comment” generally meansyou’re “guilty.” Just ask Steve Ells and Montgomery

F. Moran, Co-Chief Executive Officersof Chipotle Mexico Grill, Inc.Notwithstanding the fact that it’s usual-ly never a good idea to have “co-CEOs,” Ells and Moran run a hotMexican restaurant chain (and I’m notjust talking about the burritos!)Chipotle, with 1,350 restaurants and a

decade of business experience, is a realcompany and a high-flying stock. AndI know because, full disclosure, I’m ashareholder. Chipotle was doing just fine until a

month or so ago when it ran into ahuman wrecking ball by the name ofDavid Einhorn.Einhorn, a notorious short-seller who

runs a hedge fund named GreenlightCapital, got in trouble several years agoas a board member of crooked sub-prime lender New Century Corp. Afterthe New Century went bankrupt,Einhorn joined 12 others in ponying up$90 million to settle various lawsuitsagainst the company.While traditional hedge fund man-

agers shun publicity and make their for-tunes quietly, Einhorn represents a newbreed. He bathes in the limelight, relish-es notoriety and commands carteblanche entrée to CNBC and other out-lets, which roll over when he deigns tohonor them with his presence. When Einhorn appears, it’s for one

purpose – to promote his personal port-folio. Most famously, he was the first tobad mouth Lehman Brothers, greasingthat company’s skids to extinction. In a prior day, outspoken short-sellers

like Einhorn would have been ostra-cized for “talking their book” — publi-cally extolling their investment posi-tions — but today, with lowered jour-nalistic standards and a toothlessSecurities and Exchange Commission,

such individuals freely roam the air-waves touting their bets. So one day in early October, when

Einhorn went after Chipotle, it wasn’tentirely unexpected. But what wasunexpected was the nature of his criti-cism; rather than citing financial rea-sons for knocking the company, hisargument was gastronomic. Chipotle competitor Yum Brand’s

Taco Bell, said the short seller-turned-food critic, “has a new ‘Cantina Bell’menu, which features items closer toChipotle’s menu than the typical TacoBell offering and is going to be a big hitand draw away customers.”The fact that Einhorn likely was long

Yum and short Chipotle didn’t fazefriendly CNBC, which plugged thecomments incessantly. When a numberof other reporters, including those at theWall Street Journal, challengedEinhorn’s epicurean assumptions, thestage was set for Chipotle managementto lash out at the tout, pummel him withfacts, punish him for conjecturing onareas about which he knew little, andexpose him for the blatant self-interestthat drove his comments. But sadly, Chipotle said nothing in

its own defense. With the company silent, its stock — yes, my stock! — plummeted. Finally, two weeks after the Einhorn

eruption had caused all the damage, thecompany announced earnings that wereup 20% but fell short of expectations,and the stock plunged further. Lost inthe earnings announcement was anobtuse, throwaway comment from Co-CEO Moran: “There was a lot of noise during the

quarter about somebody taking marketshare away from us. They did a lot ofvery, very heavy advertising. A lot ofthe advertising was intended to attractour customers for obvious reasons, butour transaction trends in the secondquarter, when none of that advertisinghappened, were identical to the thirdquarter when there was very, very heavyadvertising in the quarter. So we’re notseeing any kind of loss whatsoever inour transactions moving from us to anyother competitor.”In other words, Einhorn’s bloviating

was blatant baloney; the short seller waswrong. But it didn’t matter. Chipotle was

crushed; its silence had granted thepoint. �

Fraser P. Seitel hasbeen a communicationsconsultant, author andteacher for 30 years. Heis the author of thePrentice-Hall text, ThePractice of PublicRelations.

Silence grants the pointBy Fraser Seitel



Financial Management

Last month I discussed the concept ofjob costing. This month I willexplain the procedures necessary to

implement a job costing system to under-stand how client profitability is analyzed.There are six steps that need to be imple-mented on the road to profitability.Step 1: Identify the job that is the cho-

sen cost objectThis is simple, the

cost object is a PRproject or otherengagement (here-inafter referred to asa “job”). Note weare focusing on thecost of one costobject that will beexpanded to allclients of the PRagency.Step 2: Identify

direct costs for theengagementUsually in a professional service organ-

ization there is only one significant directcost — professional labor. Each PR pro-fessional keeps a daily time record fortracing professional labor hours to indi-vidual PR jobs. There may be other directcosts associated with the job. They key iskeep track of these costs by client andposting the costs to the time and billingsystem. If this is not or cannot be easilyaccomplished, the costs will be consid-ered and indirect cost. For future refer-ence, let’s assume a job incurs 800 pro-fessional hours at an average direct costrate of $51 per hour. Step 3: Identify indirect cost pools

associated with the projectMost PR agencies group all their indi-

rect costs into a single cost pool calledjob support. This represents all costsassociated with supporting the PR job.The cost pool consists of a variety ofindividual costs, such as IT services, sec-retarial services, delivery services, thatare less predictable and less traceable tojobs than direct labor. One way of look-ing at indirect costs is to consider allcosts that cannot be directly traced to an engagement as an indirect cost.Therefore, the actual indirect cost ratecan only be computed on an actual basisat the end of the year. For purposes of this

example, I am considering total indirectcosts to be $1,269,000 ($499,000 forother labor related costs and $770,000 fornonlabor related costs).Step 4: Select the cost allocation base to

use in allocating each indirect cost to a jobThe allocation base selected for the job

support indirect cost pool is professionallabor hours, but can be expanded (to be dis-cussed in a subsequent column). For pur-poses of this column, I will assume thatactual professional labor hours worked were27,000 hours.Step 5: Develop the rate per unit of the

cost allocation base used to allocate indi-rect costs to the jobThe actual indirect cost rate for this PR

agency is $47 per professional labor hour:

The actual indirect costs allocated to thisspecific job are $37,600 ($47 x 800).Step 6: Assign the costs to the cost

object by adding all direct costs and allindirect costsThe information from steps 1 to 5 can

now be used to compute the actual cost ofa PR job:

Assuming that the fee to perform thisjob was $86,000, the costing systemshows a $7,600 operating profit. The keyis to cost the job before you quote a fee,not wait to the end to determine profitabil-ity. In order to do this two concepts arediscussed: normal costing and extendednormal costing.Normal costingA normal costing method traces direct

costs to a cost object (job) by using theactual direct cost rate(s) multiplied by theactual quantity of the direct cost inputand allocates indirect costs based on the

budgeted indirect cost rate(s) multipliedthe actual quantity of the cost allocationbase. Therefore, both actual costing andnormal costing trace direct costs to thejobs in the same way. The differencebetween the actual costing and normalcosting methods is that actual costinguses an actual indirect cost rate whilenormal costing used a budgeted indirectcost rate to cost jobs. Normal costing uses actual direct costs

because these costs are known and can bequickly traced to a job. Indirect costs, bydefinition, cannot be traced to jobs.Moreover, actual indirect costs are lesspredictable and not known until the endof the year. Normal costing uses the bud-geted rates for indirect costs to estimateor approximate the actual indirect costsof a job soon after the job is completed.Extended normal costingDifferent firms design their own

variations of normal costing systems.These systems aim at obtaining approxi-mations of actual costs of jobs, but theyuse average costing rates in an assortmentof ways. For example, in the examplegiven, actual direct labor costs may bedifficult to trace to jobs as they are com-pleted. This is because actual labor costsmay include profit based bonuses that areonly known at the end of the year. Also,hours may vary depending on the numberof working days in each month and thedemand from clients. In extended normal costing or budgeted

costing, budgeted labor rates are used.Therefore, budgeted rates are used forboth direct and indirect costs and are cal-culated at the beginning of the accountingperiod. This type of information is espe-cially useful when bidding on future jobs. In practice, costing systems will not

always map neatly into one of the costsystems described above. For example, aPR agency may have some of its actualdirect costs traced to jobs as incurred, andother direct costs allocated to jobs using abudgeted rate such as office support costs.The keyThe key to understanding client prof-

itability is to understand your cost struc-ture and prepare a detailed budget withdetaied assumptions. Based on actualinput, the budget forecast can be changed.Next month, an understanding of activitybased costing can go a long way to making your agency competitive andprofitable. �

How to obtain higher profitability — part IIIBy Richard Goldstein

Richard Goldsteinis a partner atBuchbinder Tunick &Company LLP, NewYork, Certified PublicAccountants.

Actual indirectcost rate =

Actual total costs inthe indirect cost pool

Actual total quantityof cost allocation base

$499,000 + $770,000

27,000=

$47 per professionallabor hour

=

Direct costs traced - professional labor $51 x 800 = $40,800

Indirect job costsallocated for PR

support$47 x 800 = $37,600

$78,400

+



PEOPLE IN PR

MSLGroup gives Winklerhealth/corp. post

MSLGroup has named ShellieWinkler, most recently GeneralManager of Edelman/New

York’s corporate and PA group, Director ofits North America health and corporatepractices. That puts her in charge of health clients

such as Eli Lilly,Shriners Hospitals forChildren, Bayer, andTrius Therapeutics.United Technologies,Sealed Air, Marsh &McLennan, GM andVivendi are membersof the corporate col-lection.Winkler handled

Edelman blue-chipslike GE Healthmagination, Dannon,Johnson & Johnson, Merck andMeadWestvaco. Prior to the stint at the No. 1 independent

firm, Winkler was managing director of thecorporate communications practice & chieflearning officer of Ogilvy PR Worldwide,and executive managing director of Hill &

Knowlton’s global health and pharmaceuti-cal practices. MSLGroup is part of Publicis Groupe. �

Sustainability proDrucker joins PT

Cindy Drucker, who was in charge ofglobal sustainability at S.C. Johnson& Sons, has joined Weber

Shandwick’s Powell Tate unit.As Executive VP in the Social Impact

practice, Drucker will counsel clients oncreation of CSR and “green” strategies.At S.C. Johnson, Drucker rolled sustain-

able programs for top brands includingWindex, OFF!, Ziploc and Glade.Earlier, Drucker was

Director of PublicEngagement for thePresidential NationalCommission on theBP DeepwaterHorizon Oil Spill andsenior advisor to theCEO of the WorldWildlife Fund on cli-mate change, energyand conservationmeasures.

She also was VP at Cone Inc., Senior VPat Solomon McCown and VP atEnvironmental Futures. �

Goodyear rolls withnew global PR chief

Paul Fitzhenry, VP of CorporateCommunications for TycoInternational, joined Goodyear

Tire & Rubber Co.on Oct. 8 as its ChiefCommun i c a t i o n sOfficer. Fitzhenry, 53, who

takes a Senior VP,global comms. title,moved to Tyco in2007 from Pfizer asthe then-$41 billionconglomerate reor-ganized after a splitinto three companies. He oversees globalcomms., as well as operations ofGoodyear’s iconic airships. Fitzhenry started out as a reporter in

Toronto before moving to PR. Earlierstints included The Upjohn Companyand Pharmacia with postings in U.S.,Canada and Europe.Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio, had

2011 revenue of $22.8 billion. �

Cuomo plugs in NBC vetfor communications

Allison Gollust, who left the exec-utive VP/corporate communica-tions slot at NBC Universal after

its merger with Comcast in 2010, wasnamed director of communications forNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Richard Bamberger, who previously

worked for Cuomosince 2008 when thegovernor was attor-ney general of NewYork, is steppingdown from the gov-ernor’s office afternearly two years inthe post. Gollust, a 14-year

NBC vet, was chiefspokeswoman forNBCU and CEO Jeff Zucker, who alsoleft after the Comcast merger, after stintsheading NBC News communications.“Allison is a consummate professional

who has a wealth of experience in com-munications and management,” Cuomosaid in a statement. �

Winkler

Gollust

Drucker

Fitzhenry


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WASHINGTON REPORT

APCO Worldwide and Fleishman-Hillard work the lobbyingbeat for Huawei Technologies, subject of a scathingCongressional report that charges the Chinese telecom

company poses a risk to U.S. national security.APCO, which began work for Huawei in 2010, collected

$180,000 of the company’s $820,000 in first-half lobbying outlays.It handles foreign investment and security-related issues, as well ascontact with the U.S.-China Economic and Security ReviewCommission.APCO’s team includes Barry Schumacher, senior director of

international policy who joined the D.C. PR firm in ’87 after work-ing trade policy issues for Florida Governor Bob Graham. He’s assisted by former Congressman Don Bonker (D-WA) and

Brian McLaughlin, who was a research assistant for Sen. RichardDurbin and for the Senate Homeland Security Committee.F-H picked up Huawei earlier this year for the “Congressional

review of cybersecurity procedures of telecommunications manu-facturers and any legislative proposals of federal agency policiesregarding cybersecurity and foreign telecommunications manufac-turers” according to its filing statement. Bill Black, Co-Chair of F-H’s global PA practice, leads the

Huawei push.China’s Commerce Dept. today slapped the House Intelligence

Committee report as “based on subjective conjecture and untruefoundations.” It believes the Committee has “made made ground-less accusations against China.”Huawei blistered the House findings as “China bashing.” �

Huawei dials up Apco, F-H

Justin Cole, U.S. corporate communications manager forIndian telecom and outsourcing giant Tata Communications,has joined the Federal Communications Commission as press

secretary.Neil Grace, a Burson-Marsteller alum who held the press

secretary post at FCC since May 2011, is moving to a senior com-munications advisory role under chairman Julius Genachowski. Hewas director of B-M’s issues and crisis unit in D.C, handling techand telecom clients. Cole joins the FCC after a year and a half at Tata. He was previ-

ously a journalist, working as an energy and business reporter forDow Jones Newswires, AFX News and Agence-France Presse,before moving to Fitch Ratings in an editorial corporate comms.role. Tammy Sun remains Director of Communications at the FCC. Genachowski, a Harvard Law School classmate of Barack

Obama, is in his third year as FCC chair. �

FCC revamps communications Rob Epplin, who has nearly 25 years of experience workingfor Republican politicos, has joined Gephardt GovernmentAffairs as VP.

Most recently, Epplin was Legislative Director for MaineSenator Sue Collins and staffer on the Senate Finance Committee. Earlier, he handled tax and trade matters for Gordon Smith of

Oregon, worked as analyst in the Office ofManagement and Budget and was staffer at theDept. of Education under Lamar Alexander.GGA, which is the firm of former House

Majority Leader and Democratic presidentialcontender Dick Gephardt, is the home ofRepublican strategists Scott Brenner (ex-Federal Aviation Administration spokesper-son) and Tom Blank (Transportation SecurityAdministration alum). �

Gephardt grabs GOP player

Epplin

Toyota, which is in the midst of a massive 7.5 million carrecall, has hired BGR Government Affairs to provide guid-ance on federal, regulatory and administrative actions on

energy, technology, manufacturing, tax and safety issues.A faulty door switch that could lead to car fires is the Japanese

automaker’s biggest recall since the sudden acceleration recalls of2009 and 2010.

Teetering Toyota hands keys toBGR

Porter Novelli Global Director of Health Susan Hayes hasleft the firm for an advance role with President Obama’sre-election campaign.

Hayes, who was at PN from 1996-2002, re-joined theOmnicom firm in 2010 and was named to the Global Health postin May 2011. Earlier stints included Cooney Waters Group and Ogilvy PR, in

addition to running her own PR consulting shop for eight years. PN, which works with the Internal Revenue Service and Dept.

of Health and Human Services among its government clients, hasnot yet been reached about a replacement.Julie Winskie, to whom Hayes reported, left the firm in

January. �

PN Director exits for Obama

USA Today (Oct. 11) reported that the recall, which includes 2.5million cars in the U.S, is a “new black eye” for the company and“another blemish on Toyota’s reputation for quality.” BGR has rolled out the heavy guns for Toyota. That team

includes Haley Barbour (former Mississippi Governor andRepublican party bigwig), Loren Monroe (aide to former NewMexico Senator Pete Domenici), Erskine Wells (ex-DeputyChief of Staff for Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker), JenniferLarkin Lukawski (Legislative Director for former CongressmanBob Dornan), Russell Roberts (ex-Chief of Staff to FloridaCongresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen) and Jonathan Mantz(National Finance Director for Hillary Clinton’s presidentialrun). �



International PR News

Israel’s Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairsplans a $260,000 PR campaign targeting bloggers and opinion-leaders at home and overseas to bolster the image of settle-

ments on the West Bank. The World Zionist Organization is to handle that effort, accord-

ing to a report on YNetnews.com.The PR drive comes as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has

called for elections to be moved up to January.According to the Ministry, the settlers are “misrepresented as a

violent, conquering and destructive group.”The Ministry said in a statement that the PR project “seeks to

set off proactive measures aiming to expose opinion leadersabroad to the complex Israeli reality, thus improving Israel’s global image.”It says the PR push is in line with its diplomatic strategy. “The

activity aims to take foreign delegations on trips across Israel,including the sites of conflict and the settlements, which stand atthe center of the de-legitimization efforts waged against Israel,”according to the Ministry. �

Israel to launch PR push to“legitimize” settlementsLevick Strategic Communications has inked a $240,000 con-

tract to represent Antigua and Barbuda, which licenses elec-tronic casinos, in its squabble over online gambling with the

U.S. The U.S. maintains the federal Wire Act prohibits onlinegambling.Under the six-month pact that went into effect Oct. 3, Levick

fronts A&B’s position that it has lost billions of potential gam-bling revenue due to this country’s “failure” to abide by variousrulings of the World Trade Organization. A&B has filed a claimwith the WTO for $3.4 billion in trade sanctions against the U.S.The Washington-based PR firm distributed a release Oct. 15 that

says if America fully complies with various WTO rulings, moneywill flow to the Caribbean nation so it can invest in “invest in edu-cation, further job creation and job training that will benefit everyAntiguan and Barbudan.”Settle of the decade-long impasse with the U.S. over remote

gaming services “will substantial positive impact on the country'sailing economy, adding diversity to the tourism industry whichaccounts for nearly 60% of gross domestic product and 40% ofinvestment,” according to the A&B’s statement.CEO Richard Levick and Colin Murdoch, A&B’s permanent

secretary/minister of finance, the economy and public administra-tion, signed the contract.

Levick sides with Antigua insquabble with U.S.

Michael Robinson, Levick Executive VP and acting Chair of thePA group, heads the firm’s effort for A&B. He’s assisted by JackDeschauer, Philip Ellwood and Ryan Stanton. �

Just Consulting LLC, Alexandria, VA, registered October 9, 2012 for Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,to research and analyze issues of concern to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and counsel the principal on U.S. areas of concern andactivities in the legislative and executive branches.

BGR Government Affairs, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered October 10, 2012 for Royal Thai Embassy, Washington, D.C., for strategicgovernment affairs and public relations services within the United States.

Washington Avenue International LLC, Washington, D.C., registered October 10, 2012 for Office of Governor, Bayelsa State of Nigeria,Yenagoa, Bayelsa, Nigeria, for planning meetings with companies and government officials and possible congressional representatives and the press.

� NEW FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT FILINGSFARA News

Below is a list of select companies that have registered with the U.S. Department of Justice, FARA Registration Unit, Washington,D.C., in order to comply with the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, regarding their consulting and communications work onbehalf of foreign principals, including governments, political parties, organizations, and individuals. For a complete list of filings,visit www.fara.gov.

� NEW LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT FILINGSBelow is a list of select companies that have registered with the Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records, and the Clerkof the House of Representatives, Legislative Resource Center, Washington, D.C., in order to comply with the Lobbying DisclosureAct of 1995. For a complete list of filings, visit www.senate.gov.

Hannegan Landau Poersch Advocacy, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered October 22, 2012 for Western Union, Edgewood, CO, regardingfinancial services integration.

38 North Solutions, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered October 22, 2012 for Retroficiency, Inc., Boston, MA, for DOE energy efficiency programs.

ADS Ventures, Inc., Boston, MA, registered October 22, 2012 for Tompkins Strategies, LLC, Washington, D.C., regarding FY12 NDAA, FY12defense appropriations.

Mapetsi Policy Group, Washington, D.C., registered October 19, 2012 for Penobscot Indian Nation, Indian Island, ME, regarding sovereignty,treaty rights, lands restoration, natural resources protection, emergency preparedness, 8(a) contracting.

Alston & Bird, LLP, Washington, D.C., registered October 19, 2012 for Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Washington, D.C., regarding youthmentoring program funding.

Fabiani & Company, Washington, D.C., registered October 19, 2012 for Sialix Inc., Newton, MA to secure DoD and DHHS funding for glycobiology research.

Lobbying News



North American Precis Syndicate, Inc., 415Madison Ave., 12th flr., New York, NY 10017.800/222-5551. [email protected];www.napsinfo.com. Dorothy York, President.

GET 100 to 400+ placements fromU.S. dailies and weeklies. We cover10,000+ newspapers. We send in avariety of formats including CDs,repro proofs, e-mail and RSS Feedsvia our www.napsnet.com Web sitefor editors.

Complete satisfaction with the resultsof each release or another one free.

NAPS is used by most Fortune 500companies, nearly all the 100 largestnational advertisers, all top-20 PRfirms, over 100 associations andmany government agencies.

CAMERA-READY RELEASES MEDIA & SPEAKER TRAINING

Impact Communications, 11 Bristol Place,Wilton, CT 06897-1524. (203) 529-3047;cell: (917) 208-0720; fax: (203) 529-3048;[email protected]. Jon Rosen, President.

BE PREPARED! Impact Commun-ications trains your spokespeople tosuccessfully communicate criticalmessages to your targeted audi-ences during print, television, andradio news interviews. Your cus-tomized workshops are issue-drivenand role-play based. Videotaping/critiquing. Groups/privately. Face-to-face/telephone interviews/newsconferences. Private label seminarsfor public relations agencies. Makeyour next news interview your best by calling Jon Rosen, ImpactCommunications, Your Presentation& Media Training Solution.

National Press Club, 529 14th St., N.W.,Washington, DC, 20045. 202/662-7580.www.press.org. Joshua Funk. Dir., Bus. Dev.

The National Press Club, a privateclub for journalists and communicators,has been “Where News Happens” formore than a century. Each year, theClub hosts over 250,000 visitors atmore than 2,000 events that are conveyed to global audiences in print, television and online. Our journalistmembers work with the NPC staff tocreate an ideal facility for news coverage – from a full service broad-cast operation, to fiber and wirelessconnectivity, to audio-visual services.

PR Buyer’s Guide To be featured in the monthly Buyerʼs Guide,Contact John OʼDwyer, [email protected]

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