May '11 PR Rankings Issue - Odwyerpr.com
May '11 PR Rankings Issue - Odwyerpr.com
May '11 PR Rankings Issue - Odwyerpr.com
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REPORT<br />
U.S. forces in Afghanistan seeks new <strong>PR</strong> support<br />
By Greg Hazley<br />
The Army has kicked off an RFP<br />
review of a multimillion-dollar <strong>PR</strong><br />
account supporting U.S. forces in<br />
Afghanistan.<br />
The RFP, initially expected to be released<br />
in early March, covers support for public<br />
affairs operations and is open until <strong>May</strong> 23.<br />
“The information domain is a battlespace,<br />
and it is one in which [U.S. forces in<br />
Afghanistan, or USFOR-A] must take<br />
aggressive actions to win the important<br />
battle of perception,” reads a statement of<br />
work document from the Army contracting<br />
<strong>com</strong>mand. “To date, the Insurgents have<br />
undermined the credibility of USFOR-A,<br />
the International Community, and<br />
Government of the Islamic Republic of<br />
Afghanistan (GIRoA) through effective<br />
use of the information environment, albeit<br />
without a <strong>com</strong>mensurate increase in their<br />
own credibility.<br />
“This is a critical problem for USFO-<br />
RA but the consequences for GIRoA are<br />
even greater. GIRoA and the IC need to<br />
wrest the information initiative from the<br />
INS. The main effort of all <strong>com</strong>munications<br />
activities is to maintain and<br />
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MAY 2011 WWW.ODWYER<strong>PR</strong>.COM<br />
strengthen the Afghan population’s<br />
positive perception<br />
of, and support for,<br />
GIRoA institutions and the<br />
constructive supporting<br />
role played by USFOR-A,<br />
and the IC.”<br />
The work is described as<br />
strategic <strong>com</strong>munications<br />
advisement and support<br />
services, as well as foreign<br />
media analysis for U.S.<br />
troops in Afghanistan.<br />
Specifically, the account<br />
involves media monitoring,<br />
strategic <strong>com</strong>munications advisement<br />
and enactment, including social media,<br />
and support for events like press conferences,<br />
all based in Kabul.<br />
The public affairs operation currently<br />
supporting U.S. forces in Afghanistan<br />
announced in Febrary plans to review its<br />
<strong>PR</strong> support contract with an open <strong>com</strong>petition.<br />
SOS International is the incumbent and<br />
received extensions in October 2010 and<br />
late March 2011 earning in total more<br />
than $70 million for its efforts. It won the<br />
pact in an open <strong>com</strong>petition in 2006. The<br />
Rendon Group and Fulcra Worldwide<br />
A U.S. Army sergeant on watch in Afghanistan's Kandahar<br />
province in February.<br />
Photo: Sadie Bleistein/Army<br />
have also provided military <strong>PR</strong> support<br />
on Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion in<br />
2001.<br />
SOSi, which is based in Reston, Va.,<br />
and operates out of Kabul in Afghanistan,<br />
won the business in its last open review<br />
in 2006, a pact initially capped at $67<br />
million but extended in October for an<br />
extra six months.<br />
A one-year contract is expected to be<br />
awarded for the up<strong>com</strong>ing RFP, although<br />
a base contract with up to four year-long<br />
options was outlined in preliminary<br />
descriptions in February. The RFP notes<br />
that the effort is “subject to the availability<br />
of funds,” notable because of the<br />
Obama administration’s timeframe to<br />
begin withdrawing troops this summer.<br />
Army contracting will oversee the RFP<br />
process. The RFP is available from Army<br />
contracting: https://www.fbo.gov <br />
<strong>PR</strong> news briefs<br />
STUDY: DOCTORS’ PATIENTS<br />
SHUN SOCIAL MEDIA<br />
A majority of adults say they would not use social<br />
media or instant messaging-type services for medical<br />
<strong>com</strong>munication with their doctors, according to a poll<br />
by Raleigh-based Capstrat and Public Policy Polling.<br />
Eighty-four percent — or five of six respondents<br />
— said they would avoid such digital <strong>com</strong>munications.<br />
Only one-fifth (21%) of the coveted millennial<br />
bracket of young adults aged 18-29 said they would<br />
take advantage of an online health option.<br />
The survey did show an opening for doctors to<br />
tape such technology for administrative and nonmedical<br />
<strong>com</strong>munications with patients, however.<br />
Eighty-nine percent said they would take advantage<br />
of email if their doctors offered it — 52% would<br />
confer with a doctor via email — and the same percentage<br />
said they would wel<strong>com</strong>e online appointment<br />
scheduling. More than three-quarters (78%)<br />
said they’d pay their doctors’ bills online.<br />
Only 11% said they would use social media like<br />
Twitter or Facebook to <strong>com</strong>municate with their doctor<br />
with a slighter larger number — 20% — saying<br />
they’d chat or use an instant-messaging service.<br />
The survey also took a pulse on how patients view<br />
healthcare reform. Asked what they “fear” will be<br />
affected the most by reform, one of the largest percentages<br />
included 23% who said doctor and provider<br />
choice.