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Vol. 26, No. 10October 2012EDITORIALWhy Mitt Romney has failed to captivateAmerican voters.6U.S. BUYS TV AD TIME TODEFLECT MUSLIM FILM FUROR 9The State Department is buying adtime on Pakistani TV to repudiate an anti-Muslim film that has incited violence.Chamberlain...................................11Cooney/Waters...............................13Edelman.........................................23Finn Partners..................................35GYMR...........................................5Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock.....1710HEALTHCARE ON THE HILL:TOP HEALTH EVENTS OF ‘12There were a number of healthcaremilestones in Washington D.C. this yearthat will have people talking for a long time.12KEEPING PUBLIC IN MINDWITH HEALTH EXCHANGESAs insurance exchanges are putinto place, efforts are made to make surethe public understands what’s going on.HEALTHCARE’S HEAD-LONG RUSH INTO TECH 14Technology now affects not onlyevery aspect of healthcare, but how wecommunicate about those advances.HOSPITAL LEADERS WARYOF INDUSTRY REFORM 16Reform has created an environmentwhere payors gain power, rates get tougher,and benefits are offset by negative factors.17HEALTH PRODUCT TAKESSTAGE AT SEX CONFERENCEAn innovative kegel exercisermade its debut at the CatalystCon conferencein Long Beach, CA.18COURTROOMS BECOMENIGHTMARE FOR PHARMAAccess to communications is paramountin an age where litigation in thehealth industry has become commonplace.20WHEN HEALTHCARE GOESTO THE TRADE SHOWHow to make your healthcareproduct stand out and grab attendees’attention at a trade show.22PERSONALIZED PR FOR AGEOF PERSONALIZED MEDSThose working in healthcare PRare witnessing two cultural watershedssimultaneously.2426272830324552PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE &MEDICAL PR FIRMSRANKINGS OF TOP HEALTHCARE& MEDICAL PR FIRMSWASHINGTON REPORTCOLUMNS464748495054Jones Public Affairs...................19KEF.........................................3Lambert Edwards & Associates.....20Live Star Entertainment..............25Log-On...........................................41NAPS........................INSIDE COVERTHE POLITICS OF HEALTH IN ANUNHEALTHY ENVIRONMENTAssessing the healthcare system from ahospital bed or the line at the drugstoreprovides a better understanding of whatcommunicators can do to fix our system.TARGETING PATIENTS IN APOST BLOCKBUSTER WORLDCommunicators are presented withchallenges as a more diverse range ofdrugs are catered to smaller patientpopulations.GOVERNMENT SITE HELPS CON-SUMERS FIND INSURANCEThe new healthcare.gov site helpsconsumers navigate insurance optionsavailable due to the recent passage ofthe Affordable Care Act.HEALTHCARE PR: A CAREER FORTHE AGESIf you’re looking for a job where you’renever bored, you might want to lookinto healthcare PR.SEVEN STRATEGIES FOR PEACEDURING A CRISISSeven communications principles thatoffer a strategic approach for beatingany crisis.PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTFraser SeitelFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTRichard GoldsteinGUEST COLUMNRichard NicolazzoGUEST COLUMNPaul OestreicherADVERTISERSPEOPLE IN PRPR BUYER’S GUIDE2045Ogilvy..........................BACK COVEROmega World Travel.......................43Open Channels Group....................21PCI...................................................9Premiere TV....................................27ReviveHealth..................................15www.odwyerpr.comDaily, up-to-the-minute PR newsEDITORIAL CALENDAR 2012January: Crisis Comms. / Buyer’s GuideFebruary: Environmental & P.A.March: Food & BeverageApril: Broadcast & Social MediaMay: PR Firm RankingsJune: Global & MulticulturalJuly: Travel & TourismAugust: Financial/I.R.September: Beauty & FashionOctober: Healthcare & MedicalNovember: High-TechDecember: Entertainment & SportsRosica............................................24Ruder Finn......................................31TGI Healthworks.............................29TV Access......................................49Twist Mktg........................................8WCG................................................7Statement of Ownership, Management & Circulation as required by U.S. Postal Service Form 3526-R. 1. & 13. Publication Title: OʼDwyerʼs. 2. Publication No.: 0003-525. 3. Filing Date: Sept. 19,2012. 4. & 5. Frequency of issue/Number of issues: Monthly/12. 6. Subscription price is $60 annually. 7. & 8. Mailing address of publication and general business office is 271 Madison Ave., NewYork, NY 10016. 9. Publisher (Jack OʼDwyer) and Editor (Kevin McCauley) are at 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. Stockholders: John R. OʼDwyer, Christine OʼDwyer, and John M.OʼDwyer, 271 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. 11. There are no holders of bonds, mortgages or other securities. 14. Issue date for circulation data to follow is Sept. 2012. A-I: Extent and natureof circulation: A. Average No. of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 2,000. Actual No. of copies of Sept. 2012 issue: 2,000. C. Average paid and/or requested circulation during preceding12 months: 1,415. Actual paid and/or requested circulation for Sept. 2012 issue: 1,420. E: Average total non-requested distribution by mail and outside the mail for preceding 12 months:515. Actual non-requested distribution by the mail and outside the mail for Sept. 2012 issue: 500. F: Total average distribution for preceding 12 months: 1,930. Actual distribution of Sept. 2012issue: 1,920. G: Average number of copies not distributed preceding 12 months: 70. Actual number of copies of Sept. 2012 issue not distributed: 80. H: Average of total distribution and copies notdistributed for preceding 12 months: 2,000. Sum of total Sept. 2012 issue distributed and not distributed: 2,000. I: Average percent paid and/or requested circulation for preceding 12 months: 73.3%.Actual percent paid and/or requested circulation for Sept. 2012 issue: 73.9%. I certify that all information furnished above is true and complete. John R. OʼDwyer, President, J.R. OʼDwyer Co.

14 YEARSof Advancing Health Policy andthe Science of HealthGYMR Public Relations specializes in health andhealth care communications that address thecritical issues our nation faces.We work with many of the country’s leadingfoundations, federal agencies, medical societies,corporations and nonprofit health organizations, andwe’re committed to quality and measurable results.The proof is in our continued growth andlong-term client relationships.Patrick McCabe, Sharon ReisPartners1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW | Suite 300 | Washington, DC 20009www.gymr.comFollow us on Twitter: @GYMRPR

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MEDIA REPORTU.S. buys ad time to deflect anti-Muslim film furorIn reaction to a wave of anti-U.S. violence that has sweptthe Middle East, the StateDepartment is now buyingPakistani TV time to promotetolerance and rebuff anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S.By Greg HazleyThe U.S. State Department is buyingad time on Pakistani TV toshow messages from PresidentBarack Obama and Secretary of StateHillary Clinton distancing the U.S.from an anti-Muslim movie clip that hasincited violence in the Middle East.State Deptartment SpokeswomanVictoria Nuland said in a Septemberpress briefing that the government hasspent about $70,000 to buy time onabout seven stations in Pakistan to showclips of speeches by the two top U.S.officials in the wake of widespread condemnationof the film, “The Innocenceof Muslims.”Large protests in Islamabad againstthe film and U.S. last month, some ofwhich turned violent, involved tens ofthousands of people. U.S. consulates inLahore, Karachi, and Peshawar wereclosed, although the embassy inIslamabad remained open.“As you know, after the video cameout, there was concern in lots of bodiespolitic, including Pakistan, as towhether this represented the views ofthe U.S. government,” said Nuland.“So in order to ensure we reached thelargest number of Pakistanis — some 90million, as I understand it in this casewith these spots — it was the judgmentthat this was the best way to do it.”In one ad, Clinton directly addressesthe anti-Muslim film. “Let me state veryclearly that the United States hasabsolutely nothing to do with thisvideo,” Clinton says, according toNuland. “We absolutely reject its contents.”In another ad, Obama says the U.S.has been a “nation of respect” since itsfounding “that respects all faiths.” Headds, “We reject all efforts to denigratethe religious beliefs of others.”The ads, which are subtitled in Urdu,carry the U.S. seal and carry notice thatthe message was paid.Nuland said the U.S. has bought adtime in a “select group of other countries”at other times in the past “whenyou’re working in a media environmentwhere this kind of purchase ofpublic service announcements is thenorm for getting your message out.”“I think the sense was that this particularaspect of the president and the secretary’smessage needed to be heard bymore Pakistanis than had heard it, andthat this was an effective way to get thatmessage out,” she said. Victoria NulandOCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 9

REPORTHealthcare on the Hill: top events of 2012 (so far)2012 has been a watershed year for healthcare. Here’s a list ofthe most talked about political healthcare events to occur inWashington this year.By Jill DosikEven before the presidential electioncame into full swing, there were anumber of events and initiatives inWashington D.C. this year that healthcarecommunicators should be knowledgeable— or at least informed — about.The Affordable Care ActThe most visible healthcare related milestoneis the June 28th Supreme Court rulingthat the Affordable Care Act (ACA) wasconstitutional. High profile though the decisionwas, it is only the final word legally(for the moment), not politically. The focusfor the ACA has now shifted back to politics;given the Romney campaign’s commitmentto repeal what they describe as“Obamacare,” its future hinges on the outcomeof the presidential election.Right now, the hot topic in the publicdomain is the two parties’ differentapproaches to funding Medicare. We canexpect this issue to remain central to candidates’discussion as both try to woo elderlyand baby-boomer voters in the next fewweeks.Biologics Price Competition andInnovation Act DevelopmentsOne of the most interesting provisions ofthe Affordable Care Act is the BiologicsPrice Competition and Innovation Act. OnFebruary 9th, 2012, the Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) released three longanticipated draft guidelines sketching outthe agency’s advice to drug manufacturerswhen developing and submitting applicationsfor generic biologics (called “biosimilars”or “follow-on biologics”) to the FDA.While seven of the top ten selling drugs inthe United States are biologics, biosimilarshave not historically been approvable in theU.S. The three new guidelines provide perspectiveon what an approval pathwaymight look like in the future.Biologics are made from human or animalDNA, making them much larger andmore complex than traditional “small molecule”drugs, which are made by combiningdifferent chemicals. Often used to treatchronic diseases, biologics (which includedrugs like Humira, Enbrel and Avastin)generate significant revenue for thebio/pharma industry. However, biologicsare difficult to replicate and expensive tomanufacture: they are highly sensitive tochanges in the manufacturing process withpotentially dangerous consequences. This,in turn, is one of the reasons why genericversions of biologics have never beenapprovable in the U.S. Whether biosimilarswill be well-received by the payor communityis debatable, as they are expected tocome in at only a 10-20% discount comparedto the innovator therapies; a substantiallysmaller decrease than the figures forsmall molecule drugs that go generic, andpossibly not enough to convince U.S. payorsto justify or force the switch from availablebiologics. Still, several major companiessuch as Amgen, Merck, Pfizer,Novartis and Biogen Idec have announcedthat they are embarking on biosimilar initiatives.If biosimilars are ever approved for theU.S. market, there is a heavy communicationstask ahead for biosimilar manufacturers.Manufacturers will need to showhealthcare providers, patients and payorsthat their products are safe and interchangeable.Costs will still be high, necessitatingpatient support services and co-pay assistanceat a level similar to biologic innovatorproducts. In tandem, makers of biologicinnovator drugs will have to make good useof communications to maintain their productposition, similar to how makers of smallmolecule drugs respond to their patenteddrugs going generic.Physician Payments Sunshine ProvisionMeant to take effect on January 1st thisyear, the Physician Payments SunshineProvision requires that drug, medicaldevice and medical supply manufacturersdisclose on a central website every paymentor object above $10 given to physiciansand teaching hospitals — or face asignificant fine. However, the responsefrom the industry has been overwhelminglynegative, with the Center for Medicareand Medicaid Services (CMS) currentlyworking through 300 comments submittedduring the public comment period. CMShas therefore decided to push the provision’sstart date to 2013. Interestingly,Massachusetts, the only state to currentlyhave a similar law in place, recentlyrepealed its disclosure law.If (or when) the Physician PaymentsSunshine Provision comes into effect, therewill be a number of implications, includingmore onerous record keeping and thepotential that doctors will shy away fromgetting involved with the pharma industryout of fear that patients will question theirintegrity.American Pain Foundation ShutdownAmerican Pain Foundation (APF), a notfor-profitorganization, announced its shutdownin May, “due to irreparable economiccircumstances”, following an investigationby ProPublica into its funding from drugcompanies (90% of its budget according tothe APF’s annual report). This triggered aresponse from Senators Max Baucus (D,MT) Chuck Grassley(R. IA) to the APF suggestingdrug companies“may be responsibleat least in part, foran epidemic of accidentaldeaths by addiction,by promotingmisleading informationabout narcoticpainkillers’ safety andeffectiveness.”Jill DosikWhat does this mean for healthcare communications?First of all, we might see agap in pain advocacy for patients. We canalso expect further scrutiny and less credibilityfor advocacy groups in other categories,as well as greater reluctance fromadvocacy groups to partner with pharma.PDUFA reauthorizedFirst signed in 1993, the PrescriptionDrug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which mandatesthat drug companies contributemoney to cover FDA review services, wasreauthorized for the fifth time in July 2012by a solid margin. PDUFA hopes to resultnot only in faster approvals for genericsand for treatments for life-threatening conditionsbut also fewer drug shortages.A PDUFA-related communications challengeto watch? There have been somerumblings that industry contributions toFDA approval budgets create an inappropriatecloseness between drug companiesand regulators.What does this mean for healthcarecomms? This year so far has seen a greatdeal of change in D.C., coupled with somestagnation surrounding, for instance, thePhysician Payments Sunshine Provision.Pair that with a good deal of tension andevolving economic and political dynamicsand you have a recipe for lots of uncertaintyfor healthcare companies. For healthcarecommunicators, this means we have to proceedwith a finely tuned combination offlexibility, trial and error and a great deal ofspecialized knowledge.Jill Dosik is President of GCI Health. 10OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

FEATUREBuilding health exchanges with the public in mindThe Supreme Court has spoken. Now states across the country —or at least 13 of them — are furiously working to implementhealth exchanges as required by a central element of theAffordable Care Act. But what are the health exchanges anyway?The exchanges are the equivalent ofan insurance super highway. It’swhere the public and small businesseswill be able to go and compare andshop for health insurance both subsidized,for those who qualify, and nonsubsidized.Each state will build its own,if they so choose, and that involves a lotof technology and a real understanding ofthe kind of information that the publicwill need to make an informed decision.By November 16, states have to let thefederal government know whether theyare going to build their own exchanges orleave it to the federal government.The exchanges themselves have to beup and ready to roll by January 2014when individuals must have insurance asrequired by law. And it’s estimated thatby 2016 as many as six million individualswill pay the penalty for not havinginsurance.Even as the exchanges are being builtand the infrastructure put in place toenroll millions of people, there’s a paralleleffort that has to take place to makesure the public understands and is onboard with the move to the exchanges.Because, ultimately, the questionbecomes: If you build it, will they come?As a recent New York Times articledetailed, California is spending $900,000to design and implement a public outreachcampaign across the state. It willinvolve dozens of languages to reach thediverse populations that make upCalifornia.The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,through its signature “Aligning Forcesfor Quality” initiative across the countryhas also built in and is supporting effortsto engage patients and consumers aboutwhat it means to create a “patient-centered”system of care.The hurdles are steep: For years theconversation about changing and improvingcare to focus on the patients has beenhappening above the heads of patientsand consumers. The language is foreign— it may as well be Greek — and likelyintentionally so: Accountable CareOrganizations, Medical Homes, HIT orBy Michal RegunbergEHR, global payments, quality measures.That’s obviously got to change.Healthcare is also one of the criticalissues that make people — especiallyindependent young men and small businessowners — two of the key targetaudiences — wary of intrusion. This isparticularly true when the perceived“intruder” is the government.Surmounting the natural suspicionaround such a personal issue requiresbuilding trust through common allies andtrusted peers and leaders.The Massachusetts experience: We inMassachusetts have a unique perspectiveon all of this. We built the first exchange— The Connector — when theCommonwealth passed health reform in2006. Today, 97% of the public hashealth insurance, the highest rate in thenation. There are valuable lessonslearned that we, as PR professionals, canoffer others to avoid some of the potentialpitfalls that come with any enterprise thisfar reaching.Massachusetts has been fortunate.From the beginning of health reform,there has been a coalition of businessleaders, providers, payers, advocates, andpolicymakers who all understood theimportance of the effort. They understoodthe far-reaching impact it would have inevery corner of the state and the need tocraft and deliver messages that wouldreach a diverse audience, from the youngcarefree guy who never thinks aboutgoing to a doctor until he breaks a boneskiing, to the small business of 10-25employees struggling just to make payroll,to a small profit where health insuranceis unaffordable, to the hospital staffwho see the uninsured on a daily basisand provide the same level of care nomatter who’s paying the bill. They areoften the first to meet the uninsured.The good news is there are, in everystate, a number of organizations that representsmall businesses, hospitals, healthinsurers, consumer advocates and otherswho can help deliver the message aboutthe importance of the exchange to thediverse audiences who will have the ability(and the obligation) to sign up forinsurance.Here are some of the lessons learnedfrom the Bay State experience:Define the message: The first step istailor messages for the various audiences.What small businesses or insurance brokersmay need to know is very differentfrom what consumers want to know andcan understand. There has to be a segmentationof the audience and researchdone to know what will move them to act.Once you’ve got that in hand, finding theright way to deliver the message becomesa lot easier.Create partnerships: InMassachusetts, the hospital association,for example, tookthe first step. Theyunderstood that hospitals,which have avested interest inmaking sure that asmany people as possiblecome throughtheir doors withinsurance, weremore than willing to Michal Regunbergbe a frontline tobegin to reach both small businesses andconsumers. In their individual communities,they are often the largest employerand therefore have a built-in relationshipwith the business community. They are,thus, a great venue for an informationalsession for small business that both reinforcestheir central role in healthcaredelivery as well as in promoting and sustainingtheir communities.Engage the public: Beyond that, thereneeds to be an aggressive ground and aireffort that informs the general public withmessages that will move them to act.Capturing and telling stories about realpeople are obviously important towardthat end. One of the criticisms about howthe Affordable Care Act (ACA) has beensold is that we have not seen the real storiesof people who have benefitted byACA. Without those stories, it’s easier todismiss the effort rather than buildingsupport. Every individual or small businesswho understands the benefits andwho signs up can and should be a championfor the larger effort. It’s the surestway to maintain and sustain the momentum.Michal Regunberg, Senior VicePresident, heads the healthcare practiceat Solomon McCown & Co. in Boston. 12OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

FEATUREHealthcare goes electronic, some assembly requiredTechnology-driven disruption isn’t new. Just ask the Wright Brothers or Thomas Edison. Butwhile those iconic “discoveries” are the stuff of legend, our technological innovations today arepractically ineffable by comparison. In fact, we’re approaching Vernor Vinge’s “singularity,”made popular by Ray Kurzweil, where technology transforms instantly, perpetually and mostimportant, unpredictably.By Scott BaumanIn healthcare, electronic health records(EHRs) and health informationexchanges (HIE) are two areas wheretechnology is driving massive change.Indeed, EHRs and HIE are transforminghealthcare, but first it’s important to providea little context.Disruption occurs so organically thesedays that in many cases we’re already transformedbefore we realize it. The first timethat you receive an offer from your favoriterestaurant on your smartphone it feels transformative:things seem to change overnight.But the technology infrastructure in place tosupport that mobile commerce actuallytraces its roots back fifteen years ago to1997, when Coca Cola started acceptingpayments via SMS for its vendingmachines in Finland. The offer you receivevia SMS today comprises many add-on disruptions“discovered” since 1997, includingembedded GPS capability, but mostconsumers are unaware of these complex,but integrated innovations that exist largely“under the hood.”On one hand, technology disruption inhealthcare is similar to consumer marketsbecause the underlying technologies aren’tnew. It’s the application of these technologiesthat makes headlines today. Unlike themobile commerce example above, however,consumers won’t (already don’t) tolerateany ambiguity, and marketing-speak won’thelp, especially with such tight regulatoryoversight and well-publicized privacy concerns.If you’re a professional communicatorworking in healthcare and related disciplines,you can’t fake it. You absolutelymust understand the transformation we’reexperiencing as well as the underlying technology.Otherwise, how are you going toexplain what’s next to consumers?The Health Information Technology forEconomic and Clinical Health (HITECH)Act, part of the American Recovery andReinvestment Act of 2009, is designed topromote the adoption and “meaningful use”of health information technology. Since thisarticle is not an in-depth overview ofHITECH, let’s simply establish that the Actcalls for “incentivized EHR adoption” byproviders in a way that achieves “significantimprovements in care.” Adoption isn’tthe goal, effective [meaningful] use is. Bythe way, after 2015 the incentive-only provisionends and failure to adopt EHR willlead to penalties that include increasingreductions in Medicare payments to laggardproviders.This means that between now and 2015,healthcare providers will be fixated onEHRs. You, the professional communicator,must be too. The “E” in EHR, electronic,frees providers to harness technology tomake patient information more meaningfulto them. This is important becauseHITECH adoption occurs in three stages:after stage one, which roughly comprisesbetter data capture and sharing, the realbenefits — to both patient and society —take root, but only if the system is properlydesigned and implemented.So here’s where an understanding oftechnology is crucial. What back-end technologies,such as business intelligence (BI)for example, are needed now for moreeffective data management, sharing andaccess down the road? What features willbest enable consumers to access, use andproactively manage their healthcare? Itcould be a specially-designed consumerportal. It might include smartphoneenabledfeatures. And what technologies,perhaps integrated with traditional communications,will help providers adhere to,possibly even exceed, meaningful userequirements?Before you answer these hypotheticals,let’s also consider HIE. HIE is all aboutinteroperability. In fact, many see HIE ascritical to fulfillment of stages two andthree of the HITECH requirements. In otherwords, without standardization and the“networked” features of an HIE, the meaningfuluse requirement falls apart. With it,however, all-important patient engagementcan and should increase, including offeringthe option for patients to submit data onlinefor universal access, the provision of translatedpatient educational materials andenabling patients to update and reviserecords themselves.All of this requires complementaryapproaches that combine technology, dataand usability in ways that foster engagementand improve doctor-patient communications.The result is better outcomes thatease burden on the system as a whole. Sowhat is the role of the professional communicatorin all this? For years, we’ve seen anatural — and powerful — hybridization ofthe marketing and IT functions. In somecompanies, CMOs and CIOs are becomingone, or at least collaborating as if they were.This is critical because technology andcommunications, the assumed bailiwick ofmarketing, are more closely aligned — or atleast should be — than many realize. Infact, industry analyst firm Gartner predictsthat by 2017, the CMO will spend more ontechnology than the CIO.If EHRs and HIE are intended to drivemeaningful use, they must first enableproviders to drive awareness, affinity andaction, often in that order. If professionalcommunicators are not strongly advocatingfor systems that are purpose-built forstreamlined communications and patientengagement, the most important points ofview are left out: those belonging to consumers.After all, communicators should bepatient advocates too, mining social media,patient surveys and other information toensure that provider adherence to HITECHisn’t generic or formulaic, but instead istransformative, as intended.So how can you get started? To beginwith, attach yourself to the EHR and HIEprocess and take inventory of all the placeswhere patients will engage with your brand(yes, every provider is a brand or part of abrand). Have an opinion on the technologyinfrastructure. Understand how usable andaccessible systems will be. Ask probingquestions about usability, mobile access,interoperability and standardization. Yourbrand’s HITECH adoption effort may notfail because of any one of these issuesalone, but it many never achieve successwithout them.You see, the disruption in healthcare thatwe’re living through today isn’t as muchabout privacy — that’s only one issue: It’sabout dramatic transformation. It’s aboutcreating singularity in healthcare, a technology-enabledsystem that doesn’t just healitself. It helps each of us heal ourselves.Scott Bauman is Executive Vice Presidentof Greenough in Boston. 14OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

FEATUREHospital leaders wary of industry reformMany hospital leaders say health reform is creating an environment where payors are gainingpower, rates are getting tougher, and any benefits that are created are more than offset by alitany of negative factors.By John O’DwyerThis is just one of the conclusionsfrom a recent ReviveHealth surveythat polled hospital CEOs,CFOs and payor relations executiveswho negotiate managed care contractswith national health insurance companies.Seventy-six percent of those surveyedsaid reforms would decrease their privatepayor rates, a four percent jumpfrom last year.Respondents represent 35% of hospitalsin the U.S., up from 28% who participatedlast year.“Hospitals really believe that healthreform is taking a difficult environmentand making it more difficult,” saidBrandon Edwards, President andFounder of ReviveHealth. ReviveHealthis a strategic communications firm specializingin health services, health technology,and health living.A big fear for hospitals is that employerswill dump their company-sponsoredhealth plans and send more and moreemployees to the newly created healthexchanges, according to Edwards.As it stands now, hospitals only profitfrom treating commerciallyinsuredpatients and loseout on Medicareand Medicaidtreatment.Payors might takeadvantage of theexchanges andoffer hospitalsr e i m b u r s e m e n tBrandon Edwards rates similar tothose forMedicare/Medicaid patients.“Most employers will realize it makesno sense to continue an employee-sponsoredhealth plan and will pay the subsidyto send employees to theexchanges,” Edwards said.In order to combat this trend hospitalswill have to make extreme cost cuts,altering the way they deliver servicewhile smaller hospitals will most likelysell out to big health systems, accordingto Edwards.“Shady” business practicesWellPoint came in as the country’sworst ranked health plan, their bad reputationdriven by corporate behavior.Independent, nonprofit BlueCrossplans continued to rank the worst onpayment rates for health care delivered.“WellPoint has earned its bottom spotin the 2012 survey this year throughaggressive behavior with hospitals allover the country,” Edwards said.Hospital executives are more concernedthan ever with protection fromdenials and complex contract languagethat reduces payment yields well belowwhat’s expected after negotiations arecompleted.There are an increasing number ofpublic contract battles between payorsand hospitals with WellPoint involved infive times the number of disputes thanall other Wall Street payors combinedover the past year.“The dominant market share ofWellPoint and nonprofit BlueCrossplans has created a huge problem forhospitals struggling to survive in thisenvironment, since they use that marketshare to enforce low payment rates andonerous contract language,” Edwardssaid.“If a major health plan is shrinking, it’salmost guaranteed that providers don’ttrust that health plan. If a major healthplan is growing, it’s almost guaranteedthat providerstrust the plan.Oddly enough,that doesn’tmean that theplan paysproviders thehighest rates —there doesn’tappear to be anycorrelation in thedata — but thatm e m b e r s h i pgrowth andshrinkage ispurely related toproviders’ viewsof the plans. It’sso simple, yetsuch a powerfulmetric,” Edwards stressed.A state-by-state look at the businesspractices of Anthem and independentBlue Cross Blue Shield plans can befound at www.feeling-blue.org, whichoffers news, trends, and financialupdates.Preventative care is keyHospitals believe population healthmanagement to be an important focuswith 71% reporting that they either havea program in the works or are planningone.Edwards sees a very different healthcaresystem going forward where therewill be increasingly more interactionbetween doctors and patients, not justwhen they’re sick, but in order to keepthem from needing the services of thehospital in the future.Affordable Care Organizations arealready being set up so that doctors canget paid to keep a group of patientshealthy, Edwards explained.Monigle Associates implemented thesurvey and those contacted by mail, e-mail, fax, and phone were asked to replyanonymously.Data was collected from Februarythrough June 2012 and those contactedwere screened to ensure they wereresponsible for negotiating contracts withmajor health plans.Complete survey results are availableat thinkrevivehealth.com. These recent headlines show that after a brief respite, hospital contractdisputes have now escalated in intensity and frequency, as payorsattempt to retain a larger share of the premium dollar.Graphic: ReviveHealth16OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

Health product takes stage at sexuality conferenceBy Abby Rose DaltoHealth-conscious manufacturerANEROS debuted a revolutionarynew product at the inauguralCatalystCon conference in Long Beach,CA, September 14-16. CT Schenk, CEOof Aneros, described CatalystCon as the“perfect venue” to introduce the Evi, aninnovative hands-free kegel exerciseranatomically designed to fit all women.“We chose this conference over themundane trade shows,” Schenk said,“because our focus is on the messagerather than distribution.”CatalystCon is a conference createdto “inspire exceptional conversationsabout sexuality” uniting sex educators,sex experts, health advocates, andactivists. “I feel it was groundbreakingfor Aneros to launch their product not atthe traditional industry trade show, butinstead at a conference that promotessex education,” said CatalystCon creatorDee Dennis. “The message Anerossent by debuting Evi at CatalystCon wastheir first concern is not bottom line orsales, but the sexual health and wellbeing of those who will buy their product.”Aneros has a long history of creatingunique, anatomical products that promotehealth as well as pleasure and currentlysells the only medically-patentedprostate massager on the market. TheEvi is their first product for women andcan be used to gauge and increase pelvicfloor strength.“We started out as a health companyand accidentally discovered a phenomenonin sexuality for both men andwomen,” said Schenk. “All of our productswere specifically designed with thefocus of improving symptoms of healthproblems.”“The interesting thing we havefound,” he continued, “is that so manypeople have learned to become in tunewith their bodies through continued usewhich can lead to an improved qualityof life.”Sex educator Ducky Doolittle introducedthe Evi to the conference attendeeswith a special seminar on kegelexercise and female anatomy. “Anerosunderstands the anatomy unlike anyother company,” she said, as sheexplained the importance of strengtheningthe PC muscles in the pelvic floor,which control urine flow and contract duringorgasm. These muscles can be weakenedby pregnancy, childbirth, aging, obesity,and certain surgeries, which mayresult in urinary and bowel incontinenceor uterine prolapse.“One of the most exciting things to meabout Evi is that we have already seensuch an overwhelming response from somany women that know they have a needfor this product,” said Schenk. “We are allvery excited to see what Evi will be ableto offer as an opportunity to improve thelives of women.”“Using toys built for kegel strengtheningwill help you get there faster,” saidDoolittle. “Without the toys, when youfirst start doing them they are totallyannoying. But the more you do it, the easierit becomes.”Aneros has signed on to be the PlatinumSponsor for CatalystCon East(www.catalystcon.com), which will takeplace March 15-17, 2013 in Washington,D.C. OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 17

FEATURECourtrooms become pharma’s latest nightmareLitigation in the health products space is commonplace. In thecourtroom, as in business relationships, a good name is essential.Solid reputation retains talented colleagues, physicianwillingness to listen to field staff, patient commitment to medicationcompliance and Beltway staffers’ open-minded perspectivebefore jumping to policy conclusions.By Gil BasheToday we see a very active frontagainst the pharmaceutical industryranging from plaintiff attorneys asking:“Have You Taken Drug NAME,” toSenate Congressional Inquiries or governmentagencies to US Attorney Generalinvestigations to disgruntled formeremployees. The reasons are too numerousto list. What is certain is if the target is largeenough and there is something to begained, it is best to have access to communicationsexpertise.Public relations practitioners require aplace at the strategy table during legal disputes;especially when litigation is at hand.Their role in aligning opinions, marshallingefforts with advocacy, lobbyingand media/reputation management, enableclients to guard hard-earned reputationand, if possible, avoid going to court.Effective response to a legal challenge isessential to guard hard-earned reputation.These days, with so many opportunities tofeed bloggers, pharmaceutical corporatecommunicators must be vigilant and preparedto respond. Once thought as peripheralto mainstream media, sources such asMain Justice and PharmaLot grab theattention for law beat reporters at nationalnews outlets who are mining for big stories.Should a PR agency determine legalstrategy? No, facts and legal strategydrive communication, and, in turn, communicationinfluences strategy. The sixpillars of legal communications: authenticate,align, accuracy, ally, assess andachieve — offer a framework for understandingand managing the flow of thedynamic.Too often Phrma communicatorsrespond as events unfold and that results ina series of company tactical reactions thatdiminish communications strategy impact.In fact, failure to look at plaintiff motive— desire for visibility, policy impact orincreasing the pain and therefore cost tosettle — leads to half-baked one-step-at-atimegame plans that are changed constantly.AuthenticateToo often, hypothesis over fact is drivingplanning. The first stop is to authenticate,differentiating assumptions and feelingsfrom fact: Why were there no casesat dozens of other area hospitals that hadalso received the same product? How wasthe product received, stored, handled andadministered? With patient safety paramount,making sure the action team hasfacts instead of open-ended questions setsthe tone for ensuring people stop pointingfingers and begin to think about how toguard against immediate risks.AccuracyWhen the facts are validated, only then isit possible to move fast in response. Onecompany facing government agency litigationdiligently guarded its reputation, showingthrough the media that it was transparentand worked carefully to guard its constitutionalrights, ensure access to care andcost sensitivity in accordance with U.S.patent law. Striking balance to Federalclaims made national-level reporters realizethat the “truth lies in the middle.” That is acritical territory pharmaceutical companiesoften fail to obtain.AlignShifting from feelings to facts, it’s time toengage proactively in answers to thoseanticipated questions. That is where the secondtenet align messaging comes in. Ensurethat everyone in the company’s legal, management,R&D, marketing, sales teamsconvey the same truths whenever and whereverthey interface with customers —patients, physicians, payers and media.AllyOnce core messaging around criticalquestions has been established, ally withexperts who share and can amplify thosetruths. Cultivate and leverage third-partysupport, ideally before there is an issue.Always remember, that whether they agreewith your position or have their own pointof-viewneutral parties will be called uponto comment. If they have no background,they are apt to play it safe even at yourexpense.Too often, companies feel groups or clinicalexperts are going to side with thenaysayers. In reality, left with no access tocompany expertise or what reporters arelikely to ask, their media comments are“quick think on their feet” reactions. Whenphysician experts see both sides of theissue, they are apt to rely on data and facts.When that information is not in hand, theirquotes are the result of responding to thereporters’ questions rather than helpingframe the issue for patients.AssessDuring a courttrial, it is vital tomonitor real-time forlitigation-relatednews. In all legalcases, assessing themainstream andsocial media horizon24/7, preparing andupdating standby Gil Bashestatements and makingexecutives available for media inquiriesis imperative.However, waiting for reporters to callwith questions may be too late. Media lookat online coverage to frame their storyideas. If the communications team is waitingfor calls with Q&A in hand, expect thearticle results to disappoint. Court cases arefast-breaking news. Make sure targetmedia know who to contact and don’t waittill they call — engage early!AchieveThink about the end-game — not thestruggle! A rule of thumb: do not panicevery time you see unfavorable coverage orblog posts. But do not stand idly by, either.Make sure key bloggers and reporters havethe right information and connect with themto explain complex legalese. Aligning opinionsrequires people have accurate information,so engage when information is incorrect.PR professionals should work with legalcolleagues toward achieving resolution ofthe dispute, using the clients’ company missionstatement as a guide (e.g., puttingpatients first). PR and policy counsel mustensure that not just shareholders, but stakeholdersincluding patients, healthcare professionals,policymakers, employees andpayers trust a client’s actions. They may notall agree; however, there should be nodoubt that what you are saying is true andtherefore, providing the other side of a completestory.Gil Bashe is Executive Vice President ofMakovsky Health. 18OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

Influence = Results[in-floo-uhns] noun, the action orprocess of producing effects onactions, behavior, opinions[ri-zuhlt] noun, a desirableor beneficial consequence,outcome, or effectJPA.comAs leaders in health communications, JPA helps our clients reach theright influencers, including: media, advocates, policy makers and keyopinion leaders. Our campaigns cut through the clutter and placeyour message in front of the right people at the right time.Washington Boston Paris

FEATUREWhen healthcare takes on the trade showBy Louise PollockWe’ve all seen the jars of freecandy, colorful logo pens andsmiley-face stress balls thattrade show exhibitors use in an earnestattempt to lure attendees to their booths. Atlarger healthcare professional meetings —such as those belonging to the AmericanHeart Association or the Academy ofNutrition & Dietetics — there are manycompanies exhibiting, and very little time toget through the endless aisles of information.Although pens and stress balls are useful,you’ll really need to stand out if youwant to grab attendees’ attention.The first step to successful trade showmarketing is setting a goal. Understandingwhat you want to get out of your boothinvestment will help you better plan how togo about achieving your goal. And keepingin mind what your target plans to get out ofthe meeting will help you determine theproper tactics to make the interaction mutuallybeneficial, and ultimately, ensureresults.Pulling from our experience with whatworks and what doesn’t, below are someideas for maximizing your trade showinvestment, with targeted and strategiccampaigns that will advance your businessstrategy.Think out of the exhibit boxAlthough in most cases you need to be anexhibitor in order to gain access to themeeting venue, you shouldn’t let that limityour activities. Instead of getting caught upin the rat race of the exhibit hall, think ofways to enhance your meeting presencebeyond the traditional booth. For example:Aim for quality, not quantity. It’s obviousthat the exhibit might be the best way toreach the largest number of people at once,but quantity doesn’t always mean quality.If your goal is to reach key opinion formerswith specific messaging, or to gain insightsfrom them for your company or brand, aroundtable outside normal meeting hours ata local venue is one way to capture theirundivided attention. Be sure to keenly targetyour invitation list to healthcare professionalswho will be most valuable to yourcompany or brand, send invitations well inadvance of the meeting and offer compensationfor their time. Or, if your budgetdoesn’t permit a roundtable, try arrangingone-on-one meetings with a few selectLE&A Health CareCorporate, global agency andWall Street talent skilled in makingcomplex communicationsCLEAR, CONSISTENT and RELEVANT- across key sectors and therapeutic areas,multiple products and technologies,and all business life cycles.For more information contact Don Hunt at dhunt@lambert-edwards.comor 616.233.0500 or visit our website at www.lambert-edwards.com.influencers.Strive to stand-out. Distributing samplesat your booth is expected, but not somuch at attendees’ hotels or outside theexhibit hall. Work with the meeting organizersto determine how you can maximizeyour presence with unique opportunities,such as sampling outside the conventioncenter as attendees enter, or reaching themin their hotel rooms first thing in the morningwith an impactful and useful door dropwith an incentive that drives them to visityour booth. Being their first contact of theday will help your company or brand standout and leave a lasting impression.If you build it, they will comeCreating a booth that is inviting and compellingwill help you draw the crowds, butonce you’ve reeled them in, don’t miss theopportunity to drive your message homeand learn from the experts. For example:• Showcase a video loop with grippingdata, messages or media segments to captureattention, provide information andspark conversation.• Bring your brand’s key messages to lifethrough engaging product demonstrations,group discussions with experts and interactivebranded educational experiences.• Get attendees talking about your brandonline through cause-based social mediaengagement at the exhibit.• Determine the most valuable informationyou hope to gain from attendees andprepare a quick and simple booth surveythat will gather that insightful data.• Provide a reason for attendees to stay atthe booth for a while, such as a celebrityauthor book signing. Attendees will behappy to wait in line, providing you withinvaluable time to drive your messageshome and gain insights.Even the most elaborate booths might notbe enough to make attendees stop in theirtracks, but add some fresh baked cookies oran aromatic cappuccino machine, and suddenlypeople can’t help but take a seat atyour booth and stay for a while … especiallyat healthcare meetings, like the AmericanAcademy of Family Physicians. A smallsnack for time-crunched attendees will go along way towards making your company orbrand more endearing.Don’t forget to capture contact informationwhenever you can. A simple “nice tomeet you” note and free sample can go along way to help build brand loyalty andreputation, and keep you top of mind withyour target audience.Louise Pollock is President of PollockCommunications in New York City. 20OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

FEATUREPersonalized PR in an age of personalized medicineThose of us involved in the life sciences industry today are working at a time of revolutionarychange — the kind that comes along perhaps once in a generation. What’s truly amazing however,is the fact that we fortunate few in healthcare communications are practicing our craft inthe midst of two such changes that are occurring almost simultaneously; changes that aretransforming both the world of medicine, and how we communicate, forever. By David AvitabileWe are now living in the age ofpersonalized medicine. Theability to diagnose and treathuman diseases based on molecular profilingis here, and our understanding of thescience and how to translate genetic informationinto clinical practice is increasingexponentially. Ten years ago, the cost ofsequencing a human genome was approximately$100 million. Today that cost iscloser to $1,000, making this process accessibleto most labs and hospitals. Efforts areunderway to bring this cost closer to $100.Biotechnology, pharmaceutical, diagnosticsand health informatics companies arenow commercializing products and technologiesthat enable healthcare providers tofulfill the promise of personalized medicine:the right treatment, for the rightpatient, at the right time. The Food andDrug Administration (FDA) is on boardwith personalized medicine, having nowapproved a number of drugs and technologiesthat use individual molecular profilesand other information to diagnose, treat andmanage patients.The commitment to advancing personalizedmedicine is growing increasinglystronger because governments, healthcareproviders, insurance companies, life sciencescompanies and healthcare technologyproviders are seeing the enormous potentialof personalized medicine to significantlyimprove health outcomes, reduce healthcarecosts and increase efficiency. Thoseinterested in really reforming healthcareshould consider the fact that before personalizedmedicine, an estimated 30-50% ofprescription drugs didn’t work for thepatients who were taking them. Now thinkabout the waste, in billions of dollars peryear, involved in that number. Imagine ifnew advances in personalized medicine areable to reduce that number over time to lessthan ten percent.Critics of personalized medicine, likecritics of the internal combustion engine,biotechnology, space travel, computers andother such “newfangled” technologies,argue that the cost model doesn’t currentlysupport widespread adoption, the scienceisn’t entirely understood and the status quo,which in this case is a healthcare systemthat will bankrupt our country if costs aren’tsomehow brought under control, isn’t reallyall that bad.There are challenges that must be met forpersonalized medicine to continue evolvingand for it to become widely accepted as bestpractice. But keep in mind that we are in theearly stages of this transformation.The Human Genome Project was completedin April, 2003. A 2006 report fromthe Personalized Medicine Coalition(PMC) profiled 13 prominent examples ofpersonalized medicine drugs, treatmentsand diagnostics products available. Themost recent version of this report, revised in2011, includes 72 prominent examples ofpersonalized medicine drugs, treatmentsand diagnostics products now available.Clearly industry and the research communityare meeting and overcoming the challengesinherent in commercializing personalizedmedicine treatments.For those of us who are practitioners, studentsand advocates of strategic communicationsand its potential to promote positivechange, the evolution of communicationstechnologies, and the influence these technologieshave had on how we serve ourclients, has been just as transformational.What is really interesting is the fact that thisevolution in communications has occurredat the same time as the evolution of personalizedmedicine.In 2003, the year that the HumanGenome Project announced that mappingthe human genome was complete,MySpace was launched. In terms of socialmedia, MySpace was really the first “shotheard ‘round the world.” Between 2005 andearly 2008, MySpace was the most visitedsocial media site in the world, surpassingGoogle in 2006 as the single most visitedwebsite in the United States.Simultaneously with the pace of changestaking place in diagnostics and personalizedmedicine, social media 1.0 was replaced bysocial media 2.0, when MySpace was overtakenby Facebook. Twitter, launched in2006, currently has over 500 million activeusers generating over 340 million tweetsdaily.As personalized medicine becomesincreasingly more sophisticated, so doesour ability to individualize and tailor treatmentsbased on very specific patient information.And as social media evolves, sodoes our ability to identify and reach ouraudiences based on specific interests orcharacteristics, and tailor our messagesspecifically to those audiences.Just a few years ago, pharmaceutical,biotechnology and medical technologycompanies were geared toward one-waycommunication. Legal, medical and regulatoryteams reviewedall content before itwas delivered to itsintended audience.Unfiltered two-waydialogue was reservedfor private meetings,corporate events, teleconferencesand medicalmeetings.Today’s life sciencescompanies haveadapted to the evolvingDavid Avitabileenvironment and are engaging in socialmedia, and personalized communications,like never before. In addition to participatingin existing channels including Twitter,Facebook, LinkedIn and others, some forwardthinking life sciences companies havegone a step further and created their ownsocial networks around specific diseases orunmet medical needs. In 2012, patients,physicians, influential bloggers and patientadvocacy groups are engaging directly withhealthcare companies via social media inways that many thought would never bepossible a few years ago.The keynote speaker at a recent conferenceon personalized medicine stated thatten years from now, we’ll be looking backon today as a tipping point; a time of amazingprogress in our ability to understandindividual genetic variations underlyingspecific diseases and treating patients basedon this information. I believe that in tenyears, healthcare communications professionalswill also look back on today as atime of transformational changes andgrowth in our ability to personalize ourcommunication and tailor messages to specifictarget audiences using social and digitalmedia platforms.David Avitabile is President of JFKCommunications, Inc. 22OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

FEATUREThe politics of health in an unhealthy environmentCommunicating in an industry where emotions run high andspecial interests block every initiative for change can be challenging.But paying attention to these obstacles could also bethe way to eventually improve healthcare in the United States.By Louis TharpAn apple a day doesn’t work anymore.And why would you wantto keep the doctor away? It’smore important to keep special interests,business and politicians at bay, but unfortunatelythere isn’t an edible aphorismthat does that, especially if you’re sick.Assessing the U.S. healthcare systemfrom a hospital bed, an emergency room,your doctor’s waiting room, or from theline at the drugstore, provides a richerunderstanding of what we do, politicallyand personally, to stay unhealthy.TGI Healthworks, a for-profit healthcarePR agency, and the non-profitGlobal Healthy Living Foundation, apatient advocacy and access-to-careorganization, were co-founded by SethGinsberg who was diagnosed withSpondyloarthropathy, a form of arthritis,at 13. He and the co-founders and separatemanagers of each organization,which include the author, create programsaimed at fundamentally changing the wayAmericans perceive health, and the waythey pay for it. We see healthcare fromthe sick person’s perspective.However, attempting to utilize communicationand advocacy to bring efficiencyto a system run on emotion by specialinterests is more the definition of frustrationthan a plausible objective. But itcould also be the only way to improvehealthcare in the United States.There are a few truisms in U.S. healthcaretoday, and most of them are disturbing,regardless of a person’s politicalposition.Medicare works and was put in placeby a Republican president — RichardNixon. Ninety-eight cents of every dollargoes to patient care compared with as littleas 50-cents, and now 80-cents as aresult of the Affordable Care Act, thatgoes into patient care in the private insurancemarket.Prevention is better than treatmentAbout half of us don’t take the medicinewe are prescribed for chronic, longtermillnesses such as high blood pressureand type 2 diabetes — two of many conditionsthat cause early death and expensiveend-of-life care if not treated.Sixty-two percent of us are overweight.Twenty-eight percent of us are obese.(2012 World Health Organization). Thatmakes us the fattest developed nation,which puts us first in line for heart disease,diabetes, highblood pressure,strokes, and wornout joints.Politicians andbusiness have madeour healthcaredelivery the bestand the worst in theworld — dependingon your ability topay, your educationlevel, and where youlive.Louis TharpThe United States spends nearly twiceas much per patient on healthcare asCanada and some other European nationswith outcomes only half as good.Medical care is rationed in the UnitedStates, as it is everywhere. Most developedcountries cover everyone, but notevery condition. The U.S. covers everycondition, but not everyone — even withthe Affordable Care Act.We know we rank embarrassingly lowin global health statistics such as theUnited Nations infant mortality rate(34th), and even worse according to ourown Central Intelligence Agency WorldFact Book (49th).Everyone will need healthcare at somepoint in their lives.We have not, as a country, rationalizedend-of-life care. The cost of the last sixmonths of life are staggering — with littleor no improvement in our quality-oflife.We choose to die with tubes andhoses going into and coming out of ourbodies, with family holding our handsand businesses emptying our wallets.We also know that regardless of ourpolitical position, what news program wewatch, or whether we believeContinued on next page24OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

“Government keep your hands off myMedicare,” is a sad statement, we are betteroff under the Affordable Care Act. Afew examples:Insurance companies can no longerdeny coverage based on pre-existingconditions or cap the dollar amount ofcare. This means people will get themedical treatment they need withoutresorting to bankruptcy and increasingthe tax burden on all of us by using stateprovidedmedical care such as Medicaid.Before the Affordable Care Act, morethan half of bankruptcies in the UnitedStates were the result of healthcare costs.Tax credits for business ease the cost ofproviding healthcare to employees.Everyone is eligible for some wellnessexams and preventive care, includingvaccines.Seniors are eligible for prescriptiondrug discounts.Young adults can stay on parent’s plansuntil they are 26.Eighty cents of every dollar spent forhealthcare insurance must now go tohealthcare, not profit, sales expenses orother costs. (Before the ACA, it was aslow as 50-cents.)Despite these facts — and they arefacts — many people still want put ourhealthcare decisions in the hands ofpoliticians whose priorities are not us orour health, or with companies whosebusiness strategies clearly are notaligned with our good health.In a sensible United States, a single,non-profit entity, focused on health outcomes,and able to negotiate fiercelywith all vendors in the healthcare system,would comprise the basic structure ofhealthcare delivery. Medicare the militaryhealthcare system and TRICARE,come closest to this model in the U.S.But we are not a rational country when itcomes to healthcare. When I talk withhealthcare experts, patients and policymakersin other developed countries,they admit their systems have problems,but they all agree on one point — theywould not trade their system for ours.Their systems reflect their country’sbelief that healthcare is a right, not anegotiated privilege.Private health insurance, which coversmost of us in the United States, is theantithesis of efficiency.It has to satisfy shareholders by makinga profit. Even if it is legally a non-profit,it still accrues the equivalent of profitsand competes in a for-profit environment.It has administrative and selling costswhich are only now regulated by theAffordable Care Act.It is the entity which rations healthcare,without significant oversight, and alwayswith a view to the bottom-line, by dictatinghow much it will pay for services, andwhat services it will pay for. Anyone witha life-threatening condition, or a chronicdisease can relate horror stories of havingto fight for care and coverage at a timewhen they are least able to fight.We also, as a country, don’t takeresponsibility for our own wellness.Somehow we believe that drinking morethan 16-ounces of sugary soda is ourright, but moderation is not our responsibility.And if we have any doubts, thesoda industry, on the back of its trucks,will tell us.Somewhere, our healthy identity hasbeen lost. It’s okay to waddle throughDisney World eating a greasy turkeyleg. It’s okay to sit in front of multiplewide-screen TVs watching sports,drinking and eating, and cheering onthose who choose to be fit. It’s okay toconsume a Big Gulp. It’s okay to join agym and rarely go. It’s okay to displayour stomach as we meet someone,almost as if it should be introduced separately,and wave goodbye with ourbutt. It’s okay for schools, when budgetsget tight, to cut physical educationand recess which benefit all students,but keep football, which benefits a fewand relegates the rest to seats in thebleachers eating. And finally, it’s okayto pontificate about state’s rights andindividual rights, and curse the “tax” ofhealthcare, and refuse, as a healthy 28-year-old to buy health insurance, and in40 years or less, force your family toorder the XXL 52-inch wide coffin.Why is this okay when we all representthe companies and the governmentagencies that actively promote orbenignly support unhealthy practices?Why can’t we all, in some small way,redirect the conversation our clientshave with their constituencies so thatrationalization becomes more familiar.Why can’t we all move toward sensiblesolutions that are phased in over time— like gradually reducing salt andsugar in prepared and processed foods— so that business strategies are protectedas much as, but not more than,health.The answer is, we can. If we can besatisfied with rewards that include betterinfant mortality, longer life, andfewer chronic diseases, we might beable to redirect the goals of healthcareand reduce the political tension. If weare focused on market share, competitiveadvantage, directing super PACsand wielding power, we won’t.Louis Tharp is CEO of TGI Healthworksin Upper Nyack, New York. OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 25

FEATURETargeting patients in a post “blockbuster” drug worldBy Diana Littman PaigeAwoman’s 88-year-old father hasbegun to lose his eyesight. Hisophthalmologist says there’s anew surgical option but it involvesmonths of rehabilitation therapy. Shouldshe broach it with her father or is he tooset in his ways to cope with such a bigchange? She’s not sure where to turn forhelp and support as this is such a newadvancement.A mother’s young daughter has a rare,but severe type of epilepsy. The fiveyear-oldsuffers from multiple seizuresdaily and her behavior has started tobecome erratic. The information shefinds online says little more than that thedisease is severe and hard to manage.She is desperate to learn about anythingshe can to ease her daughter’s symptomsand make her feel less helpless.These patient situations represent thenew challenges the healthcare communicationsindustry will deal with as pharmaceuticalpipelines fill with drugs forsmaller patient populations and evensmaller patient support resources. Eightof the 10 top-selling blockbuster drugsfor the major primary care disorders likediabetes, heart disease and asthma havelost their exclusivity, or will by 2016, andmany of the drugs launched in the nextfew years will be for niche diseases.Communications for niche diseasesare distinctly different from those forbroad-based primary care disorders,where every type of educational or supportprogram has probably already beendone. Several times. For general andmulticultural populations. For niche diseases,which often lack drugs approvedspecifically for their treatment, it’s notalways easy for patients to find morethan the most rudimentary informationabout the disease and coping with symptoms.In some cases, these diseases areso rare that there are few reliableresources at all.The effects of these diseases can bedevastating for patients and their caregivers.In addition to feeling hopeless,patients and caregivers can be burdenedwith financial issues and a diminishedquality of life. Parents of sick childrensuffer from guilt and feelings of helplessness.Tim Cote, the former head ofthe FDA’s Orphan ProductsDevelopment program, recently said,“There is no force in nature stronger thana mother with a sick child. She’ll do anythingand go to great lengths and bridgeany chasm to figure out how to get thingsmoving.” Many patients or caregiverswho have dealt with the disease for along time are highly informed, devouringnot only patient information but also invitro and clinical research reports in professionalpublications. They are a tightknitcommunity that is tuned into theinfluencers on their disease, includingpatient organizations and advocates,online influencers and academicresearchers.A joint study between the Pew Internetand American Life Project and theCalifornia HealthCare Foundation foundthat one in five Internet users go onlineseeking others with similar health concerns.And after receiving a diagnosis,especially for rare diseases, an increasingnumber of people turn to the web for supportand information to become moreengaged in their care.There’s a good chance these communitieswill be highly interested in — yethighly skeptical about — what a pharmaceuticalcompany can do to help them.The public relations profession is ideallysuited to take on these new communicationschallenges. Our ability to micro targetpatients, translate complicated scienceinto “consumer speak,” build strongrelationships and mobilize advocates arethe types of indispensable skills requiredto effectively reach and educate patients,raise awareness about treatments and fosterauthentic relationships with pharmaceuticaland biotech companies.Below are some of the essentials forsupporting brand marketing goals whilemeeting the specialized needs of thesepatient populations:• Understand your audience: In additionto the general target insights discussedabove, each patient group hascharacteristics specific to their disease.You may need to communicate only tothe patient, only to the caregiver, or havedifferent strategies for both audiences.Understand their language, the nuancesof their particular disorders, how patients,caregivers and HCPs interacts and usethis knowledge to develop meaningfuland relatable education and support programsthat help patients (and caregivers)live better lives, not just learn about anew therapy.• Build relationships early — andoften: Relationships with patient advocacygroups could be the key to reachingthese very hard to find patients. Theseorganizations also can yield valuableinsight into the perspective and unmetneeds of patients, which will proveinvaluable as you develop pre- and postmarketingcommunications programs.Start early in the drug developmentprocess. It takes time to develop mutualtrust. And ensure youcommunicate consistentlywheneverthere is relevantnews.If there are a numberof groups thatserve target patients,consider helpingthem pool resourcesso they can be moreeffective in reachingtheir constituents orDiana Littman Paigeachieving an education or public policyobjective. These “groups” may be twoparents with a computer vs. the typicalbroad based and well funded nationalorganizations like the American HeartAssociation or American DiabetesAssociation and can benefit from ourexperience in coalition building and sensitivityto each groups’ individual needs.• Reconsider traditional communicationsparadigms: When it comes to communicatingabout drug research orapproval or even disease information,think carefully about strategies thatachieve the best ROI. Coverage on the“Today Show” and in national newspapersand magazines is a gold standard formany campaigns, but it may not be themost cost effective way to reach smallerpopulations. National coverage has itsplace of course, but there’s a lot of powerin delivering news directly to a moreengaged audience.The Internet and especially socialmedia are ideally suited to communicatingwith a small community of patientswho are often spread out across the country.How you decide to engage onlinewill depend a lot on whether you providedisease awareness or brand information,subject to FDA regulations.The more effective you are at gettinginside the heads and hearts of this communityand understanding their needs,the more effective your programs will be.And, perhaps best of all, you’ll make ameaningful difference in lives of patientsand caregivers.Diana Littman Paige is EVP of MMCHealth & Well-Being. 26OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

Gov. site helps consumers find insuranceBy Christine O’DwyerCreated under the Affordable CareAct, HealthCare.gov is designed tohelp consumers learn about thenew Act and its implications, as well asprovide information on insurance choicesavailable in all 50 states and the Districtof Columbia. The site is managed by theDepartment of Health & HumanServices.The site is updated daily and includesinformation on insurance providers, educationmaterials on the healthcare lawitself, and has a prevention and wellnesssection. The site also includes videos, ablog and a section for frequently askedquestions. The site is also on Facebook,Twitter and YouTube. Visitors can signup for e-mail updates.A “newsroom” section features dailypress releases and an archive of informationregarding the new healthcare law.Naturally, because it’s an official governmentsite, it’s limited to informationabout the law itself and does not addressthe Supreme Court decision, oppositionto the law or its myriad detractors.Since implementation of the law ismoving forward, one of the keyfeatures of the site is the “timeline”section, which includesdates on when features of thelaw go into effect. AllAmericans will be required tohave health insurance byJanuary 1, 2014.The site can help consumersto learn everything they canabout their health insurance.The key feature is the“Exploring your coverage &pricing options” section. Thisis for those seeking individualinsurance, not covered by theirThe healthcare.gov site offers information on currentinsurance plans available to consumers. It was createdwith the recent passage of the Affordable Care Act.employer. Here you chooseyour state and it takes your throughprompts to help you shop for coverage inyour area. It asks a few questions, suchas date of birth, when you want coverageto begin and more, then the plans are listed.You can narrow down the search byout-of-pocket limit, annual deductible,monthly rate, type of plan and more. Theprices listed are estimates and are subjectto change based on the applicationprocess.Because the site only lists plans submittedby insurers, it is not a comprehensivelist of insurers and plans. Forinstance, a search for Virginia plansyielded a variety of results, but did notinclude all plans offered in the area.Consumers would still need to do additionalresearch when shopping for a plan,including checking plans in their area andresearching plans that their doctorsalready accept.For individuals searching for insuranceor for companies preparing for therequirements of the Affordable Care Act,HealthCare.gov provides a startingground for understanding the new law. OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 27

FEATUREHealthcare PR: a career choice for the agesIf you’re looking for a job where you’re never bored, you mightwant to look into healthcare PR.For some 30 years I’ve been trekkingthe field and I can honestly say justabout every day there’s some newdiscovery or technological advancementor change in policy that will have youcatching your breath or scratching yourhead — and sometimes both at the sametime.Healthcare technology is a boomingindustry. It is the wizard behind the curtainof every patient encounter, everysurgical procedure, every transmittedimage and claim, every tracked prescription,lab result and catheterchange. And any company operating inthe U.S. healthcare space as an innovatorwill need someone like us in PR tohelp them navigate their way. Why?Because there is clearly a wide gapbetween those who are innovating andthose who need to understand thedevice’s practical applications. I’veseen the glazed expressions up closeand personal. Technologists are alwaysway ahead of everyone — visionary,brilliant but frequently cut off fromtheir market, not to mention the mothertongue.Since starting Dodge Communications11 years ago, my team and I have beenworking to bridge the gap for more than75 organizations that sell products andservices to the healthcare industry.We’ve been growing at a rate of 25 percentover the past few years and, unlessthe Mayan calendar is right, will continueto do so for the foreseeable future.Fingers crossed.So if you’re pondering your next professionalmove, I’ve put together a listof Top 5 reasons you should think abouta career in healthcare PR:You’re a hero to your kidsWhen you work in PR, you get a lot offree stuff to take home to the kids. Clientsshow their appreciation by giving smallgifts to pass out — pens, coffee mugs,toothbrushes, pill-a-day trays and stuffedtoys that quack and snort and are excellentto toss around during staff meetings.It’s harmless fun and absolutely the stuffof good relationships. It reminds you ofwhy you get up in the morning —because the people who make you workharder than you want to are also veryBy Brad Dodgethankful for the thought leadership articlesyou pitched and placed in trade magazines,for that proposal that got theminto this year’s HIMSS conference andfor the website refresh that increased userengagement and drove traffic to a newproduct offering. And at the end of theday, your kid will love the Snoopy plushyand the story of how it found its way intoyour hands.You gain membership to a secret societyUnlike the world of consumer goodsand services, the world of healthcare PRis small and manageable. And with afocus on technology, well, it’s a littlelike seeing how many people you can fitinto a Volkswagen. In a niche market,every person in the office becomes anexpert at what they do. You know thefield and the players, who your clients’top competitors are and what buyerswant – without having to spend hundredsof hours on test marketing.Organizationally, there are fewer layersof bureaucracy, which lends itself toclarity of purpose, direct communicationand a nimble approach to business thatallows teams to quickly respond toclients and turnaround projects in lesstime.You can switch political parties withoutlosing friendsHealthcare is something of a hornet’snest right now. The industry is rife withissues for pundits and politicos to sortthrough — cloud storage and privacyconcerns, privatizing Medicare, rationingcare services, ACA, CMS, ACOs and justabout any other acronym you can thinkof. In this business, you get to explore theramifications of reform and the impact ofhealthcare IT from both sides of the aisle.You have permission to kick that nest.You’re the guy with the best stories atdinner partiesHealthcare reform is complex. It takestime, patience and a certain gritty determinationto understand how the pieces fittogether – not something most folks havetime for at the end of the work day orbetween their kids’ soccer matches. But ifyou work in this industry, putting ittogether is what you do, a kind of publicservice that gets communicated to theconsumer.You’ll find yourself explaining howinsurance exchanges work, what happensto medical coverage if your neighborloses his job, how Obamacare impacts aveteran or what’s going to happen toMedicare over the next decade. Yoursocial calendar will be booked.You get to be a geek without wearing apocket protectorFor people who love technology, workingin this businessis like Revenge ofthe Nerds meetsGroundhog Day.You get to writeabout the innovativeideas and equipmentthat are transformingthe delivery ofcare, from digitalpatient charts thathouse data used totrack immunizations and other componentsof population health to devices thatgive schoolchildren in rural areas remoteaccess to specialists just by visiting theirnurse’s office. The good guys with thecoolest equipment win. The end. Rollcredits. And then you wake up and do itall over again.Brad Dodge is CEO of DodgeCommunications in Alpharetta, GA. News BriefsBrad DodgeBOGUS REVIEWS RISINGBetween 10 and 15% of ratings and reviewsonline via social media will be fake by 2014,according to a report by Gartner, which predictedat least two Fortune 500 brands will face legalaction from the Federal Trade Commission duringthat period.The report found that as companies are scramblingto gain more social media followers and garnerpositive reviews and “likes,” more are payingfor reviews and offering incentives like couponsand promotions.Gartner said the FTC’s 2009 determination thatpaying for positive reviews online is akin todeceptive advertising and will be prosecuted willlead to hot water for a few big brands over thenext two years.Gartner VP Ed Thompson said chief marketingofficers will need to weigh long-term risks to reputationagainst short-term gains online.The research company sees two positivedevelopments, however. Some online reputationfirms have taken to identifying fake reviews andrequesting their removal, rather than postingphony favorable reviews.Gartner also believes that low trust in socialmedia will trend upward if FTC action andincreased exposure of phony feedback online continues.28OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

FEATURESeven strategies for peace during times of crisisBy Jim LukaszewskiWherever there is conflict, confrontationand crisis, there iscontention. In today’sTwitter, Blogger and bloviater dominatedworld, working to resolve importantissues, questions and decisions oftenbegins very contentiously and ends onlyafter one side is beaten and leaves thefield; there is a mutual withdrawal, ormost commonly, one side wins and theother side stays angry.Winning, it turns out is never aboutgetting 51% of individuals or groups toconcur or comply; it’s getting 51% ofthose who matter. This thinking leads toan axiom and a law.Lukaszewski’s first axiom of winningin contentious situations: Almost everydecision of any consequence is madedespite serious, often powerful collateralcontentiousness. The media can be mad,or support someone else, some of yourneighbors can be irritated, even youremployees can be against you, but staythe course, be constructive in yourapproach and you can win.Lukaszewski’s law of success and survival:Neither the media, your severestcritic, angry neighbors, irritated legislators,nor regulators can truly stop whatyou have set out to accomplish. The mostsignificant damage is almost alwayscaused by the intervention, timidity, orhesitation of an overoptimistic boss orboard, well-meaning friends, “supporters,”or relatives, and failure to addressthe issues raised by those who feel victimizedby the process.These seven principles are the componentsof a strategic approach for winning:1. Wage peace every day. Reduce theproduction of critics, enemies and victimsat every opportunity. Talk tough, acttough, or threaten and you will have warfor sure. War produces casualties, victims,and new critics, all of whom willlive long enough to destroy, delay, orstop your best efforts.2. Reduce contention. Contention isthe absence of agreement. Work foragreement, incrementally, every day.Stop causing contention.3. Seek permission rather than entitlement.Getting permission dependsupon gaining public agreement and consent.Avoid and resist anything, anyone,or any decision, that delays, denies, disables,or damages the permissionprocess. Act like you’re entitled to a publicdecision and you’ll really be stoppedcold.4. Control testosterosis. Anger, irritation,frustration, and confrontation cloudjudgment, damage relationships, causemisunderstandings, create critics,naysayers and rarely accomplish anythinggood. Stop taking contrary viewsand negative messages personally. Theonly one who is suffering from this isyou. No one else cares. Remain calm andcarry on.5. Be democratic. Recognize andleverage from the patterns of democracy,avoid political games and game players,all those people have their own agendas.They will dump you in a minute.6. Work as directly as you can: Likemost everything that matters in life,agreement is generally achieved, whenthe principals commit to sit down faceto-faceand directly work out their differences.Engagement builds stakeholdersupport, and reduces the production ofcritics.7. Communicate intentionally.Success depends on simple, sensible, positive,declarative and constructive communication,common sense, direct, promptaction, empathy, transparency, andengagement. Explain to everyone as wellas remind them of your communicationand behavior intentions so they will knowwhat to expect and how to behave inreturn.Over the 30 years I’ve been helpingclients get public permission, communities,critics, individuals and organizedopposition have consistently grown morepowerful in their ability to stop or significantlyalter the plans of even the mostworthy projects and powerful companies.With “social media” the power of individualopposers will continue to grow.I’ve also learned that you can oftenachieve your objectives with peoplebeing upset, the media angry, youremployees split, and in communities thatmay be more divided than unified.Winning depends on altitude (keepingcalm) and attitude:1. Candor. Public trust depends onreceiving information well ahead of theiractual need for it. The most toxic strategyis to fail to answer every question,provide key information after it is trulyneeded, or work to disparage, demean, ordiscredit those who oppose or have concernsabout the project, and go to thetrouble of making them public.2. Patience: Accomplishing yourgoals is going to take longer than everimagined, even to achieve interim milestones.3. Resources: Success will defy financialmanagement. More money will bespent for things one never imaginedwould happen, or be requested orrequired.4. Stomach Power: Set your stomachfor all the lies,misunderstandings,deceptions,bad behaviors andmisrepresentationscreated by angry,frightened, andunqualified peoplewith real power,combined with awilling media, andJim Lukaszewskithe outrageousmotives they willascribe to you, with all of your explanations,good work and intentions justbouncing off.5. Staying Power: Community decision-makingis slow, sometimes silly,even stupid, sloppy, expensive, confusing,and emotionally driven. Settle backand go with the flow. Kick up, kick out,and you’ll go nowhere pretty quickly.6. Pragmatism: Winning means constantlywaging peace and re-acquiringcommunity consent daily. It meansrelentlessly doing the doable, knowingthe knowable, getting the getable, andachieving the achievable.If democracy is one thing, it is aprocess. Those who propose, if they canstay the course, can expect to achieveless than they had hoped, sometimes farless, but usually wind up with more thanthey need to successfully achieve theirobjectives, which are likely to change asthe community has its say. If you believethat you are entitled to get what you areasking for, you are entitled only to disappointment.Your goal is to help work preemptively,constructively, and productively toshorten the timelines and lower the barriersthat are inevitable byproducts of publicdecision making. Wage peace and winearlier, if winning is possible at all.James E. Lukaszewski is President ofthe Lukaszewski Group Division at RisdallPublic Relations in St. Paul, MN. 30OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

ProfilesO’Dwyer’sGuide to:HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATIONS10.12ALLISON +PARTNERS1708 Peachtree Street, Suite 100Atlanta, GA 30309404/885-9596Fax: 404/885-9558www.allisonpr.comOur healthcare team buildsconnections, shapes public policyand creates campaigns that makea difference for patients andproviders. From winning epicbattles in Congress to managingreputations for life sciences andother providers in local communities,we know healthcare likefew firms do. We’ve positionedour healthcare clients to be moreproactive — staving off attacksfrom the media and competitors,helped them build relationshipswith target audiences and ensuredthey had a voice to influence publicpolicy. Our team has workedacross the spectrum of healthcaresectors on every issue over thepast 15 years including Medicare,Medicaid, the uninsured andhealth information technology.We understand that accomplishingyour goals depends on a combinationof public policy development,branding and messaging,coalition building, patient advocacy,issues management andconsumer education. Our healthcareclients include publicly tradedcompanies, national and stateassociations and nonprofitsorganizations.CARMICHAELLYNCH SPONG110 North Fifth StreetMinneapolis, MN 55403612/334-6000www.carmichaellynchspong.comJulie Batliner, Managing DirectorErika Collins, Director of NewBusinessCarmichael Lynch Spong’sLiving Well team membersoffer a broad range of expertiserepresenting products, servicesand organizations that better people’slives. We bring a broad perspectiveto an organization withexperience working for nutraceuticalmanufacturers, healthcareproviders and insurers, community-benefitorganizations all theway to pharmaceutical companies.We understand the importanceof taking complex informationand distilling it to what reallymatters to our clients’ audience.Whether it’s customers,sales force, health care providers,registered dietitians, or regulatoryagencies.We reach stakeholders’ mindsand hearts with our clients’ messagesby communicating a storythat highlights scientific innovations,while capturing the rationaland emotional reasons to believein a brand. We ensure our clientsare trusted leaders in their fieldsfor both consumer, professionaland customer audiences, and wetailor our approaches for thesekey targets. By delivering simpleand direct calls to action, we seeresults manifest as sustainablechanges in behavior.CHAMBERLAINHEALTHCAREPUBLIC RELATIONS450 W 15th Street, Suite 405New York, NY 10011212/884-0650Fax: 212/884-0628www.ChamberlainPR.comChamberlain HealthcarePublic Relations exclusivelyserves the global healthcare sector.Our team is passionate abouttranslating science into messagesthat empower and inspire peopleto make meaningful decisionsabout their health. We offer asuite of communications services,including brand communications,corporate communications,media relations, advocacy relations,digital strategy, data communications,message and contentdevelopment, and issuesmanagement. Founded in 1993,Chamberlain has longstandingrelationships with pharmaceuticalcompanies, biotech companies,patient and professional groups,and the healthcare media thatcover them.Chamberlain is a ChandlerChicco Company and part ofinVentiv Health. Learn more aboutus at www.ChamberlainPR.com.COONEY/WATERSGROUPA Creston Health Company111 Fifth AvenueNew York, NY 10003212/886-2200www.cooneywaters.comLenore Cooney, CEO,Cooney/Waters GroupTimothy Bird, President/COO,Cooney/Waters GroupKaren O’Malley, President, TheCorkery GroupSherri Michelstein, President,Alembic Health CommunicationsCooney/Waters Group, rankedamong the top health care agenciesin the U.S., is a group ofcompanies focused exclusivelyon health and science acrossmany therapeutic areas and healthsectors in North America andinternationally. With more than75 professionals in its new NYCheadquartersoffice, the Groupincludes three sister companies:Cooney/Waters (cooneywaters.com)now in its 20th year providing thefull range of public relations andpublic affairs award-winningservices to healthcare, pharmaceuticaland biotechnology enterprises;Alembic Health Comms.(alembichealth.com) specializing incommunications programs in thearea of health advocacy; TheCorkery Group (thecorkerygroup.com)an internationally recognizedfull-service firm withexpertise in delivering focusedissues-oriented communicationsfor some of the world’s leadingpublic and private health organizations.To help health care industryclients reach the more than 50.5million Hispanics living in theU.S. Cooney/Waters recentlylaunched Cultúr Health(www.culturhealth.com) a newHispanic health care communicationsservice. Cultúr Healthleverages cultural insights andhealthcare communicationsexpertise to help drive importantChamberlain Healthcare PublicRelations President, JonathanWilson.healthcare messages to Latinos.For clients such as sanofi-pasteurand UCB, Inc. the company hasdeveloped multiple award-winningnational, regional and grassrootsprograms to reachHispanics who are at greater riskfor many treatable diseases.Cooney/Waters is a foundingmember of The Health CollectiveNetwork (thehealthcollectivenetwork.com),a multi-national specialistconsultancy dedicated todeveloping and managing healthcarecommunication programsacross international markets withglobal and local connections andexpertise.COOPERKATZ &CO. INC.205 Lexington Avenue, 5th FloorNew York, NY 10016917/595-3030www.cooperkatz.comAndy Cooper, PrincipalRalph Katz, PrincipalAnne Green, President / CEOCooperKatz & Co. offers fullservicepublic relations capabilitiesto a national client base. Thefirm has deep expertise supportinghealth providers and payers,as well as non-profits and consultantsfocused on health indus-32OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM ADVERTISING SECTION

PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMStry issues.Recent experience includes:The Physicians Foundation, anonprofit organization advancingthe work of practicing physicians;AHIMA (American HealthInformation ManagementAssociation); Capgemini Health(acquired by Accenture), a leadingconsultant to healthcareorganizations; Noblis Center forHealth Innovation, a non-profitgroup providing strategic thinkingfor health organization’s planningand performance; U.S.Preventive Medicine, a companyworking to advance the nation’sfocus on prevention; and QueensVanguard Center of the NationalChildren’s Study, a federalresearch project on child health.CooperKatz offers a portfolio ofcapabilities that include branddevelopment, communicationsstrategy, program development,media relations, social mediaengagement and creative services.The firm’s resources alsoinclude designing/producingmeetings, events, business presentations,video/multi-mediaelements and collateral materials.COYNE PR5 Wood Hollow RoadParsippany, NJ 07054973/588-20001065 Avenue of the Americas28th FloorNew York, NY 10018212/938-0166Tom Coyne, CEO,tcoyne@coynepr.comRich Lukis, President,rlukis@coynepr.comKelly Dencker, Senior VPkdencker@coynepr.comKevin Lamb, VP,klamb@coynepr.comLinda Bernstein Jasper, VP,lbjasper@coynepr.comLisa Wolleon, VP,lwolleon@coynepr.comCoyne PR is one of the leadingindependent full-service publicrelations firms in the country,representing an impressive collectionof international corporations,top national brands, highprofile events and first-classorganizations. Named 2011 SmallAgency of the Year (The HolmesReport), and a winner of a 2009Silver Anvil Award for its work inthe health care sector, no agencypossesses a better combination ofunbridled creativity, limitlessenthusiasm, strategic approach,and impeccable integrity andclient service than our nationallyrecognized firm. The agency’saward-winning health practice,Coyne Health, represents clientsacross three key pillars of thehealth care landscape — healthand wellness, medical and science,and advocacy and cause.With its unique strategic planningmodel, ActivationHealth, CoyneHealth goes beyond awarenessand focuses on activating brandstakeholders to drive outcomes.The practice combines deepexpertise and insights in emergingmedical science, a wide rangeof therapeutic categories, healthcareIT innovation and payor andprovider landscape with Coyne’score creative DNA and theagency’s award winning digitalpractice to deliver truly breakthroughideas.CROSBYMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS705 Melvin AvenueAnnapolis, MD 21401410/626-0805www.crosbymarketing.comRaymond Crosby, PresidentDenise Aube, Vice President,Healthcare PracticeFor more than 35 years,Crosby has helped healthcareclients Inspire Actions ThatMatter — actions that positivelyimpact people’s lives and makea real difference for individuals,families, communities and society.The firm’s Healthcare Practiceserves hospitals and health systems,health plans, physiciangroups, technology and serviceproviders, seniors housing, healthadvocacy groups and governmentagencies.Services include marketingresearch and planning, branddevelopment, integrated communicationsprograms, public relations,community and multiculturaloutreach, online marketing,PSAs, and social marketing andbehavior change campaigns.Crosby ranks among the topagencies in the Mid-Atlanticregion. Clients include KaiserPermanente, Saint AgnesHospital, Ameritox, Agency forHealthcare Research and Quality(AHRQ), Social SecurityAdministration, Veterans HealthAdministration (VHA), HealthResources and ServicesAdministration (HRSA), and theNational Investment Center forOn behalf of health and well-being company Humana, Coyne PRintroduced the nation to the “bus-cycle!” Humana provided thenine-person pedal buses for free use by convention-goers at the2012 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. The pedalbuses provided a fun, social and shaded means to get around eachhost city. The campaign was a huge hit with the media and public.Seniors Housing & Care Industry.Headquartered in Annapolis,Md., Crosby also has offices inWashington, D.C.DODGECOMMUNICATIONS11675 Rainwater Dr., Ste. 300Alpharetta, GA 30009770/998-0500Fax: 770/998-0208www.dodgecommunications.comdodgecommunications.com/blogtwitter.com/dodgecommBrad Dodge, CEODodge Communications, afast-growing, award-winningagency serving emerging andestablished healthcare brands,helps companies build awareness,demonstrate thought leadershipand generate demand. Byenabling the convergence of publicrelations, marketing and digitalmedia disciplines, Dodge’sintegrated communicationsapproach allows clients to navigatean increasingly complexhealthcare landscape for sustainable,measurable results. Theknowledge, contacts and talentDodge offers artfully combineseffective and powerful positioningwith precise message definition,skillful execution anddependable reach to positivelyinfluence key decision makersand stakeholders. With a passionfor providing excellence in clientservice, Dodge has an impressivetrack record for client growth andretention and consistently deliversstrategies that engageprospects, optimize interactionsand promote business.EXPONENT PR400 First Avenue North, Suite 700Minneapolis, MN 55401612/305-6000www.exponentpr.comTom Lindell, Managing DirectorExponent is a fast-growingpublic relations agency based inMinneapolis, Minn. The agencyhas developed a dynamic, modernapproach to PR — one thatinfuses creativity and leveragesthe power of digital and socialmedia to create believers in abrand.Exponent has an impressivetrack record with a range of leadinghealthcare organizations,including pharmaceutical companies,medical device manufacturersand not-for-profit healthcare associations. Clientsinclude Medtronic Foundation,Novartis, Starkey HearingTechnologies and IBA ParticleTherapy.Exponent's understanding ofthis complex industry ensuresthat clients have visibility and astrong voice in the fast-movingmarketplace. The agency hasshaped professional relationsprograms, designed publicawareness campaigns and counseledclients through crisis situations.Exponent is a division ofColle+McVoy, which is ownedby MDC Partners (NASDAQ:MDCA).ADVERTISING SECTION OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 33

PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSFINN PARTNERSHEALTH301 East 57th Street, 4th FloorNew York, NY 10022212/715-1600miriam@finnpartners.comwww.finnpartners.comMiriam Weber Miller, PracticeHeadFinn Partners leveragesexpertise and experience across awide range of HC sectors,including consumer health,health policy and public affairs,health services, non-profit andhealth information technology.The organization also has agrowing focus on the life sciencesand specialty pharmaindustries, with particularemphasis on helping clients navigatethe world of investor andcorporate communications.Our approach to serving all ofthese sectors is a deep understandingof the unique and challengingneeds of each, combinedwith a unified approach to strategicplanning, media relations anddigital visibility. This ensuresthat both the company and itsplace in the healthcare paradigmare well-positioned for businesssuccess.At the account level, this philosophyhas translated intobroad-based programs with arange of state and local agencies,hospitals, provider and other forandnon-profit health organizations.We deal with issues thathave real impact on people’slives and our programs have realimpact for our clients among allof their target audiences.Tactically, we have led significantcapital campaigns—creatingkey messages for potentialdonors, fashioning them into targetedvideo and printed materials,and building the most effectivemedia and digital strategiesto support broad-based distribution,penetration and success. Weeducate and empower consumersabout crucial health insurancedecisions. We ensure that ourclients’ messages and actionsThe November issue of O’Dwyer’s will profilePR firms that specialize in technology.If you would like your firm to be listed,contact Editor Jon Gingerich at 646/843-2080 or jon@odwyerpr.comimpact the audiences that matterto them.We realize that the issues wetackle are important not only toour clients, but to consumers —as healthcare touches every personin many ways. For us, thismeans that doing our job wellmeans people live better lives.This is a responsibility we workhard to earn — and keep —every day.Clients in the health arenainclude the AmericanAssociation of Orthodontists,Long Beach Memorial Center,the American Kidney Fund,Barlow Respiratory Hospital,Los Angeles County Departmentof Health and PelicanBiopharma.FRENCH | WEST |VAUGHAN112 E. Hargett StreetRaleigh, NC 27601919/832-6300www.fwv-us.comRick French, Chairman & CEODavid Gwyn, President /PrincipalNatalie Best, Executive VicePresident / PrincipalFrench|West|Vaughan (FWV)is the Southeast’s leading publicrelations, public affairs andbrand communications agency,independent or otherwise.Founded in April 1997 inRaleigh, N.C. by agencyChairman & CEO Rick French,FWV now employs 70 publicrelations, advertising and digitalmarketing experts among itsoffices in New York City,Tampa, Dallas and LosAngeles.Ranked the #24 firm for healthcarePR by O’Dwyer’s, FWV’scategory experience includeswork on behalf of private andclinical practices, research labs,health IT companies, laboratoryand medical device manufacturers,drug development firms,weight loss centers and largepharmaceutical manufacturers.FWV specializes in helpingits healthcare clients increasebrand awareness among keydecision makers for their productlines and services throughtargeted media outreach, advocacymarketing campaigns,public affairs, special events,trade show support, emergingmedia applications and crisiscommunications.FWV’s present and pasthealthcare clients include TheJimmy V Foundation forCancer Research (JVF), O2Fitness,Pfizer,GlaxoSmithKline, Isagenix,New Hope Fertility Center,bioMérieux, Structure House,Wellspring, University of NorthCarolina Institute forPharmacogenomics andIndividualized Therapy, A4Health Systems, CardinalHealth, CeNeRx, Foresight,MDeverywhere, Medcryption,Proctor & Gamble (Prilosec),Southtech, Sterling Healthcareand WakeMed.In addition to its portfolio ofhealthcare clients, FWV workswith many of the world’s leadingcompanies and brands,including global power andautomation technology leaderABB, SAS, RBC Bank, MelittaCoffee, Moe’s Southwest Grillrestaurants, spirits companyHood River Distillery(Pendleton Whisky, Pendleton1910, Yazi Ginger Vodka,Broker’s Gin and SinFireCinnamon Whisky) and the U.S.Polo Association. The agency’sfully integrated creative anddigital team provides awardwinningadvertising, graphicdesign and digital and socialmedia services for a wide rangeof clients.GCI HEALTH200 Fifth Ave., 7th FloorNew York, NY 10010212/798-9950wendy.lund@gcihealth.comwww.gcihealth.comWendy Lund, CEOGCI Health is an award winning,forward-thinking healthcarepublic relations agency poweredby best-in-the-business professionals.WPP’s only specialty healthcarepublic relations company,GCI Health was namedHealthcare Agency of the Year byThe Holmes Report in 2011 andcontinues to garner industry accolades,as shown by back-to-backSABRE wins in thePharmaceutical Campaign of theYear category in 2011 and 2012.With offices in New York,Atlanta, Los Angeles, SanFrancisco, Boston, Chicago,Toronto and the U.K., GCI Healthoffers clients an accessible seniorlevel leadership team, A-to-Zhealthcare experience, a commitmentto “beating” client expectations,and an obsession with anticipatingthe challenges of anincreasingly complex and transforminghealthcare communicationsenvironment. With insider’sknowledge of health media, highscience, digital health strategy,consumer activation, crisis management,patient advocacy andhealth education, GCI Health’sfocus on delivering results is unrelenting.GOODMAN MEDIAINTERNATIONAL,INC.750 Seventh AvenueNew York, NY 10019212/576-2700www.goodmanmedia.comTom Goodman, Founder andCEOHenry Miller, COOGoodman Media International,Inc. is a leading public relationsfirm specializing in media relations(traditional, digital, andsocial media) for major corporationsand nonprofit organizationsand has extensive experiencein healthcare. We representmajor healthcareproviders, leaders in healthcareimprovement, healthcare-relatedfoundations, and productmanufacturers.We raise the visibility of ourclients through the media,design and implement awardwinningcommunications campaigns,orchestrate advocacyinitiatives, elevate thoughtleadership,promote research,and manage event promotion.Our clients include, amongothers, Hospital for SpecialSurgery, Institute forHealthcare Improvement,Intermountain Healthcare,Lustgarten Foundation (forpancreatic cancer research),Spectrum Health, and initiativessuch as Common Good’scampaign for the creation ofspecialized health courts.Goodman Media was foundedin 1996 by Tom Goodman,former head of communicationsfor CBS Inc. and, earlier,CBS News.34OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM ADVERTISING SECTION

PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSGYMR Partners Patrick McCabe and Sharon Reis.GREENOUGH9 Harcourt StreetBoston, MA 02116617/275-6511pgreenough@greenough.bizwww.greenough.bizPhil Greenough, President,FounderBrand storytelling is the uniquedifferentiator that makesGreenough one of the industry’sbest-kept secrets. The differencestarts with its agency model: eachclient is assigned a seasonedaccount services leader who tapsdistinct media, content and socialmedia teams. As clients navigateheadline issues ranging fromhealthcare reform and personalizedmedicine to mHealth, ICD-10 andhealthcare informatics,Greenough’s disciplined teamskeep a 24/7 watch. The mediateam, comprised entirely of formerjournalists and editors, does nothingbut engage media. Meanwhile,the social media team is listeningto the voice of the customer, helpingset and reset content strategiesand identifying opportunities formaximizing insights across themarketing mix (from web and printcollateral development to videoproduction, digital marketing andpaid media). With a diverse, butstrategically interconnected clientbase that includes organizationssuch as Tufts Network Health,Thermo Fisher Scientific and theCam Neely Foundation for CancerCare, Greenough is singularlyfocused on driving awareness,affinity and action for its carefullyselected clients in healthcare andrelated disciplines.GYMR, LLC(GETTING YOURMESSAGE RIGHT)1825 Connecticut Ave., N.W.Suite 300Washington, DC 20009-5708202/745-5100Fax: 202/234-6159www.gymr.comPatrick J. McCabe, PartnerSharon M. Reis, PartnerKaren Waller, Becky WattKnight, Virginia Bader, JudiKennedy, SVPsMichael Warner, VPSusan Levine, Senior CounselorGYMR is a Washington, D.C.based public relations agencythat provides health/healthcareclients with strategic communicationsthat capitalize on thedynamics unique to Washington.GYMR’s unique strength is thebackground of its team - government,advocacy, associations,foundations, corporations andnonprofit organizations - whoexecute strategies that includeimage and alliance building, publiceducation campaigns or mediarelations to harness the formidableforces of Washington andproduce successful results forclients. The agency has counseleda wide range of clients,including trade associations,health voluntary organizations,coalitions, foundations, corporations,federal and state agenciesand nonprofit groups.Partial Client List: AdvaMed,American Academy of FamilyPhysicians, American Board ofInternal Medicine, AmericanPsychiatric Association,American College ofNeuropsychopharmacology,Avalere Health, BannerAlzheimer’s Institute, BravewellCollaborative, Campaign ForTobacco-Free Kids, DigestiveDisease Week, Health Affairs,National Institutes of Health,Research!America, Robert WoodJohnson Foundation, Society forHealthcare Epidemiology ofAmerica, The Gordon and BettyMoore Foundation, The VisionCouncil, and University ofCalifornia at San Diego (ADNI).HAGER SHARP1030 15th St., N.W., #600EWashington, DC 20005202/842-3600Fax: 202/842-4032www.hagersharp.comGarry Curtis, President & CEOCelebrating 39 years, HagerSharp Inc. provides communicationsand public relations servicesto clients who want to make a differencein health communications.Firmly rooted in social marketingand behavior change theory,Hager Sharp is a leader innational health and public informationprograms. Hager Sharp, anemployee-owned firm, delivershighly personal service and creativityin strategic planning,design and implementation ofaward-winning national healthmedia campaigns, often concentratingon multicultural outreach.We are partners with our clients ina full-circle approach to changingbehaviors so people can leadhealthier lives.Current health clients include:National Institute of Diabetes andDigestive and Kidney Diseases(NIDDK); Office on Women’sHealth; Annie E. CaseyFoundation’s KIDS COUNT;President’s Cancer Panel; ALSAssociation; PharmacyTechnician Certification Board;and Centers for Disease Controland Prevention.These health campaignsinclude a full range of communicationssupport comprising audienceresearch, message development,engaging partners, producingtargeted materials for healthcareprofessionals, the media andthe public — especially at-riskaudiences; generating mediaattention and creating communitynetworks.HERSHEY CAUSECOMMUNICATIONSLos Angeles, CA 90025-2591310/656-1001Fax 310/656-0613www.hersheycause.comR. Christine Hershey, Presidentand FounderHershey Cause Communicationsis a national award-winningstrategic communications firmbased in Southern California. Wework with Fortune 1000 companies,foundations and nonprofitsto create effective communicationsthat facilitate social change.We are experts in internal andexternal communications, publicrelations, branding, marketing,social media and research analysis.We create strategy plans,trainings, tools and resourceguides. And we are passionateabout what we do. We believethat strategic communicationscan change the world.Our healthcare team is comprisedof senior-level strategistswith deep experience in healthcare, from provider marketing topublic health initiatives to healthreform at the national and locallevels. Our clients include KaiserPermanente, City of Hope,Children’s Hospital Los Angeles,Dr. Susan Love ResearchFoundation, The Institute ofMedicine, The CaliforniaEndowment and many others. Wehave over over 35 years of experience,are a certified womenownedbusiness, B Corporationand green business, and we wantto change the world with you.After all, we know that goodworks.JARRARDPHILLIPS CATE &HANCOCK, INC.The Horse Barn at Maryland Farms219 Ward Circle, Suite 3Brentwood, TN 37027615/254-0575Fax: 615/843-8431www.jarrardinc.comJarrard Phillips Cate &Hancock, Inc. is a nationalhealthcare public affairs firm singularlyfocused on helping theleaders of today’s healthcareorganizations use the tools of pol-36OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM ADVERTISING SECTION

PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSitics and communications to wintheir strategic goals during timesof challenge or change.With offices in Nashville andChicago, our team of formerpolitical operatives, journalistsand healthcare marketers developsand manages successful campaignsfor hospitals and healthsystems throughout the UnitedStates. We help them navigatehigh stakes issues such as: organizationalrestructuring; mergersand acquisitions; crisis management;reputation management;re-engineering of communications& marketing departments;and re-positioning of companies,hospitals and service lines in newand existing markets.We understand the complexpressures that drive the industry,and bring the intensity, intelligenceand discipline – the cornerstonesof every good politicalcampaign — to the healthcarearena. For more information,visit www.jarrardinc.com.JFKCOMMUNICATIONSPrinceton Corporate Center5 Independence Way, Suite 300Princeton, NJ 08540609/514-5117jfkouten@jfkhealth.comdavitabile@jfkhealth.comwww.jfkhealth.comJohn F. Kouten, CEODavid Avitabile, PresidentDavid Patti, Senior VicePresidentJFK Communications, Inc. isan innovative provider of creativecommunications solutionsfor the life sciences and healthcareindustry.As a cutting edge shop, JFKemploys the latest in digital,interactive and social mediastrategies in concert with traditionalmedia channels to achievecommunications objectives in anincreasingly complex and everevolving healthcare environment.At JFK we focus on yourneeds. We listen, we learn, weinteract and we counsel. Weseek partners, not clients.Our extensive industry experiencealong with our world-classcommunications expertise hasattracted global, blue chip organizationsacross a broad life sciencesspectrum. In addition totraditional life sciences companies,JFK Communicationsworks with contract researchorganizations, contract manufacturingorganizations, healthinformation/IT companies, hospitalsystems, and healthcarepayers, as well as healthcareadvocacy and professionalorganizations.JFK’s managing partners,John F. Kouten and DavidAvitabile, foster a corporate cultureof superior service, creativeprogramming and measurableresults. Our working environmentis fast paced, supportive,creative, challenging and teamoriented.JFK’s seasoned staff has itsfinger on the pulse of a dynamichealthcare universe, and we hatewasting time on yesterday’sstrategies. We are engaged andpassionate about our industry.We love helping our partnersunderstand not only where weare today, we help them see whatthe landscape will look like nextyear and five years from now.We understand the new U.S.healthcare environment and howit will impact organizations hereand around the world.Also visit our sister company,BioCore Medical Communications.(www.biocoremedcomms.com).JPA1420 K Street, N.W., Suite 1050Washington, DC 20005202/591-4000Fax: 202/591-4020carrie@jpa.comwww.jpa.comTwitter: @JPAHealthcarewww.facebook.com/JPAHealthcareCarrie Jones, Principal &Managing DirectorKen Deutsch, Executive VicePresidentValerie Carter, Sr. Vice PresidentBerna Diehl, Sr. Vice PresidentJPA is an award-winning healthcommunications firm known forcrafting targeted, high-impact programsfor non-profit, pharmaceuticaland government clients. Byapplying our influencer relationsmodel, JPA identifies and engagesstakeholders that can be leveragedto most effectively deliver ourclients’ messages to key audiences.JPA has cultivated a seasonedteam specializing in medical andscience communications. As thefastest-growing health communicationscompany in the UnitedStates, our commitment to providingthe highest quality services toour clients is at the core of JPA’scontinued success. Not only do wetreat every aspect of our clients’business as we do our own, wepartner with our clients duringevery stage of a campaign toensure measurable results.JPA is a woman-owned agencywith offices in Washington, D.C.,Cambridge, Mass. and Paris,France.KOVAK-LIKLYCOMMUNICATIONS23 Hubbard RoadWilton, CT 06897-3045203/762-8833Fax: 203/762-9195info@KLCpr.comwww.KLCpr.comBruce M. Likly, PrincipalElizabeth D. Likly, PrincipalKovak-Likly Communicationsis a leading, independent publicrelations and marketing communicationsfirm focused on thepharmaceutical, biotech andmedical technology industries.Kovak-Likly distinguishesitself from other public relationsagencies, by providing marketingcounsel above and beyondpublic relations activities.Kovak-Likly’s industry andpublic relations experienceenables the team to solve theirclients’ most challenging businessproblems; making Kovak-Likly trusted advisors and part ofyour corporate marketing team.Kovak-Likly has successfullyformed close working relationshipswith a select number ofhealth care clients since 1985.Together, we will strengthenyour voice in the marketplace.LAMBERT,EDWARDS &ASSOCIATES47 Commerce AvenueGrand Rapids, MI 49503616/233-0500dhunt@lambert-edwards.comwww.lambert-edwards.comwww.facebook.com/lambertedwardswww.twitter.com/lambertedwardsJeffrey T. Lambert, PresidentDon Hunt, Managing Director,Health Care PracticeNamed the 2010 PRWeekSmall Agency of the Year,Lambert, Edwards & Associates(www.lambert-edwards.com) is atop-10 Midwest-based PR firmand a top-20 investor relationsfirm nationally with clients basedin 20 states and five countries.As Michigan’s only statewidefirm, LE&A serves middle-marketcompanies and nationalbrands in five practice areas: HealthCare, Automotive, Consumer,Financial Communications andPublic Affairs. LE&A has posted12 consecutive years of growth,been listed on the Inc. 5000Fastest Growing Companies inAmerica for four straight years,earned four Silver Anvil awards,and won 2011 Bulldog BestIntegration of PR and IR and2012 Bulldog Best New ProductLaunch.LE&A’s Health Care Practicespans large-scale, integrated campaignsto specialized projects andnew product and milestoneannouncements for all levels oforganizations in the health carearena — from pharmaceuticalmanufacturers and marketers tohospital and insurers, medicaldevice makers, biotech companiesand drug developers. LE&Ahas assembled a team from corporate,global agency and WallStreet backgrounds that havebeen on the front lines and on theinside, working in sync with theC-suite, sales and marketing,legal, HR and regulatory.We provide full-service communicationsranging from strategiccorporate positioning andbrand development/awareness toprofessional education campaignsand media relations,including national, regional,local, trade outreach and socialmedia strategy/online engagementprograms. Most importantly,LE&A’s award-winning programsyield tangible results thathelp clients achieve their businessobjectives and supportimproved industry awareness.LABRECHE500 Washington Avenue SouthSuite 2020Minneapolis, MN 55415www.labreche.comLaBreche is an award-winningunified marketing agency.We believe in unified marketingwhere channels are tiedtogether for greater impact, andclosely tied to your lead nurtur-Continued on page 38ADVERTISING SECTION OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 37

PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSLABRECHEContinued from page 37ing process. Ours is a closedloopphilosophy, meaning thatyour strategy is refined and optimizedbased on incoming dataand outcomes.Our digitally-infused communicationsprograms help yousend your customers the rightmessage at the right timethrough the right channel withmeaningful measurement everystep of the way.LaBreche has deep experiencein the health care and wellnessindustries with strategists, contentcreators, channel specialistsand technologists who all knowhow to discover, develop andcollaborate around health caremarketing innovation.MAKOVSKY16 East 34th StreetNew York, NY 10016212/508-9600gbashe@makovsky.comwww.makovsky.comKen Makovsky, President &CEOGil Bashe, EVP, Health, PracticeDirectorKristie Kuhl, SVP, Health,Deputy Practice DirectorTom Jones, SVP, HealthLee Davies, GVP, HealthMakovsky Health is a leadingcommunications agency for thehealthcare industry with expertiseand deep knowledge across a rangefrom consumer health to ultraorphanmediations. Makovskybrings product support, corporatecommunications and issues managementto new engagement levels.Success requires aligning opinionsthrough media, advocacy andpolicy efforts. Value — of innovationand brand — is recast bysocial media, and ensuring scienceand patient concerns are addressedclearly is more challenging.Makovsky leaders are renownedexperts in product communications,patient advocacy, media relationsand issues and policy engagement.Our approach works.Makovsky Health maintains a significantlyhigh client-retentionrate. Select 2012 clients include:AcelRx, Alexion, Bristol-MyersSquibb, H. D. Smith, HyperionTherapeutics, Ipsen, KowaPharmaceuticals, and Navidea.MARINA MAHERCOMMUNICATIONS(MMC) HEALTHAND WELL BEING830 Third AvenueNew York, NY 10022212/485-6800www.mahercomm.comMarina Maher, PresidentDiana Littman Paige,EVP/Health & Well-Being PracticeDirectorDebra Gaynor, Chief BusinessStrategistMichele Schimmel, ManagingDirectorJulian Fleming, ManagingDirectorKelly Cacioppo, Group SVPJennifer Tepper, Group SVPChristina Corso, Group SVPMarina Maher Communications(MMC) is celebrated for our creativity.We create award-winningcampaigns that motivate consumersand patients to take actionand drive business results. Ourwork has consistently been recognizedby clients and the industrywith awards for client campaignsand for the agency itself. In 2012the agency was named HealthcareAgency of the Year by TheHolmes Report — an achievementof which we are enormouslyproud.MMC’s deep knowledge ofconsumers gives MMC Health &Well-Being a creative edge overtraditional healthcare and healthpublic relations agencies. Whilewe represent many products targetedto both men and women,MMC specializes in marketing towomen as the Chief MedicalOfficer for themselves and theirfamilies.MMC Health & Well-Beinghelps health and medical brandsbuild emotional connections withconsumers through a strategicapproach that blends consumerunderstanding with a deep knowledgeof science. We make medicineand science relevant topatients, physicians and otherhealthcare influencers by bringingtogether the best of two keydisciplines: expertise in consumermarketing and grounding in scientificand industry knowledge.We create breakthrough healthpublic relations programs for Rxand OTC medicines, devices anddiagnostics that mobilize brandadvocates through traditional andsocial media, DTC events, keyinfluencers and innovative partnerships.MMC’s focus on employeesupport and development is frequentlyrecognized by the industry.In 2012 the agency wasnamed one of the “Best Places toWork” by AdAge.In November 2011, MMCjoined the Omnicom network. Wecan now service business on aglobal basis and provide clientswith seamless access to 360-degree global marketing services.MARX LAYNE &COMPANY31420 Northwestern HighwaySuite 100Farmington Hills, MI 48334248/855-6777, ext. 105mlayne@marxlayne.comwww.marxlayne.comMichael Layne, ManagingPartnerSince 1987, our Healthcaregroup has provided communicationand marketing support topharmaceutical companies, insurancecompanies, healthcare facilitiesand medical groups byapplying a strategic array of communicationtools and deep experience.Our account team includesexecutives with extensive healthcaremarketing backgrounds. Wework regularly with trade, printand broadcast journalists coveringa broad range of health issues.Our experience includes workwith the state’s largest hospice, aglobal pharmaceutical manufacturer,a statewide coalition ofhealthcare professionals, medicalpractice groups and individualphysicians.Together with our PublicAffairs practice, our Healthcaregroup is knowledgeable aboutconsumer concerns and publicpolicy discussions involving seniorcare issues, health insurancebenefits, prescription costs andimportation, home care, Medicareand Medicaid strains and otherhigh-impact subjects.Our areas of expertise includepublic relations counsel, mediarelations, media training, reputationmanagement, speech writing,digital marketing, social media,public affairs, employee relations,special events, brandingand graphic design and adversitycommunications.MCS HEALTHCAREPUBLIC RELATIONS1420 State Highway 206Bedminster, NJ 07921908/234-9900jeffh@mcspr.comwww.mcspr.comJoe Boyd, CEOJeff Hoyak, PresidentTodd Forte, Executive VPBrian Thompson, Senior VPCreativity. Service. Results.For more than 25 years, MCSHealthcare Public Relations hasfocused solely on healthcare.Because our industry is alwaysevolving, we’re constantly adapting.From communicating the indepthscience behind groundbreakingtherapies, to supporting advocacygroups and other organizationsmaking a difference, we are in stepwith the issues and trends thatimpact the practice and delivery ofmedicine throughout the world.MCS, through a well-establishednetwork of independent public relationsagencies, operates in Canada,and most Western and EasternEuropean countries. With experiencein virtually every therapeuticcategory, we provide our clientswith a multitude of services, includingproduct and corporate communications,issues management andcrisis communication, media relationsand media training, advocacyrelations, business-to-business PR,and social media counsel.Current clients include Merck,Genentech (Roche), BectonDickinson, CSL Behring, DaiichiSankyo Co. Ltd., MannKindCorporation, Qforma, PDRNetwork, Pernix Therapeutics,ParaPRO, LLC and the Head &Neck Cancer Alliance. For moreinformation visit www.mcspr.comor follow us on Twitter@MCSHealthcarePROGILVY PUBLICRELATIONS636 11th AvenueNew York, NY 10036212/880-5360kate.cronin@ogilvy.comwww.ogilvypr.comKate Cronin, Managing Director,Global HealthcareOgilvy PR is a recognized trailblazerin communications, supportingclients in virtually every38OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM ADVERTISING SECTION

PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSsector of the healthcare industry.To meet the evolving, complexneeds of the healthcare industry,Ogilvy PR’s Global HealthcarePractice is now fully integratedwith Ogilvy & Mather’s globalhealthcare marketing communicationsgroup, OgilvyCommonHealth Worldwide, creatinga fully integrated 360-degreehealthcare offering. Our clients arethe world’s top pharmaceutical,biotech and medical technologycompanies, the nation’s principalpublic health agencies and theindustry’s foremost opinion-leadingadvocacy organizations. At ourcore is the drive for unmatched creativityinstilled by David Ogilvy,the founder of our firm.Every day, we help many oftoday’s most important therapiesbuild a strong reputation and a solidmarket share. We actively engagewith stakeholders in the healthcarecommunity and help patientsunderstand and act upon new informationrelated to their health andwell-being. We offer clients a fullrangeof services, including productcommunications, social marketing,consumer health, issuesmanagement, interactive media,public policy, corporate and executivevisibility, and third-party relationshipbuilding. We enjoy and arepassionate about our work, andthrive on finding solutions fortoday’s challenging business needsin the healthcare sector.Headquartered in New York,we partner with clients throughoutthe world from our offices in60 markets across North America,Europe, Asia, Australia, LatinAmerica and Africa.OPEN CHANNELSGROUP101 Summit Ave, Suite 208Fort Worth, TX 76102817/332-0404www.openchannelsgroup.comtwitter.com/openchannelsprfacebook.com/openchannelsgroupTonya Veasey, Malizy Scruggs,Chris Turner and Larry Powell,PrincipalsBased in Fort Worth, Texas,Open Channels Group (OCG) is afull-service public relations agencyspecializing in multicultural communications,public participationand digital communications. Ourteam works in collaborative partnershipswith our clients to connectwith the diverse communities andcustomers they serve.Our health care experienceincludes working closely with amajor hospital system to effectivelycommunicate community benefitinitiatives to key opinion leadersand the general public, researchcommunity benefit impact, developcommunications planning aroundcommunity health assessment surveys,conductmarket research, andsupport social media and digitalefforts. OCG has alsoworked witha Medicare/Medicaid provider anda large multi-specialty physiciansgroup.We help health care providerstell their unique stories so that youcan focus on what you do best —saving lives and making peoplebetter.PCIPartner in The Worldcom PublicRelations Group1 E. Wacker DriveChicago, IL 60601312/558-1770Fax: 312/558-5425ideas@pcipr.comwww.pcipr.comDorothy Oliver Pirovano, CEOWith clients from advocacyorganizations and medical andallied health associations toFortune 100 corporations and startups;pharma, device manufacturers,biotechs and hospital suppliers;hospitals and health systems; retail;accrediting agencies; payers andconsultants, PCI knows healthcareaudiences first-hand. We understandwhat makes them tick andknow the words that will resonateand prompt engagement.For nearly all of our 50 years,PCI has had a concentration ofhealthcare clients; today it representsmore than half of our business.Healthcare is an internationalpractice for us — 20+ national andinternational medical and dentalassociations; a growing network ofcancer treatment centers; start-upslooking for visibility; universityhealth systems. We launch productsand manage lifecycle communications;run consumer awareness andscreening programs on a turn-keybasis; develop professional relationscampaigns designed to drawreferrals; create and manage socialmedia platforms including efficientonline newsrooms and content-richwebsites.More than 80% of our new businesscomes through referrals andpersonal recommendations fromPollock Communications sparks dialogue about constipation frommedication with an oversized prescription drug bottle in PennStation, as part of an integrated creative campaign to promote thebenefits of Senokot laxatives.our clients; more than 50% of ourhealthcare clients have stayed withus five years or more (with a numbertopping 20 years).Our staff knows healthcare —inside and out. Our clients benefit.POLLOCK665 Broadway, Suite 1200New York, NY 10012212/941-1414Fax: 212/334-2131lpollockpr.comLouise Pollock, PresidentPollock Communications is anindependent PR and marketingcommunications agency that offerscutting edge expertise for health &wellness clients. Founded in 1991,Pollock has pioneered communicationsfor healthcare and wellbeing, including bringing laxativesout of the closet and making tea thehealthy drink of the new millennium.We know how to capitalize onemerging health and wellnesstrends in a credible way, withmedia, consumers and health professionals.Our knowledge of thelatest research and science in thehealthcare arena and our understandingof food and drug policiesenables us to deliver actionableconsumer and market insights andpractical health & lifestyle wellnessbenefits for brands and commodities.Our network of connectionsincludes medical doctors with onairand editorial experience whocan address the healthcare issuesthat are top-of-mind for today’seditors and reporters — includingthose who serve as trusted “watchdogs”for family gatekeepers. Wehave developed innovative socialmedia programs to reach the keyconsumer, health & wellness influencersonline. Over the last twodecades, Pollock has cultivatedlong-term relationships and traineda network of spokespeople, includingmedia health professionals andcelebrities who are available andready to deliver key messages for avariety of our clients in broadcast,print and social media.Ajinomoto Food Ingredients,LLC, Brassica ProtectionProducts, LLC , CranberryInstitute,l Cranberry MarketingCommittee, PepsiCo GlobalNutrition Group, Purdue Products,Slow-Mag Tablets, Tea Council ofthe USA, Unilever Brands:Promise, Country Crock, I Can’tBelieve It’s Not Butter, Wish-Bone Dressings, Breyers,Popsicle and Klondike, USA RiceFederation.ADVERTISING SECTION OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 39

PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSRED SKY PUBLICRELATIONS404 South 8th Street, Suite 400Boise, ID 83702208/287-2199Stephworrell@redskypr.comwww.redskypr.comJessica Flynn, CEOSteph Worrell, CSOHealthcare organizationstransform lives on a daily basis.Red Sky’s integrated team hasdeep understanding of communicatingwithin this complexindustry, and our collaborativerelationships ensure that ourclients have a strong voice inthe global dialogue abouthealthcare and its evolving role.With expertise in change managementcommunication, internalteam engagement, communityoutreach and cause marketingcampaigns, Red Sky helpsorganizations strategicallycommunicate in this highly-regulated,dynamic and competitiveenvironment. The agencybrings its expertise to bearworking with health systems,insurance corporations, regionalmedical centers, communityhospitals, health technologycompanies, state health andwelfare departments, cosmeceuticalmanufacturers andcommunity wellnessinitiatives. When it comes topassion, complexity and theopportunity to improve lives,the healthcare industry has noequal. Red Sky enables yourstories to be heard and yourimpact felt through a powerfulblend of industry experience,expert counsel and communicationsupport.REVIVEHEALTH209 10th Avenue South, Suite 404Nashville, TN 37203learnmore@thinkrevivehealth.comthinkrevivehealth.com915 Saint Vincent AvenueSanta Barbara, CA 93101805/617-2832Fax: 805/617-2850Brandon Edwards, Founder & Pres.Joanne Thornton, Founder & EVPKriste Goad, SVP & ChiefMarketing OfficerKristi Gooden, VPNicole Mraz, Founder & VPJeff Speer, VPReviveHealth is a strategiccommunication firm specializingin Health Services, HealthTechnology, and Healthy Living.Our firm is the 11th largest healthcare PR firm in the country, representinghospitals and health systems,health technology companies,academic medical centers,physician organizations, andhealth & wellness companiesnationwide. We are recognized fordeep expertise in health care and,as such, for our ability to predictproblems, protect reputations,and craft the right story to drivebusiness growth.We have developed specialexpertise in managing “lifeevents” for health systems —payor contracting issues, cost cuttingand performance improvementinitiatives, clinical integration,crisis management, laborissues, mergers and acquisitions,new service lines or businessstrategies, and litigation support.ReviveHealth is consistentlyrecognized by PRWeek, HolmesReport, and O’Dwyer’s for creatingstrong agency culture, strategicexcellence, and client results.We were named “New Agency ofthe Year” for 2009, “FastestGrowing PR Agency in America”in 2010, and “Best Agency toWork For” in both 2011 and 2012.RF | BINDER950 Third Avenue, 7th FloorNew York, NY 10021212/994-7600Amy.Binder@rfbinder.comwww.rfbinder.comAmy Binder, CEORF|Binder has extensivehealthcare communications experience.Whether our clients aremultinational pharmaceuticalcompanies, biotech startups, publichealth agencies or non-profithealthcare associations, we providesenior level involvement,research-based strategies and acommitment to results. We recognizethat successful organizationsdemand more forwardthinking communicationsapproaches and our strategicplans are tailored to target theincreasingly fragmented marketplace.Our capabilities and experienceinclude product launches,brand extensions; public educationcampaigns; brand positioningand reputation management;establishing/enhancing thoughtleadership; building grassrootssupport for products and policies;crisis management; investor relations,and cultivating mutuallybeneficial relationships withadvocacy groups and institutions.RF|Binder’s strategic public relationsapproach can help clientsdevelop the right communicationsstrategies, differentiate fromthe competition and successfullyconnect with their audiences.With growing consumer andmedia attention on healthy living,RF|Binder helps brands understandthe drivers of consumerdecision-making, especially thatof the empowered citizen patient.We have helped to establish manyof the world’s most recognizable,household brands by providingconsumers with the informationand resources needed to managetheir lives.ROSICACOMMUNICATIONS95 Route 17 South, #202Paramus, NJ 07652201/843-5600Fax: 201/843-5915pr@rosica.comwww.rosica.comwww.causemarketingbook.comChris Rosica, PresidentRosica Communications has awell-earned reputation for deliveringnational results for itshealthcare clients. Establishedin 1980, Rosica combines theresources and depth of talent ofa large agency with the personalizedattention of a boutiquefirm. The Rosica senior-levelteam has earned the trust ofclients and colleagues at globalpharmaceutical, healthcare technology,life sciences, animalhealth, OTC, medical devices,B2B and consumer health productscompanies.Its strong credentials in areasimportant to healthcare includeproduct launches; media relations,both traditional andonline; public affairs, includingdisease awareness, patient advocacy,policy support and communityrelations; corporate communications,including crisisand issues management; corporatesocial responsibility programs;and internal communications.Rosica has maintained longtermclient relationships withglobal pharma, medical technology,animal health and life sciencescompanies; a nationalhealthcare industry association;and makers of products necessaryto family health, hygieneand infection prevention.RUDER FINN301 East 57th StreetNew York, NY 10022212/593-6400www.ruderfinn.comKathy Bloomgarden, CEOSusan Goldstein, Global Headof Health & WellnessAs one of the recognizedindustry leaders in providingglobal, national and regionalcommunications services topharmaceutical and biopharmaceuticalcorporations, medicaldevice companies, trade associationsand non-profit organizationsin the healthcare sector,Ruder Finn Healthcare hasextensive expertise in promotingand branding drugs acrossall therapeutic categories, fromfirst-in-class specialty treatmentsto mass market consumerdrugs. Ruder Finn specializes inlaunching new therapies andbringing new life to seasoneddrugs in need of reinventingthrough media relations,thought leadership, consumerengagement, advocacy relations,online engagement andcommunity building, marketingand public affairs. Ruder FinnHealthcare offers a truly integratedapproach, as the agencyembeds social media into allaspects of PR and has spearheadedthe development ofonline advocacy and patientcommunities and assisted pharmaceuticalclients in navigatingthe complexities associated withthe current social media environment.Ruder Finn Healthcarehas deep relationships withadvocacy organizations and regularlyworks to broker partnershipsbetween associations andclients to establish innovativeplatforms and break new groundin communicating branded andnon-branded information. Ourmedia approach and strategiesconsistently produce front page,high-visibility coverage. RuderFinn also has a demonstratedContinued on page 4240OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM ADVERTISING SECTION

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PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSRUDER FINNContinued from page 40track record of conducting highimpactwellness campaignsaddressing OTC medicines,skincare products, food andnutrition issues, and products/servicesto promote exerciseand weight loss.Clients include Novartis,Bristol-Myers Squibb,AstraZeneca, Pfizer, AbbottLaboratories, Shire, ForestLaboratories, Council forResponsible Nutrition, AmericanUrological AssociationFoundation, Michael J. FoxFoundation, the InterculturalCancer Council and NAPNAP.SAM BROWN INC.303 W. Lancaster Ave., #145Wayne, PA 19087484/380-2787laura@sambrown.comwww.sambrown.comTwitter: @SamBrownIncLaura M. Liotta, PresidentSam Brown Inc. is a leadingindependent, healthcare communicationsagency formed in1999 on the principle that a newapproach was needed to providea higher level of PublicRelations attention, service andvalue to the pharmaceutical andbiotechnology industry.Sam Brown Inc. is a unique,network-based agency withonly senior-level, dedicatedprofessionals running allaccounts, supported by a largenetwork of specialists. Clientaccount teams are individuallycustomized based on teamexpertise and the type of communicationssupport required.This entrepreneurial modelcreates a work environment thatfosters very high team andclient retention. Clients haveenjoyed outstanding servicefrom the same team year afteryear. Some current clientsinclude AltheRx, Astellas,Celator, Ceptaris, DuPont,Enteromedics, GlaxoSmithKline,H3 Biosciences, Incyte, MEDA,Medivation, Tetraphase,Together Rx Access andXenoPort.Sam Brown offers provencommunications expertise,industry knowledge, and theright healthcare experiencefrom discovery to launch, deliveredwith the highest service bya senior level team.SOLOMONMCCOWN &COMPANY177 Milk Street, Suite 610Boston, MA 02109617/695-9555hsolomon@solomonmccown.comwww.solomonmccown.comTwitter: @HealthBostonPRHelene Solomon, CEOMichal Regunberg, Senior VicePresidentThe healthcare industry is in themidst of monumental changesincluding state and nationalreform, cost reduction and largescaleHIT advances. SolomonMcCown’s (SM&) work withphysician groups, hospitals, dentalbenefit providers, insurers, thinktanks,non-profits and advocacygroups has put us at the center ofthe national and statewide healthcare discussion.Healthcare communicationsrequires understanding, packagingand disseminating complex informationto inform and motivatecritical audiences including policyand opinion leaders, providers,media and the public.SM& has a proven track recordof helping healthcare organizationscarry out their missionsthrough integrated communicationsprograms, including messagedevelopment, media and communityrelations, thought leadership,strategic partnerships, and issuesmanagement.Clients include: Atrius Health,Harvard Vanguard MedicalAssociates, DentaQuest,Neighborhood Health Plan,Massachusetts DevelopmentalDisability Council, MassachusettsMedical Society, the New EnglandJournal of Medicine, My EggBank, The Massachusetts Schoolof Professional Psychology, PressGaney Associates, and SeniorCare Options (SCO).SPECTRUM2001 Pennsylvania Ave., NWSecond FloorWashington, DC 20006202/955-6222jjs@spectrumscience.comwww.spectrumscience.comwww.globalhealthpr.comJohn J. Seng, President & ChiefExecutive Officer; Chairman,GLOBALHealthPRSpectrum is an independent,full-service communicationscounseling firm which has madecommunication about healthand science our specialty since1996. We specialize in theseareas because we are genuinelyinterested in the scientificprocess and how it can improvelives.Spectrum is a unique blend ofart and science. With a healthydose of each, we shape storiesthat communicate complexinformation in a way that makessense and gets people engaged.We leverage science to shapestories for major brands across avariety of organizations, frompharmaceutical and biotechnologyto beauty and grooming toenvironmental coalitions andbeyond. We also work regularlywith government agencies andare on the GSA schedule.Our unique partnership of morethan 16 health-focused, independentcommunications firms— GLOBALHealthPR — leadsthe way in markets fromArgentina to Poland, and fromthe United Kingdom to India.Come visit us in our newoffices, still in the heart ofdowntown Washington D.C.And still right where health, scienceand communications meet.TGIHEALTHWORKS515 N. Midland AvenueUpper Nyack, NY 10960845/348-0400Fax: 845/348-0210ltharp@tgihealthworks.comwww.tgihealthworks.comLouis Tharp, CEOSeth Ginsberg, PresidentDr. Laurie Ferguson, VP,Research & EducationEilise Servies, Nat. Ops.ManagerAlexey Salamakha, Stefan Bill,Program ManagersIl Nam Pak, Program AssociateJoey Wohlhieter, Marco Pretell-Vazquez, Persuasive Tech.AssociatesBrett Wiggins, Tech. AnalystSince 1999, TGI Healthworkshas been exclusively focused onnational grassroots programswithin the healthcare disciplinethat are designed to build andsustain communities of peoplewith chronic diseases.Community-based and on-lineevents are the primary communicationsvehicles.Our pre- and post-launch traditionalpublic relations supportthis outreach. Patient, caregiver,physician, advocacy, and electedofficial outreach components aretied to hard and soft metrics thatinclude prescribing habits tracking,as well as net promoterscores, online conversation sentiment,blog viral and velocitymeasurements, and traditionalattitude measurements.Our programs are customizedto the disease state, the marketand the product, and includeOTC, DTC and device indications.We focus on individuals, andwe achieve persistence, complianceand brand loyalty objectiveswith a 100 percent targetedaudience that includes ethnic,cultural and national origin segmentationwith in-language programsfor patients, caregivers,physicians and national, stateand local elected and appointedrepresentatives.These branded and unbranded,publicity-ready events providerobust material for news pathactivities that include featurestories, hard news, political andsocial news, and health and fitnessstories. They are applicableto satellite, blog-internet, andconventional media.TGI Healthworks’ Zurichoffice handles conventional PRfocusedgrassroots events inWestern Europe and former EastBloc countries. South Americaand Middle East assignments aremanaged from New York.TGI Healthworks is the naturalevolution from traditionalhealthcare PR and national televisionand magazine advertising.We provide a structured, collaborative,turn-key relationshipthat brings hard-number ROIdiscipline to clients that have theinfrastructure and mission toaccept a dominant market positionby way of patient, physician,caregiver, elected officialand advocacy group focus.Prior to 1999, TGI managementran the successful ClayMarketing & Public RelationsPR agency which was created in1984 and focused on technologyand maritime issues with officesin New York and London.42OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM ADVERTISING SECTION

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PROFILES OF HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMSTONIC LIFECOMMUNICATIONSOne South Broad St., 12th FloorPhiladelphia, PA 19107215/625-0111www.toniclc.com22 Chapter StreetLondon, SW1P 4NP+44(0) 20 7798 9900Maryellen Royle, President(Philadelphia)Scott Clark, CEO (London)Tonic is where communicationscome to life. Whatever thechallenge, Tonic LifeCommunications is dedicated tothe pursuit of communicationsexcellence in the areas ofLifeScience (prescription medicinesand devices) and LifeStyle(consumer health and wellbeingbrands). Whether it is abreakthrough medicine, medicaldevice, or consumer product,Tonic has the experience andinsight to educate and engagekey audiences that matter most.Headquartered in Philadelphia(formerly Dorland Global PublicRelations) and London, Tonichas global reach. Through ourHuntsworth Health family ofspecialized agencies, we reachan additional 30 countries,spanning more than 70 offices.If you are looking for an agencypartner with a ‘can do’ attitude,you will feel right at home withTonic.TWIST MKTG55 Fifth Avenue, 13th FloorNew York, NY 10003212/701-4600Fax: 212/414-8459info@twistmktg.comwww.twistmktg.comJennifer Gottlieb, LeaderTracy Naden, Managing DirectorMaura Bergen, Managing DirectorColin Foster, Group DirectorGreg Reilly, Group DirectorTwist is a fully integratedglobal communications companyfocused on creating highlycustomized and inspired solutionsfor our clients. As part ofthe W2O Group, Twist offers acomprehensive range of communicationsservices whilefocusing on creative approachesand collaboration, enabling usto create truly personalizedsolutions for clients with a nimblenessto adapt as the worldchanges.Twist proudly represents adiverse roster of clients spanninghealthcare, beauty, wellness,and consumer industrieswith an innovative client serviceapproach. Building integratedteams of business experts fromdiverse backgrounds and specialtiesempowers Twist tounderstand what our clientsneed before they know theyneed it. Twist’s seasoned professionalsspecialize in a full rangeof services including PR / communications,content development,research/analytics,engagement, social media, webdevelopment, and design / creativeservices.For more information, pleasevisit http://twistmktg.com.WCG60 Francisco StreetSan Francisco, CA 94133415/362-5018Fax: 415/362-5019info@wcgworld.comwww.wcgworld.comJim Weiss, Chairman & CEO,W2O GroupBob Pearson, President, W2OGroupDiane Weiser, Practice Leader,HealthcareCraig Alperowitz, PracticeLeader, ConsumerLeslie Wheeler, PracticeLeader, HealthcareGail Cohen, Practice Leader,Global HealthcareWCG is a global communicationscompany offering integratedcreative, interactive andmarketing communicationsservices to clients in healthcare,technology, consumer productsand entertainment. As part ofthe W2O Group, WCG is creatingthe positive future of communicationsby focusing on thecorporate, product marketingand communications needs ofthe world’s leading companies.Established in 2001 by JimWeiss, a 25-year veteran inhealthcare communications, theagency has grown to over 275employees serving clients fromoffices in San Francisco, NewYork, Washington, D.C.,Austin, Los Angeles andLondon.WCG’s seasoned professionalsspecialize in branding,design, digital, interactive,social and traditional marketing,location based marketing,corporate and product PR,media, investor and advocacyrelations, clinical trial recruitmentand grassroots direct-topatientcommunications campaigns.The company was named the2011 Digital Agency of the Yearby The Holmes Report, wasranked #5 of Top IndependentPR Firms and #2 of top healthcarePR firms by O’Dwyer’s,and was ranked #7 on PRWeek’s2011 US Agency Rankings.For more information, pleasevisit www.wcgworld.comWEBERSHANDWICK919 Third AvenueNew York, NY 10022212/445-8000www.webershandwick.comLaura Schoen, President, GlobalHealthcare PracticeAt a time when the healthcareindustry landscape is changingalmost daily, the WeberShandwick healthcare practiceis at-the-ready to meet clients’needs. Our team of seasonedhealthcare strategists offersexpertise in biotechnology,pharmaceuticals, consumerhealth products, medicaldevices, insurance and healthmaintenance organizations,health associations, health systemsand hospitals.We provide strategic, fullservicepublic relations, includingthe following key offeringsand services: scientific communications,medical education,regulatory milestone communications,market seedingand development, new productlaunches, sustained patientawareness programs, diseaseawareness and prevention,issues and crisis management,advocacy group relations,health policy initiatives,alliance building and corporatecommunications.Our scientific communicationscapability separatesWeber Shandwick from competitors.With 19 full-time PhDsworldwide to provide clinicalinsight and strategic messaging,we use basic science and clini-Bob Pearson, President, W2OGroup.Jennifer Gottlieb, Leader ofTwist Mktg.cal data to create, expand orpreserve a market; shape professionalopinion; raise awarenessof an issue; change thestandard of care or defuse apotentially threatening situation.Our counsel and campaignsbetter enable our clientsto create, strengthen and extendcorporate reputation; educate,engage and activate employees;promote new products and servicesto healthcare professionalsand consumers; influence policymakers and regulatory agencieson key healthcare issues;and educate the general publicabout a wide range of healthcareissues.Clients include Abbott Labs,Novartis, Eli Lilly, Johnson &Johnson, Bausch + Lomb,Boston Scientific, Roche andThe Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation.Weber Shandwick is the firsthealthcare communicationsagency in the U.S. to be fullycertified for promotional regulatorycompliance. 44OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM ADVERTISING SECTION

O’DWYER’S RANKINGSTOP HEALTHCARE & MEDICAL PR FIRMS1.EdelmanNew York$114,588,42134.Singer AssociatesSan Francisco1,450,3872.WCGSan Francisco43,350,10035.Black Twig CommunicationsSt. Louis1,400,0003.Ruder FinnNew York30,401,00036.Levick Strategic CommunicationsWash., D.C.1,308,1904.APCO WorldwideWash., D.C.22,741,00037.Dye, Van Mol & LawrenceNashville1,239,9635.Cooney/Waters GroupNew York20,433,00038.Moore ConsultingTallahassee1,221,2176.Waggener EdstromBellevue, WA7,935,00039.Standing PartnershipSt. Louis1,013,9087.GYMRWash., D.C.5,969,29440.McNeely Pigott & FoxNashville994,7028.SpectrumWash., D.C.5,728,75341.Rosica CommunicationsParamus, NJ930,1189.Makovsky & Co.New York5,000,00042.rbb Public RelationsMiami863,81610.Hager SharpWash., D.C.4,796,17743.Seigenthaler PRNashville626,00011.Revive Public RelationsSanta Barbara4,600,00044.Merritt GroupReston, VA596,00012.Crosby Marketing Comms.Annapolis4,440,98245.BlissPRNew York550,00013.Jones Public AffairsWash., D.C.4,272,40346.DaviesSanta Barbara513,70114.Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock Brentwood, TN3,828,29747.Jackson SpaldingAtlanta513,37215.MCS Healthcare PRBedminster, NJ3,771,49548.TGI HealthworksUpper Nyack, NY472,00016.Dodge CommunicationsAlpharetta, GA3,602,98049.MaccabeeMinneapolis387,06117.Padilla Speer BeardsleyMinneapolis3,465,43050.Regan Communications GroupBoston328,00018.Communications StrategiesMadison, NJ3,446,70951.L.C. Williams & AssociatesChicago296,32619.Coyne PRParsippany, NJ3,375,00052.Bridge Global StrategiesNew York273,42720.Rasky BaerleinBoston3,058,88453.Schneider AssociatesBoston255,67321.Public Communications Inc.Chicago2,897,36754.TransMedia GroupBoca Raton250,00022.MWW GroupE. Rutherford, NJ2,500,00055.GodwinGroupJackson, MS228,01323.LaVoie GroupSalem, MA2,385,06356.CooperKatz & Co.New York217,50824.French | West | VaughanRaleigh2,336,11257.Red Sky PRBoise212,61425.Finn PartnersNew York2,205,00058.Open Channels GroupFt. Worth203,82626.CRT/tanakaRichmond, VA2,185,45359.Beehive Public RelationsSt. Paul172,91227.Allison+PartnersSan Francisco2,100,00060.Guthrie/Mayes & AssociatesLouisville129,55528.Gibraltar AssociatesWash., D.C.1,801,50061.Trevelino/KellerAtlanta120,00029.Qorvis CommunicationsWash., D.C.1,800,00062.Richmond PRSeattle115,71630.RF | Binder PartnersNew York1,700,00063.Phillips & Co.Austin85,74531.Zeno GroupNew York1,636,93864.Furia Rubel CommunicationsDoylestown, PA78,30032.Lambert, Edwards & Assocs.Grand Rapids, MI1,521,00065.Lane PRPortland, OR43,64133.Gregory FCA Communications Ardmore, PA1,500,000© Copyright 2012 The J.R. O'Dwyer Co.

OPINION“Walking back” a mistakeBy Fraser SeitelIn September, Dunkin’ Donuts emailedits New York area customers a specialoffer to have lunch with dreaded rivaltight end RobGronkowski of thehated New EnglandPatriots, coached bythe loathsome BillBelichick.Could this missiveto outraged Giantsand Jets fans haveFraser P. Seitel hasbeen a communicationsconsultant, author andteacher for 30 years. Heis the author of thePrentice-Hall text, ThePractice of PublicRelations.been some sort ofcolossal mistake?Yup.Within hours,Dunkin’ “walkedback” its errantemail with thefollowing:We may have accidentally sent youan email earlier today about a chanceto have lunch with Gronk at GilletteStadium. This promotion is intendedfor our Dunkin’ fans in select NewEngland markets. We apologize forany inconvenience. But do feel free tostop by your local Dunkin’ Donutsand try a delicious Dunkin’ BakerySandwich. Because no matter whatteam you root for, every football fanneeds to tackle their hunger.Sincerely,The Dunkin’ Donuts TeamThe PR tactic of “walking back” adamaging statement, misguided judgmentor wrongheaded reaction is verymuch in the news these days.Technically, “walking back” a commentmeans backing off the original comment,when public backlash renders theearlier statement embarrassing or evenuntenable.Last month, when former VicePresident Dick Cheney remarked that itwas “a mistake” for the Republicans tohave selected Sarah Palin as VP candidate,the former sharpshooter hot tailedit to Sean Hannity to walk back hisprevious pronouncement.Clarified Cheney, “My point basicallydealt with the process in terms of thatbasic requirement: Is this personprepared to step in to be President of theUnited States when they’re picked? Andit was my judgment — I was asked if Ithought the McCain process in ’08 hadbeen well done or was it a mistake, andI said I thought it was a mistake.”So there!More recently, of course, the candidatesfor President were busy walkingback their own foot-in-mouth statements,regarding the latest September 11anti-American violence in the MiddleEast.After President Obama toldTelemundo that he didn’t consider Egypteither an “ally” or an enemy, the WhiteHouse jumped on the backtrackmachine.“I think folks are reading way toomuch into this,” said a White Housespokesman, after it was verified thatEgypt was one of 16 nations, includingIsrael and Japan, which share “majornon-NATO ally status” with the U.S.Obama, said the spokesman, was wellaware of Egypt’s status, but rather wasspeaking “colloquially.”“As the president has said, Egypt is alongstanding and close partner of theUnited States, and we have built on thatfoundation by supporting Egypt’s transitionto democracy and working with thenew government,” the spokesmanexplained in his “walk back.”In subsequent days, the Obama “spinmachine” proceeded even to suggest thatthe President may have purposely plantedthe seed that in light of the anti-American riots in Cairo, the Egyptiangovernment better get its act together ifit wants the U.S. to remain an “ally.”Indeed, part of “walking back” a misguidedcomment is an effort to causedoubt that the original statement, eventhough questionable, may not have beenentirely unplanned.Which brings us to Mitt Romney.The challenger’s knee-jerk responseto the turmoil in Egypt and Libya thatcost the lives of four American diplomatswas not only unnecessary but alsojust plain dumb; there is simply no wayaround it.After a PR staffer issued a statementfrom the Cairo U.S. Embassy — whichthe White House later disavowed — that“condemned the continuing efforts bymisguided individuals to hurt thereligious feelings of Muslims,” Romneyimmediately stormed in.After expressing outrage at the U.S.deaths, Romney’s statement read,“It’s disgraceful that the ObamaAdministration’s first response was notProfessional Developmentto condemn attacks on our diplomaticmissions, but to sympathize with thosewho waged the attacks.”Ill-timed. Bad taste. Blatantly political;an incompetence trifecta, in terms ofwrong-headed reactions that exposed acampaign brain trust that may be long on“trust” but decidedly short on “brain.”Fortunately for Romney, someone inhis camp had the good sense to start“walking back” the potentially suicidalcomment almost immediately.At his next campaign stop in Virginia,Romney stayed on the message of“grieving” about those lost and refusedto return to the ill-conceived commentsthat got him into the firestorm.“I know that we’ve had heavy heartsacross America today, and I want you toknow things are going to get a lot better.But I also recognize that we’re inmourning. We’ve lost four of our diplomatsacross the world. We’re thinkingabout their families and those thatthey’ve left behind,” was the candidate’snew mantra.During the Presidential debates,Romney will get ample chance toexplain why he believes America needs“new leadership in the world.” For amoment last month, it looked likeRomney might bury himself with a selfinflictedverbal mortar.Fortunately for Romney, he was ableto “walk back” the mistake enough toremain in the fight. PR service briefsFIRM WORKS $118 GENOMEDEALChinese genome sequencing company BGI-Shenzhen is working with Brunswick Group in theU.S. and China as it moves to acquire SiliconValley-based Complete Genomics in a cash tenderworth $117.6 million.Waggener Edstrom works with CG, which saidthe deal came after reviewing “alternatives” withits outside advisors.The $3.15-per-share deal will make CG a subsidiaryof Shenzen-based BGI, which has alsoengaged proxy firm Innisfree M&A.Brunswick’s San Francisco and Hong Kongoffices are supporting media relations and PRcounsel for BGI.The combination of the companies’ resourcesprovides an opportunity to accelerate our vision ofproviding researchers and physicians with thegenomic information needed to prevent, diagnose,and treat cancers and other genetic diseases,”Dr. Clifford Reid, chairman and CEO ofComplete, said in a statement.The cost of genetic sequencing has fallen inrecent years as technology improves, increasingits potential for medical research and the developmentof treatments.46OCTOBER 2012WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

How to obtain higher profitability (part II)By Richard GoldsteinBy way of refresher, the July columnfocused on using financialratios to manage profitability.The basics were discussed: using a timeand billing system;prepare a budget;watch staffproductivity, etc. Italso reviewedindustry benchmarksthat,Richard Goldsteinis a partner atBuchbinder Tunick &Company LLP, NewYork, Certified PublicAccountants.according toindustry consultants,are indicativeof thriving firms.One key benchmarkfor exampleis that agencyoperating profitshould approximate25 percent.Building blocks to profitabilityRick Gould, Managing Partner ofStevensGouldPincus, coined a phrase,“The Breakthrough Equation.” Theequation sets revenue at 100 percentand targets labor at 50 percent of revenue,operating expenses at 25 percentof revenue leaving operating profit of25 percent. From operating profitincome taxes need to be paid.Therefore, the amount of profit that canbe reinvested back into the agency orused for other purposes can be half ofthe operating profit. To put this intoperspective, if revenues are $2M, bottomline profitability will be $250,000.Not bad, but nothing to write homeabout either. Also, in looking at overallprofitability, owner compensationneeds to be “normalized.” The salary ofan agency owner can be $250,000 forone agency and $500,000 in another,both having 25 percent operating profit.Therefore, I believe the industrybenchmark should be at 33.3 percentfor operating profit. Can this be done?I believe it can!In August, I discussed how to obtainhigher profitability. I introduced aconcept: “The Building Blocks toProfitability.” That column definedsome terms: cost object, direct costs,indirect costs to name a few.Job costingThe second building block is tounderstand job costing as the foundationfor the rest of the building blocks.The first is budgeting. When it comesto 25 or 33 percent profitability, theway you get there is to have each clientyou have earn 25 or 33 percent profitability,if not higher.The best way to determine clientprofitability is to subtract from clientrevenue direct salary costs and overhead.The first step is easy - how muchdid the agency bill and collect or expectto collect. Next subtract salary costs,not just salary but medical insurance,life insurance, payroll taxes, and pensioncosts. Your billing and time keepingsystem now comes in handy. (Bythe way, it is my belief that time keepinginhibits value billing and should notbe used as the sole method of charginga customer. It is an accounting andprofitability tool, nothing more! It providesinformation to run your business.)The next step is to understand what ismeant by “overhead.” Bottom line isthat overhead is anything that is not adirect cost. Remember that we defineda direct cost as those costs that arerelated to a particular cost object (customer)and can be traced to the customerin an economically feasible way.You need to know your overhead percentage.To arrive at this, divide totaloverhead by direct billable salary costs.Initially, the overhead percentage canbe determined form the agency budget.The estimated overhead percentage canbe adjusted in the future.An example: assume ABC PR earns$30,000 from a customer. The totaldirect labor cost charged to the engagementis $19,000 and overhead has beendetermined to be 82 percent. An analysisof this customer is as follows:Revenue $30,000Salary Costs $20,000Overhead $16,400 ($20,000times 82%)Loss $ 6,400If nothing more, the analysis will atleast provide information to make adecision about a customer and/or theway you service the customer. Bring italong the next time you have a fee discussion.(Be prepared to justify theoverhead percentage as being in linewith industry benchmarks.)Technically, this type of analysisshould be done before you quote a fee,not after the dust has settled. In theabove example, what would yourFinancial Managementresponse be if the customer requestedthe fee to be capped at $25,000?The concept of “realization” isalways used in the service industries. Ifyou do not keep records however, theconcept will be a meaningless term foryou. If total chargeable hours are 500,the fees billed and collected should beat, for example, $125 an hour, $62,500.If only $40,000 is realized, the realizationpercentage is 64 percent. Notgood! You need to target at a minimum75 or 80 percent (better to be at 100percent). If you anticipated an 80 percentagerealization at the start of theengagement, something happened —excess or over servicing, “dumping oftime,” scope creep (you did workbeyond the engagement letter and didnot bill for it). By the way, it is difficultto know what it costs to service a customerif staff is not honest about theirtime. The key is to monitor the engagementand talk to your team during theengagement not after it is completed. (Iwill provide you some tools down theroad to take care of this.) PR news briefsPR SPENDING TO RETURNTO PRE-RECESSION LEVELSU.S. communications spending, including PR,advertising and marketing services, will rise 5.2%this year to hit nearly $1.2 trillion in a return tospending not seen since the economic downturn asconsumers and business embrace digital technology,according to a forecast by Veronis SuhlerStevenson.Traditional marketing, buoyed by political campaignspending on PR and word-of-mouth marketing,is expected to rise 4.2% this year to $75.9 billion.VSSsaid it expects a 4.2% compounded annualgrowth rate through 2016, a cycle that includestwo presidential elections and a mid-term electioncycle, as well as “strong growth” in PR andWOMM, and a turnaround in B2B promotions, hitting$89.3B in 2016.PR and WOMM grew 12.4% to $6.41 billion in2011, the report found.John Suhler, President of VSS, said digital isnow a “constant and significant factor” in everysector and sub-segment of the U.S. communicationsindustry. He forecasts digital-related spendingto become 40% of the overall communicationsspending in the U.S. by 2016.Traditional consumer advertising, by comparison,will post a modest 2% gain this year to $146.6billion, said VSS, as gains from the Olympics,broadcast TV, and broadcast and satellite radio aretempered by declines in newspapers, magazinesand local consumer directories. Advertising overall,however, is expected to post the largest compoundedannual growth rate through 2016 of 6.1%as Olympics, political ads and the shift to digitalads flows to the sector.OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 47

OPINIONIn a recent fiery campaign stump speech,vice president Joe Biden delivered acrisp, easy-to-grab sound bite when hesaid, “Osama bin Laden is dead, andGeneral Motors is alive.”Why didn’t president Obama think ofthat?With the presidentialelection in thehome stretch, it’stime to look back andgrade the nation’schief executive on hiscommunications performance.After capturingmore than 64 millionRichard E. Nicolazzopopular votes andis managing partner ofNicolazzo & thrashing JohnAssociates, a strategic McCain 365-162 oncommunications and the 2008 electoralscorecard, Obamaassumed what isarguably the toughestjob on the planet.The new president, without executivebranch experience, had to manage twowars, protect the country from terrorists,stabilize a shaky financial system on theverge of collapse, rebuild a sagging economyand deal with the ever-explosiveMiddle East.In short, he entered the world of governingand “managing expectations” by makingcommitments, chief among them, torebuild the economy and create jobs.With the major issues in the U.S. (and theworld) so complex, contentious and seeminglyunsolvable, in my view, a successfulpresidency comes down to not only whatwas accomplished but how those achievementshave been communicated to theAmerican public.President Obama’s failure to communicatemay lie in his deep-rooted belief that ifyou sit with rational people and make compellingarguments, something will beaccomplished. The problem is, politics isnot a rational discussion.Things got off to a good start four yearsago. Just 24 days after his inauguration, thePresident’s $800 million stimulus packagepassed Congress. Remember the “rebuildingAmerica” signs across the country?Somehow, that accomplishment was lost inthe “noise of the campaign.”Using every ounce of political clout andgoodwill possible, what is commonlycalled Obama-Care was passed byCongress. Presidential insiders advisedObama to settle for a “skinny” alternativethat would have eased in change. Instead,the president insisted on the whole package.The result is legislation that polarized theAmerican public (despite a Supreme Courtvictory) and muddied the waters. If youasked average Americans to explain howthe new healthcare plan will affect them,my guess is nine of 10 couldn’t do it. Thecommunications challenge of such a massivenew law has overwhelmed the WhiteHouse.Vanishing press conferencesIn terms of direct outreach to Americans,Obama maintains his weekly video addresswhich emanates every Saturday morningfrom the White House website. But let’sface it, this is static means of communicationsthat excites no one. Do you ever hearanyone talking about these addresses whenyou head back to work on Mondays?Given his remarkable oratory skills, I’msurprised Obama has followed in the footstepsof his predecessor George W. Bushand de-emphasized the press conference.People still refer to JFK’s press encountersin the 1960s as a masterful way to communicatemessages. The nation also warmedto president Roosevelt’s fireside chats, andpast presidents like Ronald Reagan andBill Clinton knew how to communicateand connect with Americans by developingplatforms, symbols and messages that resonatedwith the public.This year, the president has held only onefully-interactive, multi-issue press conference.As a candidate four years ago,Obama, then a senator, mused aloud aboutholding a news conference every month. Inreality, at one point he went 308 daysbetween press corps encounters, evenexceeding president George W. Bush’slongest gap of 204 days.Many experts believe the dwindling frequencyof these East Room events stemsfrom the fragmentation of prime time TVand the prominence of other social mediaoutlets such as Twitter and Facebook. Still,if done properly, a White House press conferenceis the most accessible and powerfulvenue for Americans to not only learn theviews of their leader but observe, understandand analyze the thinking.In reality, millions of Americans runningaround with iPhones, iPads, Blackberrysand other electronic devices have greateraccess than ever to see their President inaction. Why not give them the opportunity?Guest ColumnObama: great orator, poor strategic communicatorBy Richard E. Nicolazzocrisis managementfirm headquartered inBoston, Mass.Economic realitiesAt the convention and on the campaigntrail Obama has continued to emphasizethat he’s fulfilled his core promises: pullingthe country back from the economic abyss,getting the troops out of Iraq and setting aplan to withdraw from Afghanistan, rescuingthe auto industry, killing the world’stop terrorist, imposing Wall Street regulations,signing a nuclear treaty with Russia,and cutting taxes for the middle class.What’s been much harder is communicatinga vision on the economy that makesAmericans believe that unemploymentrates over 8% are declining. This is whererhetoric collides with reality. The presidentcan’t change the numbers, so trying tocommunicate good news juxtaposedagainst government statistics becomes theultimate communications challenge. Thisis an area where Obama has likely overpromised,falling into the trap of many pastpresidents.Numbers released on Sept. 7 by the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate theeconomy remains stuck in low gear, producingfewer jobs and stagnant paychecks.Although the actual unemployment ratefell to 8.1% from 8.3%, some 12 millionAmericans are still looking for work andthousands have given up.With unemployment stuck above the 8%mark and his approval rating below 50%,Obama is clearly in the political fight of hislife. Consequently, as a communicator, hehas lost some of the eloquence of his earliercampaign and turned this race into aseries of cheap verbal attacks about hisopponent. This might make great headlines,but does not allow Americans tounderstand the importance of the substantiveissues we face.While Obama’s convention speech waseloquent and forceful, it lacked the punchof 2008. Saying he was “mindful of hisown failings,” the President stuck to thelong-term approach in a time when everyAmerican wants the economic pain to stopnow.Admittedly, presidents always have a difficultagenda. As President Eisenhowersaid to JFK the day before Kennedy wasinaugurated, “You’ll find that no easyproblems ever come to the President of theUnited States. If they are easy to solve,somebody else has solved them.”Nevertheless, in my view, Obama’s failureto consistently communicate his keymessages on important policy issues suchas the economic recovery and jobs mayultimately cost him his job. 48OCTOBER 2012WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

The use, misuse and disuse of ‘sorry’By Paul OestreicherThe 19th century fairytale“Goldilocks and the Three Bears”provides us with an importantcommunication checklist: Is somethingtoo much, too little or just right?In our profession — especially in managingissues and crises — we attempt tomatch the responsewith the languageand tone appropriateto the circumstances.This applies toapologies, too. Doesthe situation deservean apology? If so,will the apology bePaul Oestreicher, aveteran of Sanofi-Synthelabo, Edelman,Hill & Knowltonand Zeno Group,runs OestreicherCommunications.too weak, will it beviewed as over-apologizing,or will it bepitch-perfect andaccepted as authentic?As recognition ofan apology’s importancehas grown, the number anddemand for apologies have exploded.However, I don’t believe it’s becausewe’ve become a more sensitive or civilsociety. More and more, apologies arebeing used to gain leverage. Did you perceivea slight? Demand an apology. Wasthere a missed milestone? Demand anapology. It’s a strategy of putting youradversary on the defensive.It’s interesting to note that Republicanpresidential candidate Mitt Romney hasstaked a claim on the strategy of makingno apologies. Indeed, in his book “NoApology: The Case for AmericanGreatness,” he makes the case thatapologies have no place in Americanpolicy; he believes they’re a grave weakness.In 2009, when newly inauguratedPresident Obama went overseas in anattempt to repair damaged relationships,former Governor Romney went on the“Today Show” and said, “Of courseAmerica makes mistakes but what wehave done to sacrifice in terms of bloodand treasure for the freedom of otherpeople is beyond anything any othernation has done in the history ofmankind. And so that, if you will, overshadowsall the mistakes and it suggeststhat you don’t go around the world apologizing…”Here, I see a gaping ethical hole. Yes,you can cash-in the good deeds andgoodwill you’ve banked over time togive you the benefit of the doubt in anuncertain situation. But a previousrecord of good does not immunize anyone or any organization or any governmentfrom accepting responsibility for aserious error or worse.Beyond the issue of too hot, too cold orjust right, there’s the issue of timing.While there’s fairly broad bipartisanagreement that Romney jumped the gunwhen he criticized the President for whathe viewed as an apology in the face ofviolence directed at our brave representativesserving in our embassies in Egyptand Libya, there’s an opposite problem.In the past month, there have beensome stunning examples of apologiescoming too late.Twenty-three years after 96 soccer fanswere crushed to death in what’s beencalled the Hillsborough Disaster, UKPrime Minister David Cameron apologizedfor government efforts to blamethe victims.Even more ill timed (and ill conceived)was the apology from the German drugGuest Columnfirm Gruenenthal, makers of thalidomide.Fifty years after the drug waspulled from the market, CEO HaraldStock said, “We ask for forgiveness thatfor nearly 50 years we didn’t find a wayof reaching out to you from human beingto human being. We ask that you regardour long silence as a sign of the shockthat your fate caused in us.”Thalidomide, you may recall, was asedative given to pregnant women in the1950s and 60s for morning sickness.Tragically, babies were born with veryserious birth defects, including missingarms and legs.The suspicion and anger caused by thehalf century delay was compounded bythe claim that it was caused by the company’sown grief — a 50 year-long posttraumaticstress that somehow erasedtheir ability to reach out to the right peoplewith the right words. What an absurdand insulting attempt at rationalizing anegregious decision.It’s a reminder that poorly developedand executed communications can domore harm than good. OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 49

PEOPLE IN PRJ&J’s Jordan moves toAmgenRay Jordan, a prominent pharmaceuticalPR exec who leads globalcorporate communications and publicaffairs for Johnson & Johnson, took atop corporate affairs slot at biotech giantAmgen in early October.Jordan, Corporate VP of PA andCorporate Comms. at J&J, exited the companyafter nine yearsand a tumultuousrecent few amid severalhigh-profilerecalls and theretirement of CEOWilliam Weldon inApril.Jordan joinedAmgen, based inJordanThousand Oaks,Calif., on Oct. 1 assenior VP, Corporate Affairs, a new positionreporting to President and CEORobert Bradway. He oversees internal andexternal communications, issues managementand philanthropy.David Polk, who was Executive Directorof Corporate Communications at Amgen,joined Weber Shandwick’s CorporatePractice in Chicago in January as an executiveVP. Phyllis Piano stepped down asVP/Corporate Comms. in September2011.Prior to J&J, Jordan was VP/comms. andinformation at Pfizer and chaired the drugindustry trade group PhRMA’s publicaffairs unit. He started out as a journalistbefore moving to the healthcare sectorwith Bristol-Myers.Bill Price, VP of Media Relations forJ&J, told O’Dwyer’s the company has notnamed a replacement for Jordan. “Hisdirect reports will report to MichaelSneed, VP of Corporate Affairs,” he said.“Other organizational decisions will beannounced in the future.”Amgen had Q2 revenue of $4.2 billionon net income of nearly $1.3 billion. Marsh Comms. headexits for BMISilvia Davi, who led CorporateCommunications and Brand forMarsh & McLennan Cos. for thepast year, has moved to music rights managerBroadcast Music Inc. to headStrategic Comms. and Marketing.BMI is one of a trio of entities — withASCAP and SESAC — which manageartists’ royalties and licensing fees. BMIartists include Sting, Lady Gaga, SherylCrow, Kanye West and the late MichaelJackson, among others.Davi, as a VP, leads global PR, branding,social media, inernal comms., corporatemarketing and online comms. for NewYork-based BMI,reporting to SeniorVP Richard Conlon.Prior to joiningMarsh in April2011, she was VP ofCorporate Comms.and Head of Globalbroadcast mediastrategy at NAS-DAQ OMX anddirector of PR atDaviInstinet Group. She worked on the agencyside at Edelman and Ogilvy PR.Hanna Bolte left an assistantVP/Corporate Comms. slot at BMI last yearfor mun2.Marsh & McLennan was not reachedabout a replacement. KPMG grabs PWC execfor Global Comms. postKPMG has recruited rival PwC’sU.K. Director of Communications,Brian Bannister, for a new post tohead global communications for theaccounting and consulting giant's internationaloperations, based in London.Bannister is slated to join KPMG inDecember after five years at PwC. He previouslydirected communications and marketingfor the Institute of CharteredAccounts in England and Wales and, earlier,led corporate communications for BSI.KPMG, which operates in 152 countries,is one of the so-called Big Four accountfirms, with PwC, Deloitte ToucheTohmatsu and Ernst & Young.Seth Oster, an EPA and Napster alum,joined Montvale, N.J.-based KPMG inDecember as Executive Director ofCommunications. Edelman bolstersdigital, mobile offeringsBrad Mays, who was global engagementpractice chief for healthcarefirm WCG, has joined Edelman’soffice in Austin. He takes the SeniorVP/Digital post and reports to MorrisDenton, Austin GMPrior to WCG, Mays was Senior VP atFleishman-Hillard. He has designed digitalprograms for AT&T, Chevrolet andHershey’s.Edelman also recruited Tim Haydenas Senior VP/Mobile Strategy. He’s Co-Founder of 44Doors, a mobile marketingplatform/services company. Earlier, Haydenwas Partner at Blue Clover Studios andCEO of GamePlan, an experiential firm.Hayden reports to David Armano,Managing Director of Edelman Digital inChicago.Edelman’s Austin office serves GeneralElectric, Texas Tourism, AMD,DigitalGlobe, Builder Homesite andMedSpring.Edelman Digital does work forVolkswagen, Ben & Jerry’s and Adobe. Shetty helmsNewsweek Daily BeastBaba Shetty, chief strategy and chiefmedia officer for ad agency HillHoliday, has been named CEO ofThe NewsweekDaily BeastCompany as themedia companymakes a deeper pushinto events.Current CEOStephen Colvin, aveteran media executivewho helped buildThe Daily Beast froma start-up in 2009,Shettywill exit in October to become Executive inResidence at VC firm Lerer Ventures.Tina Brown, Editor-In-Chief of NDB,said: “He is extremely gifted at brand anddigital strategy, is a strong leader, and is theperfect partner for the next phase of TheNewsweek Daily Beast Company and ourexpanding live events business.”TNDBC marked the second year of itsWomen in the World summit in March andplans the upcoming Hero Project, a D.C.summit slated for November examining the“essential elements of moral, political,intellectual and physical courage,resilience, and selflessness” and featuringguests like Adm. William McRaven,Madeleine Albright and Bono.Shetty, who collaborated with the magazine-websitecombine for its popular “MadMen” issue previously with FallonWorldwide and was an analyst at ForresterResearch.“[Internet consultant and writer] ClayShirky says ‘it’s not information overload,it’s filter failure’ and The Daily Beast philosophyof “read this, skip that” brilliantlysolves filter failure — there’s a reason thesite is growing faster than any other in thecategory,” said Shetty. 50OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

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WASHINGTON REPORTWPP puts Dewey Squareunder H+KWPP is merging public affairs shop Dewey SquareGroup into Hill+Knowlton Strategies, installing aDSG exec as H+K’s global PA chief, although theholding company said each firm will maintain a “distinct brandand operating independence.”Joe Eyer, Director of DSG’s grassroots unit, is taking the reinson H+K’s global PA practice. Eyer was Deputy CampaignManager and Director of Political Affairs for Senator JoeLieberman’s presidential campaign and a political aide to VicePresident Al Gore.“Each firm has expertise that strengthens our combined abilityto solve client issues,” said DSG Co-Founder Charles Campion.The change is the latest in a string of PA moves for H+K inrecent years which included a merger with Public Strategies andlast year’s acquisition of Glover Park Group.WPP acquired DSG in 2006. The firm, to be known as “an H+KStrategies company,” was founded in Boston in 1993 byDemocratic political vets Campion, Charles Baker and MichaelWhouley and has operations in D.C., Sacramento, Los Angeles,St. Louis, Tampa and Grosse Point, Mich.Jason Cohen takes over DSG’s grassroots unit on Eyer’spromotion.DSG COO A.J. Donelson left the firm last year, formingAdvocom Group with GolinHarris alum Lane Bailey. Ogilvy tops ThothsOgilvy Washington and client the National Institutes ofHealth took home “Best in Show” honors from PRSociety’s National Capital Chapter at its 44th annualThoth Awards event on Sept. 13.The WPP firm’s work on the National Kidney DiseaseEducation Program earned the top nod at the National Press Clubin Washington before nearly 200 attendees.Ogilvy, whichwon eight Thothawards in all forwork with clientslike The ComputerSciences Corp.,Merck and theInternal RevenueService, was followedby Ketchumwith five awards,leading a slate thatincluded 31 totalL-R: Jewel Jones and Tiana Allen, OgilvyThoth awards andWashington, with presenter Weiss, mark thefirm's Best in Show win.20 certificates ofexcellence for PRwork in the region.Suzanne Holroyd of the Dept. of Defense, who heads the PRSociety chapter, said the winners “implemented innovative communicationsstrategies and demonstrated the true value of publicrelations by achieving impressive and accountable results.”Two-time Olympic figure skater and D.C. native Michael Weisswas a special guest presenter.Complete list of winners is at prsa-ncc.org. Pawlenty to rep financial sectorFormer GOP presidential candidate and Minnesota GovernorTim Pawlenty will take the reins of the Financial ServicesRoundtable, the D.C. group representing the heads of theworld’s biggest banks and financial institutions.Pawlenty, who was considered for the Vice President slot onMitt Romney’s ticket and is co-chair of theRomney campaign, takes the post Nov. 1 onthe retirement of Steve Bartlett, a formerRepublican Congressman and DallasMayor who held the Roundtable post since1999. Pawlenty is stepping down from theRomney campaign.Allstate CEO Tom Wilson, who chairs theRoundtable, cited Pawlenty’s ability to findcommon ground in making the announcementtoday. “He understands that whilepolicy makers sincerely desire to improvePawlentyeconomic opportunities for all Americans, they also have differentpolitical philosophies,” said Wilson.Pawlenty, 51, was Governor of Minnesota from 2003-1011 afterserving in the state’s house of representatives.“I realize there is still work to be done to continue to earncustomers’ confidence,” Pawlenty said in a statement.BGR PR works with the Roundtable. Elise Brooks is Directorof Communications. Chevron taps Capitol CounselChevron has hired Capitol Counsel, the firm of formerpowerful Republican Congressman Jim McCrery, for inputon tax reform.The Louisiana Republican served as ranking member of theHouse Ways and Means Committee and was a member of theJoint Committee on Taxation.McCrery is assisted by John O’Neil, who was Policy Directorto former Republican Whip Trent Lott of Mississippi and taxcounsel to the Senate Finance Committee, and Dena Battle, exaideto GOP Congressmen Dave Camp and Nick Smith.Chevron uses BGR Government Affairs, which is the home offormer Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, as its lead shop.BGR received a $150,000 payment during the second- quarter.The California-based oil giant dropped Ogilvy GovernmentRelations on June 1 after making a first-quarter payment of$150,000 to the WPP unit. 52OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

Guatemala’s $575 A&P pactGuatemala, which suffers one of the highest murder rates inCentral America, has given Arnold & Porter a $575,000four-month pact to promote tourism and investment bypursuing its legal, media and public policy objectives inWashington.According to the pact that runs through Dec. 31, the agreementis “justified by the need to attract foreign investment and tourismthough improvement in Washington D.C., and in the various strataof the United States, of the way the Guatemalan investment climateis perceived.”The “relevance of tourism lies in its attraction, that apart fromgenerating foreign currency it also creates a virtuous circle wheremore tourism and more investment result from an improvedimage.”The U.S. Marines returned to Guatemala in August, patrollingits west coast in the fight against drug traffickers. America’s militaryintervened to put down a peasant uprising in Guatemalafifty years ago, and withdrew in 1978. More than 200,000 peoplewere killed during that span.The United Nations, on Sept. 11, decided to extend the life ofits International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala,which probes official corruption, for another three years until2015.Nearly 2,000 policemen and government employees have beeneither fired or jailed since the U.N. panel set up shop.FARA News NEW FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION ACT FILINGSBelow 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.Grayling Connecting Point, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered September 14, 2012 for Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP),Doha Qatar, to provide public relations support and media outreach for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference in late 2012.Arnold & Porter LLP Washington, D.C., registered September 14, 2012 for Instituto Guatelmalteco de Turismo - INGUAT (GuatemalanInstitute of Tourism), Republic of Guatemala, to provide services with respect to the promotion of investment and tourism through the developmentof a strategy regarding Guatemala's legal, media and public policy objectives in Washington, D.C.Fianna Strategies, LLC, Washington, D.C., registered September 12, 2012 for Office of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Tbilsi, Georgia, toprovide strategic advice about explaining the programs, initiatives and policies of the Government of Georgia to relevant U.S. audiences.Lobbying NewsInternational PR NewsA&P’s contract is with the Government of Guatemala and theGuatemalan Institute of Tourism, which promotes the land as the“heart of the Mayan world.” Israel lobby’s new spokesmanThe American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the influentialD.C. lobbying group for the Jewish state, hasbrought in Senate Communications Director MarshallWittman as Spokesman, according to a report.Ari Goldberg earlier this year stepped down as Spokesmanand Director of Media Relations for AIPAC after a year on thejob to take up similar duties at the global anti-proverty ONEcampaign in Washington.The Jewish news service JTA reported the 58-year-oldWittman’s appointment, which has not been announced byAIPAC.Wittman most recently was communications director for Sen.Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and earlier served in that capacity forSen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).The New York Times, in a 2006 profile of Wittman, called him“one of the great career vagabonds, ideological contortionistsand political pontificators ever to inflict himself on a city full ofthem.”Earlier posts included the Dept. of Health and HumanServices during the recent Bush administration and the HeritageFoundation. 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.Mercury/Clark & Weinstock, Washington, D.C., registered September 18, 2012 for Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP),Arlington, VA, regarding proposed combination of BAE Systems and EADS.The Arnold Agency, Washington, D.C., registered September 18, 2012 for Adena Health Foundation, Chillicothe, OH, to identify federalfunding and strategic partners to improve healthcare access, quality and innovation.Capitol Counsel LLC, Washington, DC, registered September 18, 2012 for Tompkins Strategies, LLC, Washington, D.C., regarding healthinsurance tax repeal and tax reform.Martin & Seibert, LC, Martinsburg, WV, registered September 17, 2012 for Express Scripts, Cool Valley, MO to limit prescription drug abuse byclosing the cash loophole and creating a self-pay Rx Adjuducation System to track self-pay transactions of prescription drug sales and to provide lawenforcement officials the means to track and identify the sale of prescription drugs.Daly Consulting Group, Washington, D.C., registered September 17, 2012 for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Washington, D.C., regardingimplementation of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, market structure, and other issues related to the financialservices industry.OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 53

PR Buyer’s GuideTo be featured in the monthly Buyerʼs Guide,Contact John OʼDwyer, john@odwyerpr.comCAMERA-READY RELEASESMEDIA & SPEAKER TRAININGSPECIAL EVENTSNorth American Precis Syndicate, Inc., 415Madison Ave., 12th flr., New York, NY 10017.800/222-5551. freeproposal@napsnet.com;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.Impact Communications, 11 Bristol Place,Wilton, CT 06897-1524. (203) 529-3047;cell: (917) 208-0720; fax: (203) 529-3048;JRImpact@aol.com. Jon Rosen, President.BE PREPARED! Impact Communicationstrains your spokespeople tosuccessfully communicate criticalmessages to your targeted audiencesduring print, television, andradio news interviews. Your customizedworkshops are issue-drivenand role-play based. Videotaping/critiquing. Groups/privately. Faceto-face/telephoneinterviews/newsconferences. Private label seminarsfor public relations agencies. Makeyour next news interview yourbest 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 areconveyed to global audiences in print,television and online. Our journalistmembers work with the NPC staff tocreate an ideal facility for newscoverage – from a full service broadcastoperation, to fiber and wirelessconnectivity, to audio-visual services.PR JOBS - http://jobs.odwyerpr.comAccount Executive26-year old publicity agency looking foraccount executive to bring in new publicitybusiness. Experienced reps who actually makephone calls or meet people in person. Not lookingfor just another emailer or social networker. Oldschool. Straight commission but open to reasonabledraw against commission if needed.Our specialty is booking guest clients on Talk Showinterviews. That is 90% of our business. We do itvery well. We book on The Today Show, O'Reilly,Hannity, and hundreds of radio talk shows. Theother portion of our business is producing videoswhich is a growing sector of our business. We areextremely competitive at pricing, charging only$100 per minute per video.If you are able to find clients who want to be on TalkShows, we are probably a good fit.We have two billing options for clients. They caneither pay per interview with no charge unless webook them on shows. Or we can take a flat monthlyrate (minimum of $2500/month; preferably $5000or more) for all the bookings we can deliver.To the best of our knowledge we book more guestson more talk shows than any other independentagency. Despite the fact that we are not listed inOʼDwyersʼ top 100 PR firms, we still enjoy one ofthe top 10 Alexa.com ratings of all independentagencies in the U.S.Work from home. Have fun.Jerry McGlothlinjerry@specialguests.com630/548-930054OCTOBER 2012 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM

Get O'Dwyer's Newsletter, Magazine & 2012 Directory of PR Firms plus ayear's access to all the content on odwyerpr.com for $295/yearYou'll get the news first in the eight-page weekly OʼDwyer letter, the “bible” ofPR according to the New York Times--tips and stories that can lead to jobs, newaccounts, media placements--sent as a PDF to your inbox every Monday afternoon.Plus, youʼll have access to all the news and commentary posted daily on PRʼs#1 website, odwyerpr.com, which has over 10 years of searchable content andOʼDwyerʼs exclusive database of RFPs for PR services.Easily research past issues of OʼDwyerʼsnewsletter on odwyerpr.comGet the latest RFP announcements andpick up new businessO'Dwyer's magazine, now in its 26th year, examines a different area of PR eachmonth. Issues include practice-area specific feature stories as well as profiles of PRfirms with strengths in the focus area. The agency profiles constitute the ideal startingpoint for companies beginning their search for PR counsel.Editorial Calendar:January, PR Buyer's Guide/Crisis Comms.February, Environmental PR & Public AffairsMarch, Food & BeverageApril, Broadcast Media ServicesMay, PR Firm RankingsJune, Multicultural/DiversityJuly, Travel & TourismAugust, Prof. Svcs. & Financial/Investor Rels.September, Beauty & FashionOctober, Healthcare & MedicalNovember, TechnologyDecember, Sports & EntertainmentContact magazine editor Jon Gingerich toprofile your firm in an upcoming issue:jon.gingerich@odwyerpr.comOʼDwyerʼs 2012 Directory of PR Firms gives you quick access to large, medium-sized,and small PR firms and even experienced freelancers who work out of their homes.1,600 firms are listed. 7,000 clients are cross-indexed. O’Dwyer’s directory is the only placeyou can look up a company and determine its outside counsel.Listed firms have expertise in:• Public Relations• Social Media• Branding• Investor Relations• Employee Communications• Internet PR• Product Publicity• Crisis Communications• Integrated Marketing• Corporate Advertising• Lobbying• Proxy Solicitation• International PRO’Dwyer’sDirectory ofPR Firms hasbrought billionsof dollars inbusiness toPR firmsSign-up online at odwyerpr.com or call toll free: 866/395-7710