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Andrew Pirie
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The French have a famous saying that translates as “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Confucius said something similar: “It is only the wisest and the stupidest that cannot change.”
I’m reminded of both sayings when I look at what’s happening in the world of public relations. Our industry is in the midst of significant and unprecedented shifts—driven initially by technology—that are dramatically changing the nature of communications, now and into the future. Yet despite these changes, the core function of public relations remains unaltered.
Technology such as the World Wide Web has revolutionized the way information is spread, making it much easier to share with more segmented audiences. At the same time, the way individuals respond to information is changing radically; they are relying less on institutions—including the traditional news media—and more on one another.
As individuals take control, they’re demanding more and becoming increasingly selective. Amid information overload, pushing messages is not enough. We need to pull people toward the ideas we want to convey in a true exchange. What’s required is engagement. And in the new networked society, individuals are not as swayed by centralised, institutionalised experts as they used to be. They are paying more attention to influentials, connectors, bloggers, activists … simply anyone willing to stand on top of a soapbox to voice their opinion, virtually or otherwise, anywhere in the world.
As the game changes, the public relations profession must too. Rather than pushing information for our clients, we need to engage individuals as advocates … for brands, for products, for issues. In its strongest form, advocacy forges emotional bonds and higher levels of involvement. Individuals who become advocates can be active, vocal, informed, even proud to support a brand or a cause. That creates real and far-reaching influence in the marketplace.
Public relations’ new mission must be to move people faster to this highest form of loyalty—advocacy—and at Weber Shandwick, we’ve adopted this goal as our own. We are researching how best to mobilise advocates early on in the decision process. We are investing in new ways to sustain and build advocates as the core foundation of any client’s ongoing marketing communications program. Our digital media initiative, screengrab™, is evidence of this commitment (see here for more details).
Ultimately, though, our focus on advocacy aims to achieve what public relations has always set out to do: create, strengthen and sustain reputation for our clients. Reputation can be defined as how others see you (that’s an important distinction from our advertising colleagues who develop campaigns about how clients see themselves). The more people we can encourage to become advocates, the more we can move the overall reputational needle.
Andrew Pirie
President Asia Pacific
A Spectacular Night at the Asia Pacific PR Awards
The last issue of In Touch announced that Weber Shandwick had received 10 nominations for the upcoming Asia Pacific PR Awards. In Touch is now pleased to share more information about what became one of the most spectacular nights in Weber Shandwick history.
Champagne flowed as Weber Shandwick celebrated a number of outstanding achievements at the Asia Pacific PR Awards on November 16. Most notably, the agency was named Network of the Year.
“Five years after a tumultuous merger that brought the agency to life, Weber Shandwick outfought fierce competition to take the Network of the Year honour, thanks to a memorable performance that emphasised the agency’s ability to lead in a diversity of client sectors,” said judges. “On the new business front, Weber Shandwick had a blockbuster year across the region … the bulk of the new business depended heavily on the network’s ability to manage clients in multiple offices … while individual offices have shone, the past 12 months witnessed the agency’s shift into a truly cohesive regional presence.”
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| Weber Shandwick was proud to win Network of the Year and other client campaign awards at the recent Asia Pacific PR Awards |
In addition to the Network of the Year award, Weber Shandwick also won the highly coveted Campaign of the Year award. The “Belly is Beautiful” campaign was creatively launched by the Taipei team for pregnancy stretch mark cream treatment, Galenic. Interactive consumer events, such as a beauty pageant for pregnant women, increased brand awareness and encouraged women to feel proud about the pregnant female form. The International Public Relations Association also recognised this campaign in 2006 at the Golden World awards in London.
Other Asia Pacific offices also took home a number of awards including Hong Kong (three honours), Taiwan (two honours), Shanghai (one honour) and Australia (one honour). In addition, Winnie Hui (Hong Kong) and Jeff He (Beijing) were both finalists in Young PR Professional of the Year award.
PR Student of the Year
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| Melanie Perkins and Tabatha Mei Yan Maitland were acknowledged as the winner and runner up respectively in the inaugural Asia Pacific PR Student of the Year Award |
For the first time, Weber Shandwick was also co-organiser of the inaugural Student of the Year award, which has raised Weber Shandwick's profile significantly among the brightest young talent in the region.
Melanie Perkins, a second year student at The University of Western Australia was named the 2006 Asia Pacific Student of the Year. "I did not think I was in with a very good chance...as I am not directly studying PR and am in the second year of my degree (with two to go). So I was absolutely shocked (and excited!) by the outcome," said Perkins.
The runner up was Tabatha Mei Yan Maitland from Singapore Management University. As a second year psychology major student, Maitland also didn't think she knew much about developing a large scale PR project. "Fortunately, as I found out, there was no ‘secret formula’ given only to the initiated, instead, designing a PR campaign is about sending out messages, and matching the right message to the right listener. The more I learnt about PR, the more I found myself envisioning a career in this vibrant and dynamic industry."
Three other student finalists were also present at the awards ceremony in Hong Kong: Joel Fu Jijin, Singapore Management University, Muhammad Riesal Bin Mohd Idries, National University of Singapore, Emily Leung, University of Hong Kong. (For more information about the award, go to www.webershandwick.com.au/prstudentoftheyear)
Andrew Pirie, president for Asia Pacific, summed up the night, “All in all, a sensational night for all of us, and one in which everyone across Weber Shandwick can feel very proud.”
Hong Kong Victorious at SABRE Awards
The Hong Kong office won the Gold SABRE, Asia Pacific category, for its work with the Hong Kong Cancer Fund in the launch of CancerLink. Weber Shandwick in Shanghai was also a finalist for the Re-Discovery Journey campaign for GM in China.
The Holmes Report is one of the top publications in the US public relations industry. SABREs are especially competitive because international PR campaigns are pitted against the best campaigns from across the United States and Asia Pacific.
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| Weber Shandwick was the only agency to score a nine out of 10 |
In its annual report of Asia Pacific PR agencies, the December 2006 issue of Media magazine rated Weber Shandwick with a score of nine out of 10. It was the only firm that received a score of above eight.
The report considered factors such as business retention and growth, people, network initiatives and awards.
“Five years after a turbulent merger brought the agency to life, Weber Shandwick had good reason to celebrate in 2006, scooping coveted Gold awards for Network and Campaign of the Year at the Asia-Pacific PR Awards,” said Media. “The network nod—the agency’s first—came on the back of stellar multi-market client growth which was achieved, critically, across a diverse range of practice areas. The region’s stand-out healthcare practice brought in new work from Wyeth Nutrition, GlaxoSmithKline and Celgene, while regional wins of Proctor & Gamble and Temasek Holding testified to the agency’s continued strength in consumer and corporate, respectively.”
The article when on to explain that Hong Kong and Singapore’s market leadership, combined with improved performance from China and the appointment of John Russell as regional executive vice president had contributed to Weber Shandwick’s success. It also praised regional president Andrew Pirie for the firm’s performance in recent years.
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Diamond and Polansky met with CIPRA officials during their visit to China
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In January 2007, Harris Diamond and Andy Polansky, CEO and president of Weber Shandwick respectively, visited China.
Recognising the ever increasing business opportunities and expanding Chinese market, Weber Shandwick has boosted its greater China presence in recent years. During their first stop in Beijing, the two executives discussed the firm's achievements with senior officials of the China International Public Relations Association (CIPRA).
Meeting with CIPRA President Li Daoyu and president and secretary general Zheng Xiannong, Diamond and Polansky introduced Weber Shandwick’s strengths in various disciplines, reiterating the firm’s commitment to China.
Li and Zheng, both long-time friends of Weber Shandwick, expressed their appreciation for the firm’s efforts to develop the PR industry in China, especially the firm’s contribution to the winning bids for the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the Shanghai Expo 2010. They also expressed their wish for more cooperation with the firm.
In addition to meeting with a number of key clients, Diamond and Polansky talked directly to team members in the Beijing office. “China is a happening place, with abundant opportunities for further growth,” said Diamond to the team. “We are delighted to see the growth and progress you have made here over the past year and are confident that you will continue the momentum.”
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| David Liu, second from right, attends a meeting with Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce |
The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce invited Weber Shandwick to join a counselling panel with other top worldwide consultancy firms to discuss how to innovatively attract more foreign investment and enhance international trade.
David Liu, managing director of Weber Shandwick in China, discussed with Zhou He, deputy bureau chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, and senior executives from Price Waterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd and Accenture, and offered expert advice to the Beijing government officials from a PR perspective.
The officials attending the meeting mentioned that the Beijing government will adopt a series of innovative methods on trade enhancement and rely more on professional agencies and consulting firms for advice on attracting investment.
Weber Shandwick was the only PR firm on the panel, and has committed to more cooperation with the Bureau on trade promotion events, target customer source sharing and information dissemination.
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| Weber Shandwick distributed more than 20,000 copies to key partners in China |
Weber Shandwick offices in Brussels and Beijing marked the European Union’s 50-year anniversary this March with a Chinese translation of the Guide to the German Presidency of the EU.
Recognizing that understanding of the political and business landscape is crucial to clients, Weber Shandwick issues the guide every six months. The latest issue is significant because it is the first issue translated and localised for China. The guide features analysis by industry leaders, officials and Weber Shandwick professionals from both countries.
German Ambassador to China, Volker Stanzel, co-hosted a launch event for the guide in China to celebrate Germany’s current EU presidency, which runs from January to June 2007. A number of European and Chinese dignitaries and senior business executives attended the launch, which served to highlight Weber Shandwick’s public affairs offering.
Weber Shandwick distributed more than 20,000 copies to key partners, Chinese and multi-national corporations, trade associations, as well as additional foreign embassies, and chambers of commerce based in China.
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The Straits Times named Weber Shandwick
“A Great Place to Grow”
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Weber Shandwick was Marketing magazine’s top PR pick |
The Singapore team’s outstanding performance is making headlines.
On January 7, The Straits Times carried a story about the advantages of working at Weber Shandwick entitled, “A Great Place to Grow.” The article cited employee training programs, a team structure and flexible scheduling as reasons for the firm’s 90 percent retention rate last year.s
“Our employees’ professional development is key to both their growth and the company’s success,” said Baxter Jolly, managing director of Weber Shandwick in Singapore.
In another article, Marketing magazine ranked the Singapore team as its number one public relations agency, emphasizing the firm’s strong growth with new accounts such as Porsche, Health Promotion Brand, Proctor & Gamble, SK-II and GSK.
The article went on to explain that at the 2006 PRISM awards, which recognises PR excellence in Singapore, Weber Shandwick was the top performer with four awards, including an individual accolade for team member Rita Chia, who was named Young PR Professional of the Year.
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| Faith Popcorn is one of America’s foremost trend experts |
One of the most sought-after minds in marketing, Faith Popcorn, participated in the Global Brand Forum in Singapore late last year. As a result of her organisation’s strategic alliance with Weber Shandwick, she conducted an informal talk with the firm’s clients at an early evening cocktail session.
Recognised as America's foremost trend-expert with a 95 percent accuracy rate, Popcorn has been hailed as “the trend oracle” by The New York Times and the "Nostradamus of Marketing” by Fortune. She is known for predicting the demand for “foodaceuticals,” a word she coined in 1990 to capture the benefits-added craze seen in supermarket products today (the Being Alive™ Trend), and four-wheel drives (Fantasy Adventure™), as well as the spiritual tenor of the millennium (Anchoring™). She was also the first to anticipate the explosive growth in home delivery, home businesses and home shopping (Cocooning™).
Through her future-focused marketing consultancy, Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve, Popcorn works with clients, applying her insights on cultural and business trends, to reposition their company or a brand, define areas of new business opportunity and develop new products.
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(Left to right) David Liu, Andrew Pirie,
Andy Polansky and Darren Burns |
Shanghai team members
assemble in the new office |
In December 2006, the Shanghai team together with sister Interpublic Group companies moved into seven floors of Grade A downtown real estate.
Weber Shandwick leaders from all levels were on hand for the grand opening. President Andy Polansky joined with Andrew Pirie; president, Asia Pacific; David Liu, managing director, China; and Darren Burns, managing director, Shanghai, to officially open the new facility.
New Shanghai contact information: 18/F Huaihai Plaza, 1045 Huaihai Zhong Road (tel: +86 21 2411 0000, fax: +86 21 2411 0011). |
