What a year it’s been for Weber Shandwick in Asia Pacific! Earlier in the year, I must admit I was concerned we might struggle to reach the heights achieved during a superb 2006. Far from it. Whether measuring success through our client work, our people or our operating performance, we have gone from strength to strength over the past year.
At the 2007 Asia Pacific PR Awards in November, we might not have repeated our Network of the Year accolade (history shows that successive wins in this category are notoriously difficult, although we were one of the three finalists), but we had an outstanding night just the same.
We did manage a repeat for the prestigious Campaign of the Year title, with our India office’s “Condoms Bindaas Bol” initiative to promote condom usage and family planning taking centre stage as Taiwan’s “Belly is Beautiful” campaign did in 2006. The condoms programme must now rank as one of the most-awarded campaigns in recent times, with other accolades including the International Public Relations Association’s highest honour, the Excellence in PR Award, and the United Nations Grand Award, all in 2007.
At the Asia Pacific PR Awards, a further seven Weber Shandwick campaigns were recognised for a total of five category winners, one more than last year. We had the winner (Liberty Lee, Sydney) and a finalist (Eric Thain, Beijing) in Young PR Professional of the Year, while our Singapore office was runner-up in the ultra-competitive Consultancy of the Year category. We also saw great success recently at the Shanghai and Malaysia PR awards.
Although a focus on exceptional client service (whether it results in awards or not) will always be paramount at Weber Shandwick, awards are still very important. Not only do they make all of us—clients and consultants—feel good about ourselves, they are also a strong endorsement from our industry peers and the marketplace at large.
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This is my last President’s Message as regional CEO for Weber Shandwick in Asia Pacific. As many of you know, my family and I recently returned to New Zealand after almost 12 years living in Asia. While I will be continuing into 2008 in a modified regional role, working closely with new Asia Pacific chairman Tim Sutton, I’m stepping aside from my regional CEO position.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my nine-and-a-half years with the firm, especially the last four-and-a-half years as regional CEO. I am proud of what we have collectively achieved. Given the strength of our client partnerships, the quality of our people and our determination to succeed, I know that the best is yet to come.
Andrew Pirie
President, Asia Pacific
Advocacy Meets Accolade in Asia
For the second year in a row, Weber Shandwick has won Campaign of the Year at the 2007 Asia Pacific PR Awards in Hong Kong.
This year it was for the campaign by our India office, Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick, to promote condom use in India. This follows an unprecedented string of global awards—from the International Public Relations Association’s Excellence in PR Award to the prestigious United Nations Grand Award this year.
In addition, our Singapore office was runner-up in the highly competitive Consultancy of the Year category.
Liberty Lee from Australia was named Young PR Professional of the Year, and Eric Thain from Beijing was one of the finalists. These achievements continue the recognition of our top young talent, as we had two finalists in this category last year. The agency was also was one of three finalists for Network of the Year (having won the title last year).
In all, the awards programme recognised eight of our Asia Pacific campaigns including five category winners—one more than last year. The honours spanned sectors as broad as corporate PR, research, consumer healthcare, public affairs, digital, non-profit and product brand development for clients including MasterCard (two awards) and Procter & Gamble (two also).
Here is a full list of the award winners:
CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR Winner—Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick (New Delhi) "Condom bindaas bol—Say the word condom freely" (Project One/USAID)
Corporate Branding Campaign of the Year Winner—Hong Kong “Preserving our heritage through public-private partnerships” (The Dairy Farm—Wellcome Supermarkets)
Non-Profit Campaign of the Year Winner—Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick (New Delhi) “Condoms bindaas bol—Say condoms freely” (Project One/USAID)
Public Affairs Campaign of the Year
Winner—Singapore “Winner takes all: Battle for Singapore’s integrated resort” (Resorts World at Sentosa)
Young PR Professional of the Year Winner—Liberty Lee (Australia) Honourable Mention—Eric Thain (Beijing)
Best Use of Research/Measurement
Winner—Singapore “MasterCard celebrates turning point in human history” (MasterCard)
Consultancy of the Year Runner-up—Singapore
Healthcare: OTC/Consumer Campaign of the Year
Certificate of Excellence—Shanghai “Pampers absolute baby” (P&G)
Network of the Year Finalist—Asia Pacific
Best Use of Digital Certificate of Excellence—Shanghai “Pampers unites mothers in digital China” (P&G)
Product Brand Development
Campaign of the Year Winner—Taiwan “Let the bra do the talking”
(Mode Marie)
Regional Campaign of the Year Honourable Mention—Singapore “MasterCard celebrates turning point in human history” (MasterCard)
Colleagues on stage in a succession of wins
The Singapore team was named Runner-Up Consultancy of the Year
The Asia Pacific PR Awards is the regional PR event of the year
Ramnika Jain and Gunjan Bagga at the IPRA awards in London
Asia’s Top PR Students
For the second year, Weber Shandwick sponsored the PR Student of the Year Award in conjuction with Media magazine. Staff at all levels, together with last year’s student winners, worked to recruit the brightest applicants from across Asia, resulting in 40 entries—a 185% increase on last year’s number.
Three finalists—Chloe Frankcombe, University of Sydney, and Alvin Pang and Sue Mei Teo, National University of Singapore—participated in the 2007 Asia Pacific PR Awards in Hong Kong this November.
The winner was determined through a mock MasterCard Worldwide brief centering on the launch of the payment solution provider’s new contactless Zap card, a debit card in four markets—Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Australia—which called on finalists to propose a PR campaign of their own.
Alvin Pang took home the top prize, with judges noting that his innovative campaign, an attention-grabbing Amazing Race-style competition, effectively connected with consumers through a wide range of touch points.
His triumph was a clear reflection of his personal life. After leaving home at age 13 and then putting himself through school, Pang’s inspirational story has been covered in local and regional media, showing that anything is possible.
"Winning the Asia Pacific PR Student of the Year award is definitely the highlight of my tertiary education. With this win, I hope to continue to be an inspiration for youths, letting them know that they too can achieve success if they put their hearts in the right place."
(From left to right) Southeast Asia Regional Managing Director Baxter Jolly with finalists Alvin Pang, Sue Mei Teo and Chloe Frankcombe
PR Student of the Year Winner Alvin Pang was profiled in Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao
Success at Shanghai PR Awards
Shanghai celebrates (from left to right): Terrence Lau, Fiona Jing, Darren Burns, Bill Wu and Athena Wang
Weber Shandwick set itself apart at the recent bi-annual Shanghai PR Association Awards, winning a total of five accolades.
The agency received two gold awards for work with clients GM and Goodyear, a silver award for its Nike campaign and two bronze commendation awards for GM, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Association and P&G Pampers diapers.
Twice Honoured at First Malaysia PR Awards
In the first-ever Malaysia PR Awards, Weber Shandwick received two honours.
The team’s efforts to promote Kuala Lumpur’s most fashionable mall, office and residential development, Pavilion KL, earned the Business-to-Business Campaign of the Year award (click here to learn more about this campaign in this issue of In Touch).
Also, the office’s work with Microsoft was named Corporate Branding Campaign of the Year (click here to learn about this campaign in a past issue of In Touch).
"Successful campaigns must be attributed fundamentally to three factors: a strong and trusting client relationship between the agency team and key client contact; clear directions and expectations from the client; and a team that thrives on delivery,” explained Malaysia’s managing director Anne Gabriel. “It is a source of pride for the whole team to take part in the inaugural Malaysian PR Awards”.
Australian MBAs Learn China Market in Shanghai
Darren Burns coaches MBA candidates in China market strategies
Recently, five MBA students from Australia’s Murdoch University sat down with Darren Burns, managing director of Weber Shandwick Shanghai, to discuss doing business in China.
Burns debunked myths about doing business in China, leaving students some tips of his own. Topics ranged from key factors for success in the Chinese service industry to cultural differences and expectations of Chinese and Western companies.
Radian6 Enhances Social Media Offering
Screengrab, Weber Shandwick’s interactive, social and emerging media group, has announced a new partnership with Radian6 to provide employees and clients worldwide with advanced social media intelligence.
With millions of conversations happening online about brands, products and reputations, this exciting partnership gives Weber Shandwick the ability to monitor all forms of social media in real-time to provide instant tracking and analysis.
“Screengrab is now helping to roll-out this tool on all employee desktops” said Scott Sykes, vice president and director, Asia Pacific, technology practice and interactive, social and emerging media. “Screengrab is already off to a strong start in the region, and Radian6 will further enhance our capabilities with interactive, social and emerging media.”
Weber Shandwick Announces Advocacy Blog
All About Advocacy (allaboutadvocacy.com) is a blog written by and for people who believe in the accelerating power of advocates in society today.
Contributors include a wide range of Weber Shandwick advocates who share their unique perspectives about this new shift in communications, including executive vice president Ian Rumsby, who represents Asia Pacific on the blog.
Click here to start advocating this new initiative.
For the second year in a row, Weber Shandwick has won Campaign of the Year at the 2007 Asia Pacific PR Awards in Hong Kong. 
In the first-ever Malaysia PR Awards, Weber Shandwick received two honours. 
