What do Mozart, Winston Churchill and Marilyn Monroe have in common?

	They are famous
	They were talented
	They suffered from a mental condition known as bipolar disorder, where sufferers swing between depressive and manic phases.

Consultant dermatologists discuss new data on genital herpes in relation to GSK’s Valtrex®.

This teaser was part of the media invitation to discuss the new indication for manic depressive illness for the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) drug, Lamictal®. In light of the highly sensitive topic, Singapore’s healthcare team organised a successful media launch at the stylish Arts House. The initiative secured extensive coverage in key dailies, television, radio and health magazines, with the client’s key messages featured consistently across all media.

Following hot on the heels of this project was another GSK programme to raise awareness of genital herpes – Singapore’s third most common sexually transmitted disease (STD), another taboo topic. The press conference announced the new indication for antiviral drug valacyclovir (Valtrex®), which is the first and only clinically proven drug to reduce risk of transmission of herpes infections.

MasterCard and Adam Scott to Nurture China’s Golfing Future

The event helped establish awareness among Chinese people of MasterCard’s connection with golf.	Weber Shandwick invited 15 Chinese junior golfers, all under the age of ten, to undergo a coaching session conducted by Adam.

Reebok Shoes Hip-Hopping in Tokyo

Journalists were invited to the Hip Hop club event which commemorated the launch of the new Reeboks, "Pump 2.0 Run." Photo by STRO!ROBO and WOMB

In May, Weber Shandwick in Tokyo supported an event held by Reebok to commemorate the launch of its new shoes: "Pump 2.0 Run." The event was planned and organized by McCann Erickson in Japan with public relations support from Weber Shandwick.

The Tokyo office coordinated the media outreach by organising for journalists to attend the club event. This was not an easy feat considering the event was to be held in the middle of the spring holiday season, Golden Week, at 11pm on a Tuesday night. Thanks to the popularity of the Reebok brand in Japan, McCann Erickson’s accurate selection of a well-known DJ and Weber Shandwick’s intensive follow-up with the media, journalists from two of the most important hip-hop magazines and online news sites, attended the event.

As the objective of this assignment was to ensure that coverage of the event mentioned the "Reebok" brand, Weber Shandwick negotiated with the club DJ to wear a pair of the new "Pump 2.0 Run" shoes during his performance. The shoes were then offered to the participating media as a reader giveaway.

The event was a success. The web portal Nightscape published an event report on the launch event. Floor and Woofin', two trendy magazines for clubbers, are also planned to feature articles about the event and will introduce the new Reebok product in their next issues and on their websites.

The Drive for General Motors in Asia Pacific During the past few months, Weber Shandwick teams in China and Thailand have been working with their local General Motors clients to execute some exciting campaigns.

Bob Lutz, vice chairman of global product development, introducing the global launch of Chevrolet Aveo.

GM’s Modern Symphony Sets the Tone for Auto Shanghai 2005
Weber Shandwick was involved in a General Motors media briefing held on 19 April, two days prior to the opening of Auto Shanghai 2005. GM and media expectations ran high following the success of last year’s event in Beijing, therefore, the challenge of generating media hype proved to be an exciting mission for Weber Shandwick. The main news angle of the media briefing was the launch of the first global car by a foreign manufacturer in China, the Chevrolet Aveo.

The complex show involved numerous corporate and product messages, the display of nine cars and presentations by a number of high-ranking GM executives, including Bob Lutz, vice chairman of Global Product Development.

The event theme centered on a "Modern Symphony" to capture the essence of GM’s strategy in China of leveraging global resources and strong local partnerships to develop China’s automotive industry for Chinese customers today and tomorrow. GM’s multi-brand strategy in China was characterized by variations within the music and the structure of the program into three "movements": Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. The program began with the Yesterday movement and the display of the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado. The Today movement comprised of the "Product Suite" with GM’s six current brands in China featuring a vehicle to individual music. The final Tomorrow movement showcased two of GM’s concept cars, PATAC and the newly launched Sequel.

The "Modern Symphony" theme permeated all aspects of the media briefing; from tickets to program structure, it all followed the concert format. The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra performed live to further enhance the theme "GM: A Global Symphony with Chinese Movements." The event successfully gave a visual representation of harmony and partnership.

Weber Shandwick collaborated with sister IPG company Jack Morton to produce the show. The client viewed the collaboration and the event as a success with the Chevrolet Aveo receiving wide coverage and GM’s key messages being accurately portrayed. The creativity gained great praise from the media with most coverage mentioning the concept of "Modern Symphony". Consequently, the media briefing was awarded the "Most Creative Press Conference" of Auto Shanghai 2005 by a panel of influential auto media consisting of Dragon TV Autoworld and sina.com Auto Channel.

On your marks, get set, GO! A starter at GM’s "Ride and Drive."

An international journalist at Auto Shanghai.

Media from Around the Globe Meet in Shanghai for GM Program
From 18-23 April 2005, General Motors hosted 30 international media (from Japan, the Middle East, Europe and North America) and 60 internal GM staff, including several executives, for a program that leveraged Auto Shanghai 2005. The five-day program included the GM China media briefing, dealership visits, Auto Shanghai 2005, a "Ride and Drive" session and a tour of SGM’s manufacturing facility. Weber Shandwick was appointed by GM Asia Pacific to implement the project.

A detailed daily rundown of the entire program was prepared by Weber Shandwick. This included individual flight details, exact transfer times to all venues, transportation requirements and staff responsibility for each item. The team also coordinated and provided onsite support for the "Ride and Drive" component of the program.

In terms of onsite support, Weber Shandwick staffed a hospitality desk and a transportation hotdesk in the St Regis Hotel throughout the week. Flexible, able manpower with excellent problem solving skills allowed for prompt responses to urgent requests. With unique language skills of key team members (who were fluent in Japanese and French), Weber Shandwick also provided a high-level media escort service.

GM was impressed. The program, although intense, was a rewarding campaign for Weber Shandwick. Team-assessment through daily meetings and reports ensured the smooth running of the program. Henry Wong, manager of product communications, complimented the team: "Congratulations on a job well done. Thanks for the hard work."

The high-flying "Incandescence" dance troupe in action.

Thailand Drives Motor Show Success for GM
Weber Shandwick client General Motors (Thailand) manufactures Chevrolet vehicles for domestic sale and export to markets around the world.

VP of sales for Chevrolet (Thailand), John Thomson, receives Grand Prix Magazine’s Car of the Year Award for the Chevrolet Colorado.

Each year, the city of Bangkok hosts two major international motor shows which have become more of a sales/marketing event than a concept car showcase. Thus, exhibitors compete for attention with not only their current vehicle models, but the overall showcase that captures the image of their respective brands.

At the 2005 Bangkok International Motor Show, the Thai team commissioned European professional theatre company "Incandescence" to perform a series of contemporary fusion dance acts, which drew on various shapes, styles and movements that parallel the unique characteristics of the Chevrolet vehicles and brand.

The booth attracted plenty of attention and sales, helping Chevrolet Thailand’s year-on-year Q1 sales soar an extraordinary 425%. Another success for Chevolet was the Thailand-built Colorado pickup named ‘Car of the Year’ by Grand Prix Magazine.

Lao National Committee for Energy - Nam Theun 2 Project

Outdoor media communicated the key messages in English and Lao.	This newspaper clipping highlights the newly launched website www.poweringprogress.org

The Thailand office has recently completed its work with the Lao National Committee for Energy, helping to secure World Bank support for the contentious US$1.2 billion Nam Theun 2 dam in Laos.

Since June 2004, Weber Shandwick has been helping the Lao Government communicate project benefits and impacts to a range of domestic and external stakeholders. Among the tools employed was a brand new website in Thai and English, www.poweringprogress.org, which was designed and built from scratch in just ten weeks. The site, one of the largest Lao-language resources on the Internet, notched up its 5,000th visitor in May 2005.

As part of the greater communications effort, clear and effective key messages were developed for use by senior government officials, who also received training in presentation skills.

A full range of public information materials were also produced in English and Lao including a newsletter, posters, press kits, an interactive CD-ROM, print and broadcast advertising and outdoor media.

Extensive media monitoring was used to focus on media outreach activities, with Lao, Thai and English press releases issued to Lao, Thai and international media. Coverage of Nam Theun 2 in domestic and foreign media increased dramatically and, critically, in March 2005 the World Bank board of directors voted to support the project.

This project was recently recognized as a finalist in the Holmes Report 2005 Sabre Awards.

KICK IT, BEAT IT! Four Malaysian Celebrities Take Up 40-Day Smoke Free Challenge

The theme "Kick It, Beat It!" aimed to encourage smokers to both "kick" and "beat" the unhealthy habit.

Agilent Expands in the Indian Life Sciences Market

A press event was led by Agilent LSCA Country Manager, Sanjay Dhar.

Hong Kong Awaits the World's Best Marine-Based Theme Park

Ocean Park chairman Allen Zeman describes the new park's features to attending media

Media are greeted by Ocean Park's resident twin eagle owls.

Novartis Oncology’s "Fight till the End" for Cancer Patients

On-message coverage was generated the day after the "Family Bonding Tree 2005" media briefing.

Novartis Oncology Patient Education Chapter (NOPEC) is one of the corporate social programs of Novartis Oncology in Hong Kong. NOPEC is dedicated to promoting the belief of "fight till the end" in supporting cancer patients and their families, and developing a positive and proactive approach to cancer management. Since NOPEC’s launch in 2003, there has been limited member activities and media coverage in Hong Kong.

Novartis Oncology has partnered with Metro Broadcast to organise a "Family Bonding Tree 2005" campaign to boost the morale of cancer patients and to encourage their families to offer more support.

Weber Shandwick is helping Novartis Oncology leverage the campaign as a platform to further publicise NOPEC, build the caring image of the company and "revitalize" communication with members. Weber Shandwick helped show the "caring face" of Novartis Oncology by organising corporate profiling interviews.

The campaign’s theme is "open your mind, learn and love" and aims to promote communication between patients and family members and increase the awareness of the importance of psychological support from the general public.

The campaign kick-off media briefing was held on 10 May 2005. There was pleasing media attendance at the briefing and substantial, on-message coverage was generated in dailies the day after the media briefing and more coverage is expected to come.

The campaign will continue to run with another media briefing scheduled later in the year to announce the results of a patients’ survey.

The theme of the campaign.

Discovery Network in Singapore

Bourdain in Singapore to promote his newest Discovery Travel & Living Programme Decoding Ferran Adria. Photo credit: Discovery Travel & Living.

Steve Irwin at the Singapore Zoo to film his new Animal Planet programme – 'New Breed Vets'. Photo credit: Animal Planet.

First Varsity Team in Southeast Asia Summits Mount Everest

Going to the top of the world to celebrate their university’s centenary.

The National University of Singapore (NUS), a globally-recognised leader in higher education, will be celebrating its centenary this year, starting in June, with a 12-month programme.

Weber Shandwick was appointed to support the Centennial Celebrations programme, using it as a platform to strengthen the university's reputation as one of the top 20 global universities.

The university has played a critical role in Singapore’s economic growth and has produced some of the region's best leaders. The Centennial Celebrations are significant beyond Singapore; for alumni who are making their mark in the global arena and for its partners, which include esteemed universities such as Harvard, Cornell, MIT, Fudan and Stanford.

As a fitting precursor to the celebrations, a team of five from the university – representing its students, staff and alumni – embarked on an expedition to Mount Everest on March 14, marking the first attempt to climb Everest by a university team from Southeast Asia. Through an energetic media programme, the team's efforts have got all of Singapore rooting for their successful endeavour to the top of the world.

On May 31, the team successfully made it to the top of the world, where the NUS flag was unfurled and planted firmly. The success of the expedition makes this a joyous prelude to the celebrations. Weber Shandwick is all set for the next round of media blitz which will put the university's reputation right on top of the world.

Taiwan Teams Up With McCann Erickson to Win Hua-Nan Commercial Bank

Weber Shandwick and McCann Erickson demonstrate the power of collaboration by winning the Hua-Nan Commercial Bank consumer loan account.