Ketchum and Russian Federation G8 Organizing Committee: Opening Its Doors to the World: Russia's Presidency of the 2006 Summit

A hostile media environment has plagued Russia for more than a decade, so giving the country a fresh face as it hosted the G8 Summit in 2006 presented Ketchum with the task of trying to change the perceptions of journalists and commentators, as well as think tanks and academics from all over the world. Ketchum's teams in the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Germany, and France united to tackle the challenge of lessening Russia's negative press from more than 55% of international media coverage, and raising the positive coverage from just 7%.

The international team did broad research to learn how Russia is seen abroad, and about the political challenges facing its G8 presidency. It determined that several elite media outlets could shape the way the rest of the coverage went for Russia's summit presidency. One judge called this campaign an "ambitious global program with an extraordinarily challenging client."

To take on that client, Ketchum's execution focused on the correlation between media relations and influencer outreach. The team used credible third-party sources and direct interviews with the Kremlin to win key media placements, such as the influential piece in the Financial Times that declared Russia's "re-emergence as a world force."

"This is a great example of a program that took its challenges head-on and changed perceptions point-by-point," said another judge.

Ketchum team members attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to engage leading international businesses and secure their support. Prior to the Summit, the team conducted briefings with influencers and Russian ambassadors in G8 capitals, laying the groundwork for open communications.

The firm's digital media development group, eKetchum, updated the official G8 Web site to incorporate real-time news delivery and conducted search engine optimization for the Web site to increase its online visibility.

In the end, the PR team achieved its goals by more than doubling positive media coverage and decreasing the negative press by more than half. Ketchum made the once-opaque dealings of the Kremlin open to the world and shifted global views of Russia to recognize its more democratic and Western-friendly nature. Judges agreed the program overall was "comprehensive, effective, and established a long-lasting client change."

Finalists

  • Ketchum and Russian Federation G8 Organizing Committee
    Opening Its Doors to the World: Russia's Presidency of the 2006 Summit
  • Manpower
     Manpower Global Branding Campaign
  • Text 100 Public Relations and NXP Semiconductors
     Holding Out for a Hero - NXP Revs Up the Semiconductor Industry
  • Text 100 Public Relations and Xerox
    Xerox "Listens" its Way to Printing Leadership
  • Weber Shandwick and MasterCard Worldwide
     Taking MasterCard Public: "Priceless"

Honourable Mention

Manpower: Manpower Global Branding Campaign

Manpower rebranded after 58 years in business, repositioning itself as more than just a "temp agency," while increasing profits and showing an all-time-high stock price of $69.60 per share. The company used an extensive internal and external campaign to show all shareholders, including clients and prospects, opinion leaders, existing and potential employees worldwide, and media, that the rebranding was more than just a logo update. The concept of the campaign was "what's now and what's next" in the changing world of work. Manpower wrote an extensive white paper and surveyed more than 33,000 employers globally about the talent shortage to create a media hook that would last beyond the launch of the refreshed brand. One judge called this campaign "a great example of the power of thought leadership," while another judge said the program had "terrific impact."


About the Sponsor

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