Winner
Weber Shandwick and MasterCard Worldwide: MasterCard: Leading the Way and Changing the Game

MasterCard went public on May 25, 2006, and found quick success on the New York Stock Exchange. By 2008, global market volatility, and Visa's subsequent IPO and other factors made it important to communicate the success of its business model and its competitive differentiation, which included its globality, diverse portfolio and track record of success.

MasterCard worked with Weber Shandwick, its longtime agency partner, on a corporate and financial communications positioning program targeted at current and potential customers; industry analysts and other opinion leaders, key business leaders; and the business and financial press.

The team focused efforts on MasterCard's “firsts” and other differentiators in governance, innovative products and regulatory advocacy.

A key part of the outreach effort also included the second annual MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index and an Emerging Markets Index, examples of knowledge leadership that attracted the interest of governments, economists and its financial-institution customers. The client-agency team worked with a global independent panel of experts from diverse fields to create the Indexes, which included a ranking of the world's current and emerging centers of commerce, in line with MasterCard's tagline that it operates at The Heart of Commerce.

One judge called it a “very comprehensive program [that] showed the benefit of clear messages to create a differentiated investment story backed by facts and results.” More than 300 unique media placements were achieved in the campaign's first week and economic trend pieces were generated. Outlets that covered MasterCard as a result of the effort included BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times.

* This article has been updated to omit factual inaccuracies.

Honorable Mention
CJP Communications and FairPoint Communications: FairPoint: One Message, Nine Audiences

In January 2007, FairPoint Communications, a provider of communications services with operations in 18 US states, decided to acquire Verizon Communication's wireline in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, a deal valued at $2.7 billion that would quintuple FairPoint's total access line equivalents. This news upset multiple parties, from unions to presidential candidates. CJP, which had already been working on Fairpoint's IR, started leading corporate communications in May 2007, filling the role through the close in March 2008. The firm set out to explain the transaction's positive potential, including bringing broadband to underserved areas, and stress the success of FairPoint's previous transactions. CJP led three regional PR firms, and both a local and national ad agency, in crafting new messaging. The firm's efforts helped swing sentiment in favor of the transaction, with support from state legislatures, shareholders, and business leaders. One judge lauded CJP for handling “a tricky campaign with aplomb.”

Finalists

• Brandtectonics, a Chandler Chicco company, and Verenium: Not all Ethanol is Created Equal: Driving Investment in Verenium Corp. in an Emerging, Misunderstood Industry
• CJP Communications and FairPoint Communications: FairPoint: One Message, Nine Audiences
• Edelman and Claymore Securities: Powering the Market: Letting the Sun Shine on the First Solar ETF
• FD and Lumber Liquidators: A Hard Sell for Hardwood Flooring: Lumber Liquidators Nails It
• Weber Shandwick and MasterCard Worldwide: MasterCard: Leading the Way and Changing the Game

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