American Standard Companies
Just
six years ago, American Standard Companies - a global manufacturing
company with 60,000 employees in 50 countries - had no communications
department to speak of. Shelly London arrived as the new VP of
communications and faced a mammoth task: supporting the company's three
businesses - Air Conditioning Systems and Services, Bath and Kitchen,
and Vehicle Control Systems - while starting from scratch.
The communications team that was assembled encountered a number of
challenges over the course of the past year. In February, following the
launch of a new whole-house air-filtration product designed to improve
indoor air quality, the team set about trying to show the potential
danger of unseen pollen, bacteria, and dust mites while explaining a
technology that removes those airborne particles - not a simple thing
to do.
The team focused on engaging health influencers to provide
third-party credibility while targeting national media. It also hoped
to inform employees to help spread the word. The effort gained traction
in the media and pushed the product 16% ahead of its competitor. And
employees were more informed about the product, with 5,500 new Clean
Air ambassadors, 20% higher than expected.
The communications team was also faced with an age-old problem: how
to keep employees productive, informed, and engaged amid change and
restructuring. The team worked closely with the HR department to
implement a "Productivity Partnership" program in a low-cost,
underperforming ceramics plant in Asia. The effort set out to help
employees understand why and how to improve performance, encouraging
union involvement and support, while also changing management coaching.
The results were stunning, with the plant's productivity improving by
53% and manufacturing costs dropping nearly 40%.
Later in the year, the team effectively worked with business and HR
leaders to manage the announcement that one of the company's ceramics
operations would be closed. The communications team kept leaders
visible and accessible throughout the process to address staff
questions and concerns in the weeks prior to the close.
Overall, the company's communications team proved its business value
several times over. The team helped rebuild the company's global
competitiveness in bath and kitchen, launch new products, and improve
the strength of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning business.
Finalists
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American Standard Companies
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EMC
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National Instruments
Honourable Mention
EMC
The
media can be a skeptical bunch. EMC, a leader in the field of data
storage, experienced this firsthand while it was in the midst of a
buying spree, snapping up 17 companies in three years. The
communications team was faced with attempting to promote EMC as a
single brand after facing scrutiny from Wall Street and the company's
investment community. The One Voice Campaign was hatched to capture,
consolidate, and simplify the messages of these companies under the EMC
umbrella. The initiative aimed to effectively communicate the company's
acquisition strategy, portraying the moves as a critically strategic
stem for maintaining EMC's competitive advantage. The success was
evident through a series of business stories portraying EMC's
successful transformation into an information-management powerhouse.
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