Winner: Alticor
With only 20 corporate communications employees and no PR agency, Alticor had to be hitting on all cylinders to achieve its goals this year. In providing PR support to a family of four companies, increasing employee volunteer activity, doubling its employees' participation in industry associations, and further honing its dedication to values, the corporate communications team had a lot to accomplish for the $6.2 billion consumer product and manufacturing company.
Not only did Alticor have 14,000 full-time, internal employees, it had 3.6 million independent business owners through the company's ownership of Amway and Quixtar. The corporate communications team hoped to serve as a focus group of "internal consultants" to constituents in all four companies.
The company's information flow was positively impacted by new technology when it launched INFORM 2.0, a new and improved intranet, in July 2005. The updated Web site delivered daily global news for employees and more semi-weekly features about the industry. The move has prompted daily intranet visit to triple.
The company also made available a series of DVDs, called Conversations, that provided unscripted, frank dialogue with Alticor's chairman Steve Van Andel and president Doug DeVos.
Alticor harnessed the sheer size of its staff by funneling all donations to one focus: children's charities. To date, Alticor employees have contributed $26 million and logged more than 300,000 volunteer hours in the name of children's causes in 2005 alone. It reached its stated goals by witnessing volunteer hours increase by 118% and money raised by 136%.
The company also hosted its second annual PR conference in 2005, welcoming PR pros from around the goal to opine on how to increase efficiencies and improve communication. The 2004 conference had an obvious effect, leading to the creation of INFORM 2.0.
It has also increased its leadership within industry groups by 317% over the past six years, and 50 Alticor employees held key posts within these groups during the year. Alticor's corporate communications got directly into the act, placing team members in each of the key industry groups.
The corporate communications team also prides itself on providing a positive work environment. A staff survey found that there was a 94% approval rating among corporate communications professionals, and 96% of all Alticor employees said they trusted the company. And, finally, a client-style survey sent to PR people at the four companies found that the overall satisfaction with the company was 5.85 out of 7.
Honorable Mentions: NASCAR PR
NASCAR is a sports and entertainment company that has exploded in popularity and size over the past five years. But it wanted the sports media to realize that. The organization wanted to develop a better relationship with sports journalists and make the sport easier to cover. So officials visited more than 50 print and broadcast outlets around the country to answer questions, get feedback, and foster bonds. NASCAR created podcasts, made sure to have plenty of photos and graphics on its Web site, and constantly updated information. The results were almost immediate. The media-only site is on pace for 1 million visits for the year. The company reported increased sports coverage in important outlets such as USA Today and Sports Illustrated. In addition, coverage has been garnered in the business press.
Finalists:
Alticor
NASCAR PR
Sponsors:
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