Co-Winner: Cisco Systems - Cisco Systems Leads Innovation in Digital PR
In an extraordinarily competitive category, Cisco Systems' digital team is a tour de force of organized, systematic, digital innovation. The company’s core objective, creating continuous innovation, is seen in many ways. The team of 11 employees combines that objective—innovation—with an initiative to reach and connect with a broader audience, and position Cisco as a thought leader in the digital space. The team monitors all corporate social networking communities across multiple social media platforms, producing and syndicating viral content, and owning all activities related to the company’s social newsroom, The Network.
Content is developed by a creative team of seasoned journalists, editors and artists. Connections are fostered through a number of strategies tailored to each digital outlet. One unique approach is the Executive Social Bios, where all digital content related to executives is hosted on one simple platform on the Cisco website.
And what are the results? The Network and the corporate website boast zero downtime, 24/7. The team executes all digital campaigns, including corporate tweetchats, Facebook polls, social bios and analyst relations on LinkedIn. It coordinates with all internal teams to carry out consistent messaging that aligns with overarching business goals. The Network and the Executive Social Bios saw a 70% uptick in unique visitors between June 2012 and June 2013. Social channels have also seen a steady trend upwards. There now are over 100,000 followers on Facebook.
Co-Winner: MWW
MWW invested significantly in the growth of a number of practice areas in the past year. This investment, in addition to several key new hires, helped contribute to a significant growth in business wins. In both 2012 and 2013, MWW partnered with Social Media Week (SMW), a global event that connects people, content and conversation around emerging trends in social and mobile media. As the global communications partner, MWW leveraged its digital and public relations expertise to provide strategic PR support and counsel to SMW.
MWW doubled down on its digital practice to provide clients with the full spectrum of digital services, including mobile and social media. In addition to key hires, MWW has been leading industry conversation about the changing digital landscape through proactive thought leadership pieces, such as its white paper about the impact of the refurbished Facebook Timeline, Google+, Pinterest and location-based services on brands and companies.
The ultimate testament to the digital team's success: 40% of MWW's clients have been with the firm for more than five years, and several have remained with the firm since its founding.
Honorable Mentions:
- Finn Partners
- Idea Grove
- Makovsky Integrated Communications
- Shift Communications
- Waggener Edstrom Worldwide