Winner: Andrew Bowins, Senior Vice President, Corporate & Digital Communications, MasterCard
Andrew Bowins believes we are at the dawn of the Golden Age of PR but only if practitioners steer clear of content pollution. He led his team to rethink its content strategy to make all messages from MasterCard relevant for the audiences they target. His team is urged to drive the MasterCard value story in a way that is ownable, relevant and instantly recognizable. Under his leadership, the team has led global share of voice in traditional and social media over the competition for the past six quarters.
Also under Bowins’ leadership, MasterCard content was engaged with 2 million times over the past year via social media, with 136,000 people engaging in direct conversation over the past two quarters. The MasterCard Conversation Suite was developed by Bowins and is a tool and space that monitors mentions of MasterCard and its core set of competitors across social, digital and traditional media channels.
The data gleaned from this tool has become critical to any leadership meeting. The communications team is empowered to pull real-time metrics of consumer sentiment to show internal stakeholders what cardholders are saying about MasterCard’s products and brand and how those trends can inform business decisions.
Bowins gets his team excited about projects and makes the office a welcoming environment where people know their opinions are valued. In 2013, his team was integral in helping the communications function within MasterCard receive a CEO award, the highest honor received in the company. Additionally, Bowins has received recognition from the industry. He was recognized in 2014 by 914 Inc. in its annual "Best Bosses" issue and was inducted into the PR News Measurement Hall Of Fame.
Honorable Mentions:
- Stephen Bonsignore, Cohn & Wolfe
- Dustin Hinz, Guitar Center