2009 Platinum PR Awards: Financial/Investor Relations—Hill & Knowlton and HP/EDS

HP & EDS: Becoming One HP

To make sure stakeholder communications regarding HP’s acquisition of EDS were consistent and aligned, Hill &Knowlton launched a campaign that focused on the periods before, during and after the merger, stressing the importance of being transparent to both external and internal stakeholders.

Hill & Knowlton worked closely with the HP/EDS teams (nearly 2,000 staffers) to provide counsel on strategy, timing, media and influencer approaches, as well as development of corporate messaging and positioning. Highlights included the preparation of a real-time media coverage analysis of the merger and a securities analyst meeting discussing the merger’s financial impact.

M&A coverage generated 250+ stand-alone articles, and more than 4,500 investors, media and employees viewed the live webcast of the securities analyst meeting. Following the merger closing, HP/EDS nabbed a five-year, $41 million contract with Southwest Airlines. ■

Honorable Mentions:

Ogilvy PR & ChangYou.com: ChangYou.com Spin-off and Initial Public Offering on NASDAQ—To develop a relationship with the U.S. investment community in preparation for ChangYou.com’s IPO, Ogilvy helped the Beijing-based online game developer organize an investor roadshow. The results saw ChangYou stock trading up 75% almost a month after the IPO.

Bank of America & Emanate: Say Hello to Morris, the Wise Upperclassman—Bank of America and Emanate created the Morris on Campus Web site, a hub with financial tools and tips for students to teach them to better manage their money.

FD: Managing Ahead of the Curve: The Coca-Cola Company—FD developed a market research program to help Coca-Cola execs understand and manage the investors’ perceptions of the company’s critical issues, which led the company’s stock price to jump 7.6%, the company’s largest single-day gain in almost 20 years.

CCG IR: Making Pigs Fly—After three years as a CCG client, China-based pork processor Zhongpin went a lightly traded over-the-counter stock to being upgraded to NASDAQ thanks to road shows targeting high profile institutional funds and money managers.

October 26, 2009