2009 Platinum PR Awards: Global PR—Honeywell & Weber Shandwick

Honeywell Nobel Laureate Lecture Series

Promoting science and math education is a top priority for Honeywell, as is recruiting top talent globally. To marry these efforts, and to upend the declining number of young adults pursuing careers in science and math, the company partnered with Weber Shandwick to launch the Honeywell Nobel Laureate Lecture Series.

Targeting 18 universities across five countries, the program would give students the chance to interact with Nobel laureates in high-impact educational experiences.

The series relied on integrated marketing to engage students and drive Honeywell’s recruiting efforts. Tactics included live Web streams of lectures, survey cards to measure attendees’ sentiments,and social media outreach.

Over 6,200 students participated in the program. On average, 87% said they would consider employment with Honeywell, and positive feelings about the brand increased 29% as a result. ■

Honorable Mentions:

Ogilvy PR & IHS: Raising IHS’ Star Power and Brand Visibility—IHS increased its global visibility through Expert Source Program, which identified experts in specific markets who could tell targeted aspects of the IHS story based on areas of expertise and available media opportunities.

FT & Hotwire: Global Promotion of FT.com—In October 2007, FT.com launched a groundbreaking access model, which it then promoted though a digital PR campaign with Hotwire to target traditional and social media, increasing traffic and fueling new subscriptions.

Alpaytac: 5th World Water Forum Global PR Campaign—Alpaytac pushed the worldwide water crisis onto the international agenda by raising awareness of the 5th World Water Forum through localized outreach, PSAs and key research reports, ultimately bringing in a record-breaking number of attendees.

Tourism Australia: Come Walkabout—The campaign used the global release of Baz Luhrman’s movie Australia to bring attention to the country as a desirable holiday destination, resulting in a 140% increase in annual publicity targets.

Waggener Edstrom Worldwide & Microsoft: Shining a Spotlight on the Global Problem of Software Piracy—The campaign demonstrated Microsoft’s collaboration with government officials and law enforcement agencies to take action against software counterfeiters through Microsoft’s Global Anti-Piracy Day, which reached 49 countries across six continents.

Burson-Marsteller & SAP: SAP Business Suite Launch—The team developed and executed an integrated communications campaign, including employee communications, social media relations and marketing activities, to promote the launch of SAP’s Business Suite 7 among audiences in 20 countries.

October 26, 2009