Co-Winner: Bacardi Limited - Celebrating 150 Years of Bringing People Together
To mark its 150th anniversary, which it celebrated in February 2012, Bacardi raised a glass to itself by “Celebrating 150 Years of Bringing People Together.”
A project team, managed by Global Corporate Communications, led internal and external anniversary communications and programs. The successful execution of the 150th anniversary became one of the company's key global priorities. In fact, it was the first company-wide activation involving all regions, functions, and reaching all 6,000 employees.
In September 2011, the internal celebrations officially started—marking 150 days until the 150th anniversary. Global Corporate Communications launched the Anniversary Hub, a group on the ONE Bacardi intranet, open to all employees. The Hub hosted all anniversary-related activities, materials and information in a central place.
Over the coming months, Global Corporate Communications developed more than 200 assets—all available via the Anniversary Hub and available for both internal and external use. Many markets used the assets in employee trainings, media events, and programs with bartenders and other key audiences. A clear, corporate story was crafted and assets such as timelines, videos, imagery, the first-ever global screensaver, infographics and more helped tell the story.
From September 2011 through March 2012, weekly online content ranged from videos featuring long-standing employees (25+ years) representing a combined 1,000 years of service, executives narrating some of the Company's most iconic stories, and family Master Blenders sharing their passion for the art of rum-making.
Within six months, 60% of the company visited the Anniversary Hub on ONE Bacardi, and by January 2013, the Hub exceeded 140,000 views—four times more than the previously most visited space. The Hub was so successful, in fact, that it became the model for the Martini brand (also owned by Bacardi Limited), which set up a similar site to support its own 150th anniversary in 2013.
Co-Winner: FedEx: 40 Years of Delivering a Better Future
People and innovations have kept FedEx growing at an astonishing pace since its founding in April 1973, and was therefore the focus of the company for its 40th anniversary in 2013. To mark the anniversary, FedEx planned a global celebration to honor its culture and innovative legacy while looking towards its bright future.
Planning for an initiative capable of touching a global workforce is no small task, and a cross-functional team of 40+ was assembled over a year in advance, preparing for both internal and external celebratory moments.
In establishing FedEx as a globally admired brand, the 40th Anniversary communications team established four core objectives to guide all internal and external efforts. Programming had to promote FedEx culture and pride among employees; recognize employee contributions to the success of FedEx; reinforce FedEx community commitment; and showcase FedEx history, innovations and its future plans.
In terms of promoting FedEx culture and pride, engagement on social media channels was at record highs; for example, on Facebook, eight posts generated over 874,000 views, 8,000 likes and over 1,120 shares. Success was also achieved on Twitter, where #FedExIs40 was used over 580 times during April. Since January 2013, 40th anniversary content on About.FedEx.com resulted in over 10,000 pageviews with users averaging two minutes on the site.
With respect to recognizing team members, employees from across the company participated in a NYSE bell ringing, Memphis Magazine ran a FedEx-themed issue, and team member recognition events took place globally.
In terms of commitment to community, there were 94 submissions of employee-driven service projects to the grant contest; winning projects drove 15,964 service hours by 1,943 employee volunteers.
Regarding showcasing its history and highlighting the future, a feature story on Wired.com highlighted FedEx's successes and its innovative contributions to the business world. In addition, an interactive "40 Years of Innovation" timeline was posted to the About.FedEx.com website.
Honorable Mentions:
- Edelman: Hilton HHonors 25 Million Point Giveaway
- ESPN - 50,000th SportsCenter
- Fluor Corporation - We are One. We are 100
- L.L.Bean - Reigniting America's Passion for the Outdoors : L. L. Bean's 100th Anniversary Campaign
- MARC USA & RITE AID - Rite Aid 50th Anniversary: RA50 - 50 Acts of Wellness
- Procter & Gamble Company - P&G 175th Anniversary Publicity Program