Winner: Greg Swan, Senior Vice President, Brand Innovation and Digital Strategy, Weber Shandwick
Greg Swan is one of the main forces behind “Army Strong Stories,” recognized as an industry best-practice social media PR program that created a space for the U.S. Army to reach out to potential recruits. Prospects could communicate directly with active-duty soldiers, get unvarnished answers to their questions and built a trusting relationship. The campaign is a key contributor to the Army’s achieving its recruiting goals year after year.
He’s also part of the team that organized the first tweet from the International Space Station, and he leads the social media platform for State Farm, including live-streamed events, user-generated contests and video-storytelling. Swan was one of the first PR pros to sign up for Twitter, and he has achieved media recognition for his annual wintertime tweets in the persona of Punxsutawney Phil, the nation’s most famous groundhog.
Swan leads "Innovation and Trend Workshops" for Fortune 100 clients, giving them a chance to meet with top media and tech partners like Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, the New York Times, BuzzFeed and StumbleUpon to discuss trends and shifts in consumer behavior and content consumption. He has repeatedly demonstrated to clients the ROI for social media and the dangers of misusing it. He makes small bets on pilot programs, scaling them up once they prove their value.
Honorable Mentions:
- Apryl DeLancey, Director of Marketing and Social Media, BLAZE PR
- Christopher Penn, VP of Marketing Technology, Shift Communications