Three wins for Ogilvy PR Australia

Ogilvy PR Australia is very excited to announce that last night we won three awards at the Ogilvy PR Professional Achievement Awards.

The PAA’s are Ogilvy PR’s worldwide internal awards which give us the opportunity to share each other’s accomplishments and recognise great work across the globe. The awards are hosted in New York, which meant a small team stayed on to represent Australia in the early hours of the morning.

The first two wins went to the Impact Employee Communications team for their work on the McDonalds Australia: All About Me program. This piece of work won in both the Corporate and Internal Communication categories. Congratulations to the Impact team on their new record of winning two professional achievement awards in the one evening.

The third award went to the Ogilvy PR Melbourne team. The Organ and Tissue Authority: DonateLife Week campaign won in the Social Marketing team. Congratulations to the Melbourne team on your very first professional achievement award.

Australia was shortlisted for eight awards and we’re very proud to have received three. Congratulations to everyone involved in the winning campaigns.

Apple: simplicity at the core

Last weekend I’m sure I was not the only one shocked to see the pictures of a frail Steve Jobs after what will no doubt become a historic shift in leadership for one of the world’s most impressive and much envied organisations. Handing the reins to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook can have been no easy task for the man who has defined so much of the technology lifestyle innovation so many of us take for granted.

This change however does present an interesting challenge from an employee engagement and a leadership perspective. How does a successor to someone who ‘is’ the brand, someone who is known the world over, someone who is admired by employees and consumers alike, ensure that they come out of the starting blocks the right way. How do they build on the legacy at the same time as carve the right leadership niche for themselves and the company.

Admittedly in this instance, Tim Cook is an insider – he’s been with the business for 13 years, but despite the familiarity, it’s still a challenge.

My observation comes from the email sent to Apple employees (see below) immediately after this announcement from Tim Cook. The message is strong and clear and therefore very powerful. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure being Apple, this note will have had rigour behind it in its crafting – really making sure the tone hit the spot would have been critical. But it’s simple.

Simple. Passionate. Authentic. Focused on recognising the past, but also recognising what could be. With a strong call to action.

Clearly this can not exist in isolation. The incoming CEO needs to maintain momentum, demonstrate he’s listening, keep up the visibility and continue to inspire people in Apple’s vision and drive a clear strategy in which everyone can see how they play their part. However, if all new leaders take a few lessons from this simple email and ensure their communication ticks these boxes when they take over big roles – no matter how big – they too could capture some of that Apple factor that has clearly contributed to making them what they are today.

Something to think about.

Team:

I am looking forward to the amazing opportunity of serving as CEO of the most innovative company in the world. Joining Apple was the best decision I’ve ever made and it’s been the privilege of a lifetime to work for Apple and Steve for over 13 years. I share Steve’s optimism for Apple’s bright future.

Steve has been an incredible leader and mentor to me, as well as to the entire executive team and our amazing employees. We are really looking forward to Steve’s ongoing guidance and inspiration as our Chairman.

I want you to be confident that Apple is not going to change. I cherish and celebrate Apple’s unique principles and values. Steve built a company and culture that is unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that—it is in our DNA. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do.

I love Apple and I am looking forward to diving into my new role. All of the incredible support from the Board, the executive team and many of you has been inspiring. I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is.

Tim

(Source: mashable.com)

Adding the finishing touches

Exactly one year ago I’d packed my bags and moved to one of the most dynamic cities in the world to pursue a career in public relations. My foray into the wonderful and magical world of PR hit a high note when I won the ultimate and most coveted of prizes: an entry into the rarefied environs of the top PR agency in Australia, Ogilvy Public Relations. Being the winner of the Ogilvy PR Finishing School competition in Sydney provided me with the extraordinary prospect of learning from some of the foremost experts in the field.

The wonderful team who organised my week made sure that nothing was left to chance. Every aspect of career and personal development was addressed by highly experienced professionals. My training included induction courses with all Ogilvy PR companies and practices, personal branding exercises, presentation skills training, social media training, etiquette and client management training and so much more.

Ogilvy PR takes employee relations very seriously as evidenced by Impact Employee Communications, which is dedicated entirely to improving employee relations. During the course of my week as I met people from the various companies, what struck me the most was that they all understood the core values and principles of the company and strived to integrate it into their practice of PR. Ethics and integrity is a top priority for the company which was evidenced in things such as their intern policy, their client relationships and their commitment to sustainability communications.

Another aspect that stood out was the vibrant and positive atmosphere in the offices and the approachability of the top management. I had members of the top management including the CEO come up and introduce themselves and make an effort to find out more about me. My past experience in the corporate world has shown me how rare such instances are and it made my experience here that much more special.

I was also fortunate to be present at the industry launch of Ogilvy PR’s ‘Peripheral Vision’ study looking into the future of the PR industry over the next ten years. A panel of industry leaders and academics discussed the findings of the research and the increased role PR would play in the coming years. The company is a leader in research and innovation in the public relations industry and is set to take it by storm through its advances in services measurement.

Winning the Ogilvy PR Finishing School Competition will always remain one of the highlights of my life and the training and insights I have gained will give me a definite edge in my career. It is going to be a little difficult to follow this act but I’m looking forward to implementing what I have learned so far into a meaningful and successful career in public relations.

Thank you Ogilvy PR Australia!

In times of crisis, don’t leave your people hacked off

I, like everyone, have been continuing to watch drama unfold in Blighty around the News of the World hacking scandal. Fascinating for many reasons.

But I can’t help to wonder how those employees not allegedly involved in these terrible practices are feeling. How they were communicated to? How the leaders of News International will now look to rebuild the trust within their organisation globally. What would also be interesting to know, particularly given the fact that this story was going to blow will have been known for some time, what role internal communication has played in their crisis plan.

Many organisations face this internal challenge when they are dealing with a crisis – ‘what and when do we tell our people’. But it really shouldn’t even be a question. You should tell them first, or at the least simultaneously. An organisation’s people can be one of the most powerful assets a company has when it comes to delivering an authentic voice to the outside world, and are often overlooked with many companies choosing (wrongly) to worry about the outside first. We tend to find ourselves focusing on ‘statements to the media’, but the same focus should be given to employees too.

My advice for businesses to be one step ahead in this regard is to:

R – emember your cascade plan – make sure you’re engaging your middle managers in the process

U – pdate your crisis plan – have a look and check that talking to your people is a key part of the process

P – eople – remember they are a powerful communication channel – use them

E – mail – BANISH this in times of crisis – face to face communication is critical

R – educe – restrictions on social media – your people can be a powerful force online for you – trust them

T – imeliness – communicate in a timely manner – take the inside out approach – not the other way round

In most cases, your people want to help – so manage it and let them.

Lynchpin middle management starved of critical training to improve employee communication skills

Sydney, May 18, 2011: Less than 50 percent of Australian business leaders believe enough resources are allocated to training middle and front-line management, resulting in a significant lag behind senior leadership in communication skills of these lynchpin team members, according to a report launched today.

The report, Australia’s Commsoscopy Survey, is the second independent report[1] commissioned by leading employee communications consultancy, Impact Employee Communications examining the effectiveness of medium to large organisations in communicating the employment ‘deal’, or Employee Value Proposition (EVP), to Australian workers.

According to Impact’s Managing Director, Tam Sandeman: “We know that clearly communicating the employment ‘deal’ – what employees get for what they give – is one of the main ways employees are attracted, engaged and retained by organisations.  This is ever critical given the talent shortage.

“However, our study found there are some significant gaps in its delivery, particularly in terms of communication frequency and the ongoing role of an organisation’s leadership team throughout an employee’s tenure with an organisation,” she said.

The study also found that while most organisations recognise the importance of communicating the ‘deal’ and believe they have the right communications abilities within their senior teams to deliver this message, they often fall short as they are failing to put the right tools or resources in place.

“Given the vital role people managers play in retaining employees and improving their performance, the resistance from organisations to introduce communications skills for middle or front-line managers is an unnecessary and damaging compromise,” she added.

Social media was also found to be an increasingly used tool in making a difference in the effectiveness of communicating and demonstrating most of the EVP attributes.

“We found organisations that embrace social media perceive themselves as better communicators of their employment deal than those that don’t. This included allocating more support resources for middle and front line management,” said Sandeman.

“Currently, only 29% of Australian organisations are using social media for employee communication. Respondents cited that the slow growth has been due to a range of barriers (46% s believing that it poses too many legal and other risks).

“Considering and including elements of social media as part of internal communication strategies is now a must-have. It can not only engage employees but be used to identify knowledge, ambassadors and talent. It also ensures businesses look as though they’re keeping up with the fast-paced external media world we all experience outside work,” she explained.

These findings aim to help organisations identify some of the gaps in communication and ultimately assist in building this approach. By doing this, they are able to ensure the employment story improves relations between the organisation and employee but importantly, delivers a tangible impact on retention and engagement.

“Organisations need a strong, strategic internal communications plan, and it’s got to be more than a newsletter, the odd roadshow or the company strategy on a mouse-mat,” said Sandeman. “It was surprising to see only 38% of organisations with 500-599 employees had an internal communication approach in place. They’re missing an opportunity.  We know companies who are communicating effectively are delivering greater returns to shareholders than those which are not.   So it’s a costly oversight.[2]”

The 18 page report can be downloaded here Impact Employee Communications, Australia’s Commsoscopy

Impact Employee Communications is Australia’s leading employee communication consultancy and is part of Ogilvy PR, the largest and most awarded public relations agency in Australia.  Ogilvy PR Australia is a joint venture between Ogilvy PR Worldwide and STW Group, Australia’s leading marketing content and communications services group.

Ends

For further information:

Tessa Sexton

STW Group

Ph: +61 421 098 674

Ogilvy PR Professional Achievement Awards

In the early hours of Wednesday morning November 10, the Australia team won five awards at the Ogilvy PR Professional Achievement Awards. The awards ceremony was broadcast live to approximately 70 Ogilvy PR offices around the world to celebrate the year’s best client work.

A very excited group held down the fort from 1.30 to 3.15am to represent the Australia team. Australia has a strong track record in these highly sought after internal awards and 2010 was no exception.

With 11 finalists going into the evening, our award wins included:

Crisis Management

• Ford Australia: Driving a great result for Australia – Ogilvy PR Australia

Internal Communications

• Bayer Australia and New Zealand: “Small Changes = Big Change” – Impact Employee Communications

Product Brand Development

• Merck Serono: Target My Cancer – Ogilvy PR Health

Public Affairs

• Franchise Entertainment Group: David vs Goliath – A Win for the Little Guy: Returning the DVD Rental Market back to the Local Store – Parker & Partners

Global CEO, Chris Graves, announced a new award category in honour of David Ogilvy. The Giant Award is for people of any level worldwide who made a giant contribution to our company this year, exhibits and lives the giant characteristics David Ogilvy looked for, and someone who is decent to their colleagues and gives back to the Ogilvy community and society. There are only four of these awards and one of them went to our very own Tam Sandeman, Managing Director of Impact Employee Communcations.

Congratulations to Tam and all the teams involved in the winning campaigns.

More award wins for Ogilvy PR

Last night at the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s (PRIA) annual NSW State Awards for Excellence event, Ogilvy PR was the proud recipient of a number of awards.

Howorth received a Highly Commended award in the Business-to-Business marketing category for the “Telstra Productivity Indicator” campaign, launched for the second consecutive year in February 2010. The goals of the campaign are to demonstrate Telstra Enterprise & Government as a leader in technology, business and productivity, as well as successfully position the company from a transactional leader to a trusted advisor offering strategic advice, industry insights and world-class technology to the C-Suite across public and private enterprises in Australia.

Highlighting how tough it is to win a PRIA Award, Howorth was the only winner in the Business-to-Business category. As a result of this award, the campaign is now in the running for PRIA’s Golden Target national awards, which will be unveiled at the national conference in Darwin on 25 October.

Ogilvy PR’s employee communication experts at Impact, together with its client, Bayer Australia and New Zealand, were category winners in the PRIA’s NSW Internal Communication category.  The team was recognised for communication excellence for the development and execution of Bayer’s B-Green project which drove and achieved measurable behaviour change across its Australian and New Zealand workforce around sustainability.  The project, steered by a specialist team operating under Ogilvy PR’s growing sustainability OgilvyEarth practice, led to a raft of energy, recycling and other initiatives and was also recently awarded the best internal communications program for all Bayer companies worldwide.

Pulse Communications added to its reputation of being Australia’s most awarded consumer PR agency, by taking thome two awards from the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s (PRIA) annual NSW State Awards for Excellence event.

Firstly, Pulse received a Commended certificate for the successful Because I am a Girl campaign for the global-not-for-profit, Plan International which was based around a series of in-depth reports into girls lives in developing countries. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of the need to invest in girls to break the global intergenerational poverty cycle and encouraged Australians to support Plan projects.

The second Commended recognition was for launching Australia’s first Rainforest Alliance Tea by Lipton. This consisted of generating awareness of Lipton’s commitment to the international NGO whilst minimising any potential claims of green washing by media and influencers.

Congratulations team and fingers crossed for more recognition!

Triple global recognition for Ogilvy PR’s employee communications consultancy

16 APRIL 2010.  Today Impact Employee Communications, Australia and Asia-Pacific’s leading employee communication consultancy, has been recognised on the world communication stage three times over.  The fifteen year old Sydney-based company, which is part of Ogilvy PR, has won two International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Awards of Excellence and has been named best in show, winning the IABC’s annual 2010 Special Business Issue Award.  The awards are recognised as the most prestigious and highest level of professional acknowledgment within internal communication globally.

The first Gold Quill of Excellence and the 2010 Special Business Issue Award were won by Impact’s change communication team for its work for Ford Australia. The awards recognised what was a complex campaign for a company in an industry facing a challenging operating environment. The work ensured crucial public employee and union support for a difficult business announcement, contributing to an overwhelming raft of positive media articles across all media outlets.

Impact’s second Gold Quill was won together with client, Bayer Australia and New Zealand.  This award recognised communication excellence for the development and execution of Bayer’s B-Green project which drove and achieved measurable behaviour change across its Australian and New Zealand workforce around sustainability.  The project, steered by a specialist team operating under Ogilvy PR’s sustainability OgilvyEarth practice, led to a raft of energy, recycling and other initiatives and was also recently awarded the best internal communications program for all Bayer companies worldwide.

“These awards demonstrate Australia can compete on a world communication stage and recognise we’re delivering the highest possible level of strategic and creative counsel to gain vital employee support for business critical initiatives for companies in Australia,” says managing director, Tam Sandeman.

“This is the first time two top awards have been won by the same company in Australia and winning the overall Business Issues award was the icing on the cake.  More importantly, it showcases work in two areas gaining increasing importance on every Australian business’ agenda – sustainability and change,” she continues.

The awards will be given at the IABC’s international conference in Toronto in June 2010.

For further information:

Tam Sandeman

Impact Employee Communications

tam.sandeman@impact.com.au

02 8281 3205 / 0404 847 256

Ogilvy PR NextGen Leaders 2010 – the next peak

The talent team at Ogilvy PR recently launched its 2010 leadership program, NextGen Leaders – the next peak, a rigorous 12-month program aimed at training, developing and supporting 20 of its future leaders across its six businesses, Cannings, Howorth, Impact Employee Communications, Ogilvy PR Health, Parker & Partners and Pulse.

NextGen Leaders is designed to provide senior team members best-in-class industry training. The curriculum focuses on enhancing core technical and behavioural communication skills and training Ogilvy-specific tools, products and services across practice areas such as digital influence, insights and strategy, research and sustainability.

NextGen Leaders first launched at the beginning of 2009 with 30 senior consultants.  This year, the training will focus on creativity, senior client management and advanced business skills.

NextGen Leaders also have the responsibility to train core skills back within each of their teams and businesses. In 2010, much of the curriculum will also be used as a foundation for training rolled out via Ogilvy PR School, a dedicated program targeted at consultants from graduate to account manager levels. This is to ensure that all the training that Ogilvy PR provides for its consultants are ultimately aligned with the company’s business strategy and its core values to Learn & Grow, be One Step Ahead and work in Partnership.

Commendations for Ogilvy PR at this year’s PRIA Awards

Howorth’s campaigns for Telstra and Livewire and Impact’s campaign for Coca-Cola received commendations at this year’s NSW PRIA Awards held in Sydney in September.

The Howorth campaign for Telstra Enterprise & Government, Identifying Australia’s Productivity Gap, positioned Telstra as a thought leader in the area of business challenges and the supporting role of IT and telecommunications.  The PR driven idea led to an integrated campaign for the Telstra including events, above the line advertising and direct mail.

For Livewire, Howorth was engaged under a part-paid, part-pro bono contract to officially launch and drive awareness for a new online and social network for young Australians aged between 10 and 21 currently living with a serious illness, chronic health condition or disability.

With just three weeks to deliver the entire campaign and create talkability, Howorth created a launch campaign, which saw Livewire rated as the ‘most searched’ topic on Google. More than 50 media interviews were conducted with key Livewire spokespeople, resulting in 250 radio, print and online stories touching every state within the country. These stories created more than 37 million opportunities for Australians to see, read or hear about Livewire via online, newspapers, magazines and radio media coverage, effectively reaching all Australians over the age of ten at least twice.

Impact Employee Communications/OgilvyEarth was engaged to develop and implement a communication strategy to launch Live Positively within Coca-Cola South Pacific.  The strategy needed to kick-start the Live Positively journey by educating, inspiring and uniting associates.  The Coca-Cola community locally and globally has heralded this communication campaign as a great success.  Within Ogilvy PR Worldwide the event has also been recognised, with Ogilvy Earth’s global network requesting knowledge sharing to drive further work with Coca-Cola globally as Live Positively is rolled out.

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