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2012 Gold Standard Awards

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The 2012 Gold Standard Awards have been presented in Hong Kong where over 200 senior public affairs, diplomatic, media and communications figures gathered to celebrate excellence across a wide range of categories.

In the hotly-contested awards progamme, global consultancy Fleishman-Hillard secured in-country and regional network of the year, with the US Embassy in Singapore, Golden-Agri Resources’ chairman Franky Widjaja and Procter & Gamble India also collecting top awards.

The industry-leading Prospect Gold Standard Award for Professional Excellence was secured by Shin Tanaka, the President and Senior Partner of Fleishman-Hillard in Japan in recognition of his outstanding contribution to communications and public affairs during 15 years of service with the company.

The 2012 Gold Standard Awards saw over 200 entries from a wide range of corporate, consultancy, diplomatic and non-governmental groups.

Commenting on the results, Steven R. Okun, the awards chairman and the director of public affairs in Asia with KKR, said: “The number and quality of entries reflected both a growing enthusiasm for The Gold Standard Awards and a recognition of the fast development of the public affairs industry in this region. Most notably, we saw a marked increase in engagement around corporate citizenship, stakeholder engagement, social media communications and public-private partnership.”

The Gold Standard Award for Corporate Citizenship was highly coveted with Procter & Gamble India taking the top award for its mission to “touch and improve the lives of consumers, now and for generations to come”. P&G saw off significant competition in a category which saw over 50 corporate nominations.

Given highly commended awards for citizenship were Accor Asia Pacific for The PLANET 21 project, Merck (Private) Limited Pakistan for The Baba Bhit Island Hospital and Xylem Inc for The Xylem Watermark project.

The Gold Standard Award in Country and Trade Promotion was won by Ogilvy PR Beijing for the Panda Awareness Week which promoted Chengdu in London before the London Olympics. Ogilvy also scooped The Gold Standard Award for Social Media Engagement for IBM’s “Mr Bao Knows It All” campaign.

Meanwhile, The Gold Standard Award for Corporate Financial Communications was won by SPRG for their work with the Japanese games manufacturer Dynam, which played well as it listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

McDonald’s and Weber Shandwick were recogised for outstanding issues and crisis management for their response to to CCTV’s Consumer Rights Day Report on hygiene standard in restaurants.

In the category of The Gold Standard Award for Public Private Partnership, the winner was MSD Philippines for Babae, Mahalaga Ka! (Woman, You are Important!), a public private partnership for the prevention of cervical cancer in the Philippines.
Commended in this category was Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd for projects including Partners in Learning and Project Shishka.

In the new category of The Yahoo! “Internet for Good” Gold Standard Award the prize was secured by Sonokids Australia for the innovative All Abilities ePlayground which offers wide-ranging internet access to children with disabilities.

US Ambassador David Adelman secured the coveted Gold Standard Award for Diplomatic Engagement, while the US embassy in Japan secured a special award for its engagement efforts since the tsunami and nuclear crisis. Ambassador Adelman, who attended the awards, secured the award in recognition of significant trade promotion and community engagement during his time as the US’s diplomatic representative in Singapore.

The 2012 Gold Standard Award for Stakeholder Engagement recorded over 30 entries and the winning nominee was Nestle for its innovative and highly effective agricultural assistance programme in Yunnan Province, China.

ClubsNSW took the top prize for in-house excellence with its team recognised for significant achievement in the public and regulatory affairs arena in Australia.

In the category of specialist consultancy of the year, ICON International Communications took the top spot in recognition of its crisis communications capabilities.

Follow this link for the winners details and further information on their Gold Standard achievements: http://www.publicaffairsasia.net/GOLDSTANDARD/winners.html

The award winners and shortlist in full:

THE PROSPECT GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE
Sponsored by: Prospect

THE WINNER: Shin Tanaka, President and Senior Partner, Japan, Fleishman-Hillard Inc

THE SHORTLIST:
Evan Lewis, Formerly Vice President of Communications, Accor Asia Pacific
Geoff Rodgers, Founder and Chairman of Rowland
___________________________________
THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by: HP

THE WINNER: Franky Widjaja, Chairman and CEO of Golden Agri-Resources Ltd

THE SHORTLIST:
Piyush Gupta, CEO, DBS Group
James L. McGregor, author, journalist and China expert
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THE SPECIAL GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS EXCELLENCE

US Ambassador to Japan John V. Roos, the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Tokyo, and the TOMODACHI Initiative
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
Sponsored by: AmCham China

THE WINNER: Procter & Gamble India – To touch and improve the lives of consumers, now and for generations to come

HIGHLY COMMENDED AWARD WINNERS:
Accor Asia Pacific: The PLANET 21 project
Merck (Private) Limited – Pakistan: The Baba Bhit Island Hospital
Xylem Inc: The Xylem Watermark project
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THE YAHOO! GOLD STANDARD ‘INTERNET FOR GOOD’ AWARD
Sponsored by: Yahoo!

THE WINNER: Sonokids Australia – The All Abilities ePlayground

THE SHORTLIST:
OurSay.org: Harnessing the power of social media to revitalise critical participation in Australian democracy
The People of Fukushima: Using social media to extend access to the Fukushima conference
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR COUNTRY OR TRADE PROMOTION

WINNER: Ogilvy Public Relations Beijing: Panda Awareness Week (PAW)

THE SHORTLIST:
Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce (APCAC): The 2012 Doorknock
Ogilvy Public Relations Taiwan: “Rice Up!” to Turnaround Taiwanese Rice Consumption
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR CORPORATE FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
Sponsored by: Dow Jones

THE WINNER: SPRG – Dynam Japan Holdings IPO Listing

SHORTLIST:
Carpentaria Exploration Limited: “Striking a Rich Vein of Support”
Indo-Pacific Edelman: ABM Investama IPO Communication Programme
Sunshine Oilsands IPO Communications by Ketchum Hong Kong
___________________________________
THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT
Sponsored by: News Corporation

THE WINNER: Ambassador Adelman and the US Embassy in Singapore

SHORTLIST:
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in Indonesia
US Ambassador to Japan John V. Roos, the Public Affairs Section of the US Embassy in Tokyo, and the TOMODACHI Initiative
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR ‘IN HOUSE’ TEAM OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by: PR Newswire

THE WINNER:
ClubsNSW: In-house Policy and Government Relations Team

SHORTLIST:
The Executive Centre: Corporate Communications Team
PricewaterhouseCoopers: Marketing and Communications Team in China and Hong Kong
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR ISSUES MANAGEMENT AND CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
Sponsored by: Eon

THE WINNER: McDonald’s China – Responding to CCTV’s Consumer Rights Day Report

SHORTLIST:
DBS Bank: Maintaining confidence following unauthorised ATM withdrawals in Malaysia
Perfect Relations Pvt. Ltd: Navigating the World’s 7th Largest Mobile Operator Through a $35 Billion Crisis
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR NGO ENGAGEMENT

THE WINNER:
ECPAT International: STOP Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign in partnership with The Body Shop

THE SHORTLIST:
Kaya Natin Movement For Ethical Leadership and Good Governance: Health Leaders 4 Mother’s Project in partnership with MSD
Tuloy Foundation: Addressing the plight of poor and abandoned children in the Philippines
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
Sponsored by: Food Industry Asia

THE WINNER: MSD Philippines: Babae, Mahalaga Ka! (Woman, You are Important!) – A public private partnership for the prevention of cervical cancer in the Philippines

HIGHLY COMMENDED AWARD: Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd: Project Shishka

THE SHORTLIST:
Kraft Foods Indonesia and Save The Children: Making Food Go Further – Mitigating Hunger and Ensuring Future Resilience and Stronger Households in Indonesia
Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc.: Panahiang Pangkabuhayan sa Pandacan – Uplifting the Lives of the Poor
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS

THE WINNER: Ogilvy Public Relations Beijing: IBM – “Mr Bao knows it all”

SHORTLIST:
Adidas China: Adidas calls for one million real fans to go 925
Creative Territory: Using social media to communicate during Cyclone Carlos
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARD FOR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Sponsored by: The Research Pacific Group

THE WINNER: Nestle (China) Ltd – Nestle’s agricultural assistance programme in Yunnan Province, China

SHORTLIST:
eBay Australia: The 3rd annual eBay Online Business Index
Microsoft: Accelerating Change in Asia Pacific through Microsoft technologies
Procter & Gamble Asia/MSLGROUP, Singapore: “Thank You Mom” Campaign Activation
Rowland: Achieving social, environmental and economic progress in an island community
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THE GOLD STANDARD AWARDS FOR CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR
CATEGORY A: IN-COUNTRY CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR

THE WINNER: Fleishman-Hillard Japan

SHORTLIST:
EON The Stakeholder Relations Firm (EON Inc.)
ICON International Communications Singapore
Waggener Edstrom, Hong Kong
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CATEGORY B: SPECIALIST CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR

THE WINNER: ICON International Communications

THE SHORTLIST:
Financial PR Pte Ltd
Strategic Public Relations Group
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CATEGORY C: REGIONAL NETWORK OF THE YEAR

THE WINNER: Fleishman-Hillard International Communications

SHORTLIST:
Strategic Public Relations Group
Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

About The Gold Standard Awards:
The Gold Standard Awards are operated by PublicAffairsAsia magazine and network and are the industry-leading programme for corporate communications, public affairs and government relations professionals operating Asia Pacific. Founded in 2008, the awards have attracted over 600 entries from a wide range of corporations, NGOs, industry group, specialist consultancies and governmental agencies.
For more information contact Mark O’Brien at markobrien@publicaffairsasia.com or on +66-801-458-697
Source: PublicAffairsAsia

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