Winners Announced in 8th International Business Awards

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Thu, Jul 28, 2011 @ 10:17 AM

Organizations and individuals in 35 nations, including first-time winners Bahrain, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Slovakia, have been announced as Stevie® Award winners in The Eighth Annual International Business Awards, the world’s only international, all-encompassing business awards program.

Stevie Awards 2011Nicknamed the Stevies from the Greek word “crowned,” the awards will be presented at a gala event on Tuesday, 11 October at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Tickets for the event are on sale now at www.stevieawards.com/iba

Winning 42 Stevie Awards this year, organizations and individuals in the United States made the best showing.  South Korea came in second place with 29 awards, while the host nation United Arab Emirates earned an impressive 24 Stevies.  The United Kingdom earned 22 awards followed by Turkey with 11 and Germany with 10 Stevies.

Some notable winners include:

  • Company of the Year (Conglomerates): Siemens AG (Germany)
  • Executive of the Year (Electronics): Yun Jong-Yong, CEO, Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
  • Most Innovative Company of the Year (Middle East and Africa): Etisalat Group (UAE)
  • Fastest Growing Company of the Year and Best New Company of the Year: Everonn Education Limited (India)
  • Best New Product or Service of the Year (Health Products & Services): Cascades Intelligent Antibacterial Paper (Canada)
  • Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year: ITT Corporation (United States)
  • Marketing Campaign of the Year: Finansbank A.S. (Turkey)

A complete list of all 2011 International Business Awards honorees is available at www.stevieawards.com/iba

Stevie Award trophy and Distinguished Honoree (honorable mention) medal winners were selected from more than 3,000 entries received from organizations and individuals in more than 50 nations.  All organizations worldwide are eligible to compete in The International Business Awards, and can nominate in a wide range of categories, including management awards, company/organization awards, marketing awards, public relations awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, new product awards, IT awards, web site awards, and more. 

Business professionals around the world participated in preliminary judging in May-July.  Their average scores determined the entries that were eligible to be considered in final judging, which was performed earlier this month by the members of 10 specialized committees.  In total, 200 executives around the world participated in the judging process. 

About the Stevie Awards 

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.   

Location hosting patron for The 2011 International Business Awards is the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates.  Premier sponsors include IBM Netezza and Smart Reader® Worldwide.  The Korea Business Communicators Association is the national sponsor for South Korea.  Localization sponsor of the 2011 Stevie Awards is SDL.  Location hosting supporters of the 2011 IBAs include Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Dana Gas, Forbes Middle East, the Gemological Institute of America and The International Business Times.

Topics: business awards, International business awards, stevie awards, IBAs

How an Untold Story From WWII Became Front-page News

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Wed, Jul 27, 2011 @ 09:36 AM

Susan Davis International of Washington, D.C., USA, won a Stevie Award for Communications Campaign of the Year in the PR awards categories of the 2010 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Here we look at how the communications firm brought widespread recognition to the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II.

Congressional Gold Medal

WASP RecognizedThe unsung heroines of World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), were finally honored with the Congressional Gold Medal in a March 10, 2010 ceremony at the United States Capitol. The WASP—1,102 trailblazing civilian female pilots—were the first women to fly military aircraft. They were not granted military status until 1977, and today fewer than 300 survive.

Susan Davis International (SDI) worked on behalf of the Women In Military Service for America Memorial Foundation to tell the long-forgotten story of the WASP, their service, and their honor. The firm gained the WASP widespread international, national, and local media attention with a combined national and grassroots media strategy.

Media Campaign

To increase awareness of the WASP, SDI designed a media campaign to communicate the unique stories of each WASP as well as the broader story of their collective service. To create additional opportunities for the WASP and media to interact, SDI recommended, developed, executed, and managed two events including a Wreath Laying and Remembrance Ceremony and a Military Salute Reception on March 9, 2010.

Personal Stories

SDI researched personal WASP stories to build a comprehensive media
strategy for coverage in advance of, and during, the celebratory activities. SDI’s initial press release announced events the Foundation would host to honor
the WASP. Preview articles were secured in national and regional outlets
including U.S. News & World Report and the Los Angeles Times.

Grass Roots Strategy

In advance of the ceremony in Washington, D.C., SDI developed state-specific press releases for the ten states with the highest number of surviving WASP, which they strategically distributed to print, online, and broadcast media.

Media Interviews

As the sole connecting resource between the WASP and the media, SDI managed and coordinated hundreds of phone and in-person interviews in hometowns and in Washington, D.C. SDI also pitched and secured media interviews for Brigadier General Wilma Vaught, president of the Women in Military Service For America Foundation, and modern day aviator Lt. Col. Nicole Malachowski, who both contributed to the WASP story.

During the celebratory events, SDI worked closely with WASP and their military escorts to fulfill media requests. Immediately following the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony, SDI worked with NBC and ABC pool cameras to facilitate on-camera interviews requested by affiliates around the country, most of which had been generated through SDI’s hometown outreach.

SDI also matched specific WASP with print journalists. The firm had interested ABC World News in following WASP Bernice “Bea” Haydu on her journey to Washington and connected the ABC pool camera with her for a conclusion to the story.

The Story is Finally Told

SDI’s strategy produced more than 925 print articles, 1,200 online articles, and
68 stories on national radio and television. Local radio and television affiliates aired more than 1,170 stories across the nation. More than half of earned media coverage told the individual stories of the WASP, with 174 of those stories on front pages from Alaska to Maine.

SDI’s efforts produced more than 200 million media impressions, including a CNN live interview in the Capitol Visitors Center the morning of the ceremony. The WASP story was told on PBS News Hour, CBS Evening News, CNN, NBC Nightly News, ABC’s World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, and NPR.  It also earned front-page coverage in such publications as the Washington Post, Contra Costa Times, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Anchorage Daily News, and Denver Post.

The WASP story resonated in more than 180 markets across the nation, ensuring Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II their long-delayed and much-deserved recognition.

About Susan Davis:

Susan A. Davis, Chairman and Founder of Susan Davis International, is an internationally renowned communications strategist. For more than two decades, she has created and managed innovative, award-winning media and public affairs campaigns for domestic and international industry leaders, governments in the U.S. and abroad, non-profits, and NGOs. Ms. Davis is widely known for her expertise in strategic positioning, alliance and relationship building, government relations, and crisis communications. She has provided counsel to government and industry leaders throughout the United States, Europe, and Central America, and continues to counsel key public figures worldwide.

About Susan Davis International

Susan Davis International (SDI) is a full-service, woman owned/operated boutique public affairs/strategic communications firm with a 25-year history of producing award-winning campaigns and events. SDI, with more than 68 agency partners worldwide, services clients including multinationals, the U.S. and foreign governments, federal agencies, non-profit organizations, NGOs, and trade associations.  For more information go to www.susandavis.com.

Topics: business awards, stevie awards, women awards, women in business awards, susan davis, world war II

2011 Stevie Awards for Women in Business Issues Call for Entries

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Tue, Jul 12, 2011 @ 10:41 AM
SAWIB logoThe Stevie Awards for Women in Business today launched the Call for Entries for its eighth annual competition.  Entry kits and complete details on the competition are available at www.stevieawards.com/women

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business feature over 50 categories including Best Entrepreneur, Best Young Entrepreneur, Best Executive, Mentor or Coach of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Employee of the Year, Best Overall Company of the Year, and Most Innovative Company of the Year, among others.  The awards are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards

All female entrepreneurs, executives, and the organizations they run, worldwide, are eligible to be nominated.

The discounted early-bird entry deadline is July 27 and the final deadline is August 31, 2011.  Entrants save 25% by entering early. Winners of the eighth annual competition will be announced at a gala awards dinner in New York in November.

New categories in 2011 include Non-Profit or Government Organization of the Year, Smartphone or Tablet App of the Year, Video of the Year, and multiple new Marketing Campaign, Communications/PR Campaign, and New Product or Service of the year categories.

Winners of the 2010 Stevie Awards for Women in Business included, among others: Teach for America’s Rebecca Fishman Lipsey (Best Executive), Nu Skin Enterprises’ Melissa Tantoco-Quijano (Best Asian Executive), International Financial Data Services’ Debralee L. Goldberg (Best Canadian Executive), Métier, Ltd.’s Sandra Richardson (Mentor of the Year), and Australia’s WildlyWealthy.com (Best Overall Company of the Year). A complete list of 2010 honorees is available at www.stevieawards.com/women.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are judged by many leading women entrepreneurs, executives and luminaries in business. 

A portion of each ticket sold for the November 11 awards dinner will be contributed to Camfed (www.camfed.org), which fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women to become leaders of change. 

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.  Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com/, and follow the Stevie Awards on Twitter @TheStevieAwards.   

Sponsors of the 2011 Stevie Awards for Women in Business include Infogroup and KeyBank’s Key4Women program.  Localization partner of the 2011 Stevie Awards is SDL.  The November 11 awards presentations will be broadcast by the Business TalkRadio Network.

Who are the outstanding women you think should be nominated in this year's awards?

 

Topics: stevie awards, women awards, women in business awards, best entrepreneur, entrepreneur of the year

How to Enter the Booming Korean Market: Top Tips From a Business Awards Judge

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Thu, Jul 07, 2011 @ 11:08 AM

Sung-In Shin, President & CEO of KPR & Associates, Inc., Seoul, South Korea will chair the final judging committee for the Company/Organization categories of The 2011 International Business Awards.

Sung-In ShinWhat are your top tips for companies wishing to promote their products or services in Korea?

My first tip is this: Korea is often described as a unique market for new entrants. The most important step is for companies to do their homework thoroughly. Extensive market research and analysis of the local business environment, including potential competitors, is essential to preparing strategies and plans that can succeed here.

The next step is to identify your target audience clearly and segment it appropriately to deliver the most compelling messages through the most efficient channels.

Finally, communication with the market must be sustained continuously, not just at irregular times like for new product/service launches.

Here's my second tip: Companies that want to succeed in Korea must clearly differentiate their products or services from competitors. Without sharp differentiation, it is easy for a service or product to be passed over. Consumers gravitate toward a brand that captures the imagination with a distinctive selling point.

Finally, this point: New entrants in the market must leverage local experts­ in areas such as legal, accounting, public relations, and advertising. In addition to the language issue, there are many complex factors in the Korean market that require thorough understanding and consultation.

What item of news recently caught your eye and why?

The Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) went into effect on July 1. This will boost bilateral business exchanges and economic expansion. I hope that it will also speed ratification of the Korea-US FTA, which is awaiting a vote in the respective national legislatures.

Do you have a favorite app?

I frequently use major news media apps to stay up to date on the latest domestic and international news related to our business and that of our clients, as well as to gain insights for business conversation.

If you could choose another profession, what would it be?

When I was at university, my parents and professors wanted me to pursue a career in education. This would appeal to me as an alternate profession as I enjoy sharing my knowledge and experience with the younger generation, who will be the future leaders of our society.

What quality or qualities do you most value in your business associates?

I value integrity and trust, open communication, selflessness, a challenging spirit, and a value-added service attitude. I believe professionals with these characteristics are more likely to be successful.

What do you think is the worst bad habit to have at work?

I think that lack of initiative is the worst trait to have, followed by a negative attitude and having a litany of excuses. I firmly believe that a positive attitude is essential, especially in a client-service business.

As someone at the top of your profession, what keeps you inspired or makes you hit the ground running in the morning?

I like to view every day as a gift, and it is up to me to make the most of that gift. I also look at complaints and criticisms as opportunities for me to improve. When encountering difficulties, I think back to the rigorous military training that I experienced in my youth and reflect that the current situation is not nearly as challenging as that in which I succeeded in the past.

About Sung-In Shin:

Sung-In joined KPR in 1996 as a partner and executive vice president, and subsequently became president & CEO in 1999. He has since led the company to record outstanding business performance and has himself gained widespread recognition as a leader of the public relations industry in Korea.

Under his guidance, KPR has won numerous international and domestic awards for excellence, starting with the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Award in 2003; Asia-Pacific awards for brand marketing effectiveness and public relations in 2004, 2005, and 2008; and a Gold Prize in the Mercury Excellence Awards in 2010/2011. KPR was named the PR Agency of the Year in Asia (Korea) at the 2010 International Business Awards and the Korean Consultancy of the Year 2011 by The Holmes Report.  Sung-In was selected as Korea’s PR Company CEO of the Year in 2009 by the Practical Science Forum of Advertising and Public Relations.

Prior to joining KPR, Sung-In was a founding member of Communications Korea and served as that company’s planning director from 1987 to 1995. Following his discharge as an officer in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps in 1980, Sung-In joined the Overseas Business Development Division of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., where he also worked in Malaysia as a project coordinator until 1987.

Sung-In has served two terms (2004 and 2008) as president of the Korea PR Consultancy Association (KPRCA) and has been an adjunct professor teaching PR and advertising at Hanshin University since 2000.  He is married and has one daughter. He enjoys hiking and reading in his spare time.

About KPR & Associates:

Established in 1989, KPR & Associates is one of the most experienced public relations firms in the Korean market, and with 110 full-time professionals it is also one of the largest. It is differentiated from the majority of its local competitors (including the Korean offices of many multinational PR firms) by the full range of services it can offer, which include consumer and sports marketing, events and promotions, digital and online marketing, corporate and financial public relations, and issues and crisis management, as well as expertise in information technology, healthcare, corporate social responsibility, and the public sector.

KPR positions itself as the leading provider of comprehensive, effective, and dependable solutions for clients' communication needs. Its client list features many renowned multinational brands as well as major domestic enterprises and organizations.  KPR also gives back to the community by organizing an annual collegiate PR ideas contest to help develop the domestic PR industry, and the company provides internships for deserving university students.

For additional information, visit http://www.kpr.co.kr/eng/

What do you think of Mr. Shin's tips?  Has your organization succeeded in cracking Asian markets?

Topics: International business awards, IBAs, Sung-In Shin, KPR & Associates, Korean market

Judging Chairs Named for International Business Awards

Posted by Michael Gallagher on Wed, Jul 06, 2011 @ 05:07 PM

IBA Logo
Tomorrow (July 7) is absolutely the last day that entries will be accepted for The 2011 (8th Annual) International Business Awards.  Preliminary judging ends on Sunday, and final judging begins next week.  And we're pleased to announce the chairpersons of the nine specialized final judging committees that will determine the honorees in this year's IBAs.

If you're not familiar with the IBAs, they're the world's only all-encompassing business awards program.  Open to all organizations and individuals worldwide, the IBAs typically receive entries from more than 40 nations.

So here are the nine executives who will chair this year's final judging committees:

Company / Organization Categories: Shin Sung-In, CEO, KPR & Associates Inc., Seoul, South Korea
Corporate Communications, Investor Relations & Public Relations: Atul Ahluwalia, President - India, Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick, New Delhi, India
Creative: Ian Thomas, Executive Creative Director, JWT International, London, United Kingdom
Customer Service & Support: Sue Savage, General Manager, Micro Fidelios Asia Pacific, Belrose, NSW Australia
Human Resources: Sengul Demircan, Head of HR, HSBC Bank Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey
Information Technology:
Eng. Natasha Gangaramani, Director of AL Faraa Group of Companies and Head of Information Technology division for all the AL Faraa Group of Companies, United Arab Emirates
Management: Yvonne Howie, CEO, NSW, The CEO Institute, Neutral Bay, NSW Australia
Marketing: Praphan Phornthanavarsit, Chief Operating Officer, Thai Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., Samutprakarn, Thailand
New Products & Product Management: Rob Vandenberg, President and CEO, Lingotek, Draper, UT USA

Results in the 2011 IBAs will be announced on July 27, and the honorees will be celebrated at a gala in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on October 11.

What do you think of the chairs of this year's final judging committees?

Topics: judging, International business awards, IBAs, judges