How do we define Weber Shandwick?
Weber Shandwick is a global public relations and communications agency with a heritage in the Asia Pacific of more than 60 years. We work in collaboration with creators, strategists, and technologists to craft campaigns that not only aim to grab attention but result in long term value for our clients.
Our network within the Asia Pacific consists of 18 offices in 12 markets which include China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
What is in the name?
In 2019, we repositioned our brand and adopted the “We Solve” tagline which was in line with our philosophy and better articulated and clarified our purpose in recognition of how we have evolved alongside the needs of our clients.
More than ever, organizations need to solve for unprecedented challenges born of technology-driven disruption. We fuse global teams grounded in tech, digital innovation, and analytics to help clients “Solve for X.”
What do we do?
Moving beyond public relations, our creators, strategists, and technologists come together & aim to foster creative campaigns by deeply interrogating briefs. Our campaigns attempt to do more than grab attention – they are creative and demand interaction.
Our services include:
- Content- We help companies produce and distribute outcome-focused content in a variety of formats.
- Creative- Our creative team comprises a diverse range of highly specialized talent from designers, copywriters, technologists, and more, come together to develop and execute ideas that earn attention and drive business impact.
- Creative technology- We aim to enhance the execution and impact of campaigns and solutions by applying emerging technologies.
- Digital platform strategy- We apply platform fluency to engage people where they are now while keeping a finger on the pulse of where they may go next.
- Experience design- We design everything with a clearly defined audience in mind to help deliver an experience.
- Influencer marketing- Working with influencers goes far beyond generic messages from celebrities with the most followers – we attempt to identify the culture-shapers and advocates and work them to ensure the content they produce drives measurable results.
- Integrated media- Optimizing the impact of a great story or campaign depends on the production of an artful blend of new and traditional media distributed across owned, earned, and paid channels to reach audiences.
- Media Relations- Having & developing insight into the ever-shifting media landscape and the relationships
- Strategic Planning- Our strategists help companies of all shapes and sizes articulate business objectives and develop data-driven strategies for measurable goals.
- Public Affairs- A combination of analytics (powered by data-driven insight); collaboration (with a human touch); and equity (anchored on earned attention). The proposition is built around access, content & consensus in healthcare, pharma, and more.
- Social Impact- Drawing from its experience and network, we advise corporations on CSR, Extended Producer Responsibility and Sustainable Business Practices, designing programs, and knitting communication campaigns to create shared value for all stakeholders.
- Advisory services- We essentially support clients with the services: Crisis Preparedness & Management, Employee Communications, C- suite Executive Equity & Engagement, Messaging workshops & Media Training
Why we do it?
More than ever, organizations need to solve for unprecedented challenges born of technology-driven disruption. We fuse global teams grounded in tech, digital innovation, and analytics to help clients.
Our work in the past year has aligned with industry trends and has been driven by four key factors:
- Meaningful collaboration
- Bold Thinking
- Curiosity
- Positive Impact
How has the role of PR changed with the digital ecosystem coming off age?
Today, every company is a digital company and has resulted in the need to reinvent and challenge due to the power of digitization. The transformation is inevitable.
With the transformation of business, comes the change of communications. Not being able to leverage the power of data and knowledge that becomes accessible through this digital transformation will simply be unacceptable.
Digital has pushed consumers to consume differently, businesses to operate differently, and governments to reinvent themselves. We can no longer ignore the power and opportunity that digital presents to the industry. The differentiator will be how one can leverage the power of digital to think through campaigns that can scale consumption, effect change, and impact reputation.
With the transformation of how businesses operate, how we communicate also change. During this time, while most companies are trying to find new ways to communicate with its employees, the media, and other stakeholders, the PR industry needs to step up its game and advise our clients. We must leverage the opportunities that digital media has to offer.
Also read: Agency Feature: Madison PR
CSR in PR?
We are fortunate to be working in an industry that allows us to reach out to a broader network and make our voice count.
We must give back to the world we live in. Weber Shandwick has always believed in this, and we actively champion the cause for gender equality. We are passionate about creating an equal world for men and women. Therefore, we have collaborated with Director/ Producer Vibha Bakshi for two projects that address the issue. The 2014 film Daughters of Mother India (DOMI) by Vibha Bakshi documented the aftermath of the 2012 gang rape that happened in Delhi. We also partnered with Viacom 18, one of India’s major entertainment networks, to broadcast the film in eight different languages.
The film became the face for the #HeForShe movement by UN Women in India and was screened at multiple film festivals, across the globe
During the current pandemic, we worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create the #StayHomeStaySafe campaign to arrest the spread of the COVID 19 in densely populated areas, through effective communication.
The need of the hour
Learning and sharing are most crucial at a time like this. Gaining from each other’s experiences can be helpful for all of us as we learn to navigate through the ‘new normal’.
Keeping this in mind, we moved our already thriving initiative “Creative Sandbox’ online to catalyze a discussion around creative ideas and solutions that communicators are bringing to the table, in these challenging times. This is part of our ongoing effort to put a spotlight on creative thinking in Public Relations, and we invite experienced industry leaders to come together and exchange notes. These informal and intimate focused group discussions are a powerful way to be a part of the overall solution.
We learned the hard way
The need to adapt, pivot, reorient our service offerings to the new and merging needs of clients, employee engagement, crisis preparedness and response, digital-first storytelling, CXO communication, and predictive analytics to inform campaign planning and messaging in a COVID context
The industry as we foresee
Given all that’s been happening this year, it’s safe to say that for the next foreseeable future – all foreseeing has been put on hold.
That said, there might be some tremendous opportunities, especially concerning monetization across Social Media platforms, for individuals and corporates.
Collaboration between different social media platforms and other consumer brands means monetization and an enormous opportunity for businesses not just to reach and engage meaningfully with their audiences, but to also sell to them. The content we consume and how we consume is set to change in a big way.
Another rise could be for the content creators, as social media applications launch programs which allow creator accounts to split the revenue with the platform for ads We know video adoption is high and streaming has been gaining momentum, and this trend will help cater to the needs of all ages and interest categories.
A day without Internet
The Internet is a big part of our lives. You can hate it, or you can love it, but you cannot ignore it, and you definitely cannot escape it. A day without the Internet might create chaos for some, while might bring peace to others.
Lastly, are you hiring?
Yes
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