Over the last two years, GolinHarris in Taiwan has educated consumers to view online personals as a normal channel to meet their dream partner. From May to July 2004, GH and Yahoo! worked together to use a "real people" strategy, educating Taiwanese about the convenience and safety of Personals. By creating and deploying the "Calling all Marriage Seekers" campaign, which incorporated the use of "real people," membership increased by 6.4% (from roughly 780,000 to over 830,000) within one month. In response to the campaign, Y!K created a specific "for marriage only" section on the Personals site.

To further build momentum, GH and Yahoo! worked together to promote Nov. 22nd as "National Single’s Day" (11/22), indicating Yahoo! Personals’ commitment to provide a safe forum to find true love. The Y!K Personals "National Single’s Day" campaign consisted of nationwide "I am cupid" buzz events, a press conference, and a singles fair featuring fitness, diet, fortune tellers and other booths. Media coverage was enormous with 51 media clippings generated in just two weeks, helping the event create at least 20,000 impressions.

The success of this campaign was also recognised this year in the Golin Awards. The Yahoo! Kimo Personals - "Calling all Marriage Seekers" campaign was the winner of the Marketing Consumer Services category.

GolinHarris in Singapore recently handled the media relations for Sony Ericsson's third regional product launch. At Ink Club Bar, one of the latest clubs in town, Sony Ericsson unveiled the new T290i and J200i entry-level mobile phones with colour screens, targeted mainly at the China and Asia Pacific markets. Many regional and local trade, lifestyle and IT media attended the launch.

During the launch, GH provided onsite support and also worked with Sony Ericsson Asia Pacific to develop the regional collateral and canvass for media attendance. The team also arranged interviews for Mr. Kazuo Nakai, the head of the region, and secured positive coverage from Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC Asia and CNET Asia amongst others.

GH in Singapore is now into the third year of its client relationship with the regional office of Sony Ericsson and looks forward to another prosperous year in 2005.

The AirAsia IPO: "Now Everyone Can Buy"

When AirAsia was launched as a low fare, no frills carrier in January 2002, it began operations with the mission to make flying affordable so everyone can fly. Today, as AirAsia stands on the verge of a public listing, everyone now has an opportunity to own a stake in the leading low-cost carrier in Southeast Asia.

AirAsia appointed GolinHarris in Singapore as its public relations advisor for the IPO exercise in September 2004. The role of GolinHarris includes the development of key messages for the communications plan, providing media training for spokespeople and development of communications collaterals.

The company has completed its global bookbuilding process, with the institutional tranche being 3.5 times subscribed. The Public Offer represented the largest ever retail tranche for a Malaysian IPO and was 1.5 times subscribed.

AirAsia finally made its debut on Bursa Malaysia, the Malaysian stock exchange, on November 22 at an opening price of RM1.25. It was the most actively traded counter at the end of the day, closing at RM1.50 with 40.8 million shares changing hands.

The IPO raised about RM717.4m (about US$189m) as investors bought into the AirAsia IPO knowing that they are investing in a company with a dynamic brand, a proven management team, a strong track record of growth through difficult times, as well as a company well-positioned to penetrate and stimulate a large Asian market that has potential for further growth.

Making a Noise for HIV/AIDS at the International Conference in Bangkok

GolinHarris in Hong Kong brought together kiwifruit exporter ZESPRI International and Hong Kong celebrity Alex Fong three years ago to build its brand and drive local sales. Now, company and spokesperson have forged an even closer relationship: Fong was apparently so inspired by ZESPRI’s New Zealand orchards during a recent GH-arranged media fam trip that he decided to shoot his latest music video on location. The video has been leveraged as part of a ZESPRI-sponsored karaoke competition with a major local karaoke chain. For his part, Fong says his participation in the fam trip helped him learn more about ZESPRI and, therefore, become an even more effective spokesman.

Also, congratulations to the ZESPRI team in Hong Kong which received the Golin "Best of Office" award; they were credited for increasing ZESPRI GOLD sales by 104% this year.

Winning the ESF Account in Hong Kong

When Hong Kong’s English Schools Foundation (ESF) found itself in the middle of a media hailstorm due to whistle-blowing by dissatisfied internal stakeholders, a major complaint was that ESF management often failed to follow due process. Although GolinHarris in Hong Kong was initially appointed without a normal tendering process during the early stages of the crisis period, the team nevertheless insisted that the ESF hold a formal tendering process for the long-term appointment of a PR consultancy as soon as was feasible, so as not to compound the ESF’s perceived problems.

When the process began, the ESF Executive Committee appointed a special committee comprising members who had no prior knowledge of GH or other PR firms choosing to pitch. At the end of a rigorous six-week process that involved more than 20 agencies, GH was appointed to fill the long-term role. Although the team risked losing the long-term account by insisting on the formal tendering process, it was imperative that the ESF be seen by its stakeholders as operating in a fair and transparent manner.

Hong Kong Wins Amazon.Com through Joyo Acquisition

Retainer client Clifford Chance, the world’s largest law firm, recommended GolinHarris in Hong Kong to Amazon.com for the latter’s first China acquisition, Joyo.com. GolinHarris in China provided on-ground support for the media relations project. The successful completion of the assignment has since turned Amazon.com into a retainer client for Hong Kong and Beijing.

Hong Kong Supports DHL Central Asia Hub Opening

GolinHarris in Hong Kong and Singapore recently helped DHL with the official opening of the US$100 million Central Asia Hub, a centerpiece of DHL’s operations in the region that will serve as the logistics gateway to South China. The event — which was attended by government dignitaries and DHL senior management as well as local and regional media — went very smoothly, no small feat considering the facility’s 18,200-square-meter size. As account director Katherine Wang said, "Once team members went off to perform their pre-assigned duties, they had to make a lot of judgement calls on their own and handle difficult situtations with tact and grace in the usual GH style. None of this would have been possible without the can-do attitude, professionalism and resourcefulness of our colleagues."

Awakening Natural Beauty into a Beauty International

GolinHarris in China recently advised a comprehensive plan for Natural Beauty’s (NB) reposition campaign combining PR and advertising power, trying to upgrade its image from a local and old brand to an international, young brand.

GH suggested NB establish a more appealing brand image to replace NB’s 58-year-old founder portrait as the key visual. GH also recommended sponsoring high profile international events to quickly build an international image. GH also assisted NB1 launch, NB’s high-end product, and received high recognition that over 20,000 NB1 sets were sold within two months of the event, despite its high price of USD712 (3 times the average monthly China salary)

In addition, GH initiated a media club program, generating close media relationships with NB. Throughout the program, 85% of media in attendance were impressed resulting in positive coverage following the program.

Elizabeth Arden was recently assisted by GolinHarris in China to successfully launch its new product Overnight Success in Beijing and Shanghai. Elizabeth Arden only hold one launch event each year in the China market and it’s the first time they have ever partnered with a PR agency in China.

The challenge was that EA wanted to have a luxury overnight media trip at a resort in Beijing, but the cost exceeded the budget. GH therefore provided an alternate solution, keeping in mind the budget and impact on the media. In Beijing, a grand launch was held for media only and in Shanghai, one-on-one meetings were arranged for Elizabeth Arden spokespeople and relevant media. A half day media trip was also organised in Bejing, including a customized spa treatment, Arden beauty salon session and a media luncheon. GH created a personalized experience for each participant rather than just a launch event.

Elizabeth Arden was very pleased with the overall event execution, including the elegant atmosphere that was created. From the presentation of the press kit, to the venue set-up, to the creative media gift (a pure silk pair of pajamas with the Elizabeth Arden logo), the launch was a great success. A total of 74 journalists participated and much positive coverage has been recorded to date.

With the launching of the Conrad Hotel Tokyo in May 2005, GolinHarris in Tokyo has partnered with McCann-Erickson Japan. M-E will handle advertising and on-line communications, while GolinHarris in Tokyo is responsible for the media relations and pre- and grand opening media events. In what could be a model for future collaborations, GH will contract with and bill the client directly, while presenting a unified communications front with M-E for all activities.

The public relations program is optimizing communications reach by targeting media opportunities based on the synergies gained from coordinating the M-E media plan and GH media outreach plan. M-E and GH are approaching this project as equal partners rather than general contractor vs. subcontractor.