Company: F & H Porter Novelli, Munich, Germany
Company Description: F&H Porter Novelli was founded in 1980 and currently employs 60 people in its Munich office. The agency is exclusive German brand partner of the Porter Novelli. F&H is amongst the top 20 PR agencies in Germany. The full service agency offers all parameters within a modern communication mix from PR to advertising.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Communications Organization

Nomination Title: “Hiking with Weihenstephan”

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

          Overview
          The Dairy Weihenstephan located in Freising near Munich is one of the most
          important and well known dairy companies in Germany. The company has its
          origins in a monastery and has almost 1000 years experience in the production
          of premium dairy products. Continuous development and intense research provide
          for innovative dairy products that ensure the success of the company.
          Weihenstephan is associated with values such as premium quality, tradition and
          Bavarian lifestyle. Due to a new owner of the dairy Weihenstephan – another
          German dairy company with a bad corporate image – the company noticed a
          decreasing trust in the brand in its Bavarian core market.

          Description of challenge
          The overall PR goal was to supply Weihenstephan with an emotionally-charged
          authentic Bavarian profile and re-connect the brand with the region.
          Weihenstephan takes advantage of the trend towards regional branding, since the
          company is strongly bound to the place in Bavaria of the same name. At the same
          time the brand needs to focus on values like tradition, accuracy, premium
          quality, naturalness and of course commitment to the region.

          Strategy
          To support the overall PR goal of giving the brand an authentic and emotionally-
          charged Bavarian profile, F&H Porter Novelli developed the campaign “Hiking
          with Weihenstephan”. Hiking is a very traditional sport, but is still extremely
          popular, especially in the southern parts of Germany. As the dairy
          Weihenstephan is located near the Alps where many of Germany’s most impressive
          and beautiful hiking trails are situated, the publication of a “Weihenstephan
          Hiking Guide” matches perfectly with the company’s commitment to the region.
          Additionally, hikers experience pure nature while having a light physical
          training – this matches with the consumption of healthy milk products that
          naturally provide the body with important minerals like calcium.

          Campaign Execution
          The launch of the “Weihenstephan Hiking Guide” took place right before the high
          season for hikers in Autumn.
          The guide was accompanied with a production of the first German “hiking audio
          podcast” with a popular Bavarian actor as a speaker.
          The media was informed through press releases and tourist offices and
          restaurants and hotels in the region were equiped with the first “Weihenstephan
          Hiking Guide” to supply locals as well as tourists.
          Interested customers were able to download the guide and the audio podcast from
          the company’s website.
          To gain more attention for the campaign, F&H Porter Novelli initiated a media
          cooperation with the regional daily newspaper “Münchner Merkur”. Participants
          in a raffle were able to win a day of hiking with the popular Bavarian actor
          Elmar Wepper.

          Results
          • Clippings in regional daily newspapers and online media
          • 9 tourist offices, 13 hotels and restaurants near the two hiking trails
          supply interested hikers with the “Weihenstephan Hiking Guide”
          • Downloads of the “Weihenstephan Hiking Guide” and the audio podcast
          from the company’s website
          • More than 500 participants in the raffle with the local daily
          newspaper “Münchner Merkur”

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

          Link List
          http://www.molkerei-weihenstephan.de/wanderfuehrer0.0.html

          http://www.molkerei-weihenstephan.de/podcast10.0.html

          http://www.molkerei-weihenstephan.de/fileadmin/user_upload/files/Presse/20_
          Bayernmarkt/26_Podcast/061018-PM_Podcast_Wanderfuehrer.doc

          http://www.molkerei-weihenstephan.de/fileadmin/user_upload/files/Presse/20_
          Bayernmarkt/25_Wanderfuehrer/060829-PM_Wanderf_hrer-frei.doc

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated organization/department:

          Team Leader
          Dagmar Tauer studied Sociology, Psychology and European Ethnology at the
          University of Regensburg, Germany and spent six months at the National
          University in Singapore. Whilst studying, she gained experience in Public
          Relations during internships in different German PR companies. At F&H Porter
          Novelli she first supported the lifestyle & tourism team. After two years she
          moved to the food practice where she is now the team leader of the
          Weihenstephan team. She is interested in modern literature, jewellery design
          and travelling.