Company: Bankrate, New York, NY
Company Description: Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator and distributor of personal finance content. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Bankrate Communications Team

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since January 1 2011 (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:

Public relations is important to Bankrate because it drives a considerable amount of traffic to Bankrate.com via “earned media” – that is, media coverage that is not paid for, but earned through diligent outreach, respected experts and unique proprietary research. Over 50% of the traffic to Bankrate.com and its affiliated sites is organic, and PR is a key component of that.

Bankrate compiled updated versions of its popular research in 2011 (subjects included mortgage rates, ATM fees, mortgage closing costs and much more). It also developed a new tool: the monthly Financial Security Index (FSI). This proprietary measure, supported by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, is a scientific survey that assesses how Americans are feeling about their savings, debt, net worth, job security and overall financial situation on a monthly basis. The FSI also incorporates a sixth “wild card” question each month that addresses a topical issue such as holiday spending or how high gas prices are affecting consumers. The PR team utilized this proprietary data to build strong media relationships and secure impactful coverage.

In 2011, Bankrate excelled on all fronts. The company’s IPO was a great success, and Bankrate’s stock price finished 2011 up 43%. Throughout 2011, Bankrate received over 90,000 media mentions (including syndication). The company was referenced in more than 46,000 print articles by outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the Associated Press. Television and radio coverage (more than 44,000 mentions in all) included The Today Show (NBC), The Early Show (CBS), World News with Diane Sawyer (ABC), CNBC, CNN, Fox Business Network, National Public Radio and many others. Bankrate is a fixture in both the national and local media. The value of this “earned media” is worth millions of dollars to the company. Bankrate’s PR team helped orchestrate 1,124 interviews in 2011.

The PR team played an integral role in Bankrate’s successful IPO in June 2011. Working closely with the CEO and CFO, the PR team drove the decision-making process to select the New York Stock Exchange for Bankrate’s stock offering. The PR team managed countless logistics throughout the IPO process, including investor relations issues and arranging for Bankrate’s CEO to ring the NYSE’s closing bell on the day of Bankrate’s IPO. Only 63 days elapsed from the date that Bankrate filed its initial registration of securities to the IPO date itself. Goldman Sachs, one of Bankrate’s underwriters, said that was the fastest they had ever seen a company go public.

Bankrate’s PR team secured impactful media coverage of the IPO in outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, Reuters and many others. This coverage may have played a significant role in Bankrate’s stock price on the day of the IPO. The stock dropped around 7% in early trading, but finished the day up about 2% after CEO Tom Evans made the TV rounds and several pieces of positive print coverage appeared.

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Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Bruce Zanca is Bankrate’s Chief Marketing/Communications Officer. He joined Bankrate in July of 2004. Previously, Mr. Zanca owned and operated his own communications consulting practice. Earlier, he held the top communications and investor relations posts at both GeoCities, Inc. and Official Payments Corporation. He was a Vice President of corporate communications at U.S. News & World Report Magazine from 1995 to 1998. And, from 1981 through 1992, Mr. Zanca was a press aide in the Reagan and Bush administrations. There, he was a White House Spokesman and deputy to Marlin Fitzwater in the first Bush White House.