PwC
Company: PwC, New York, NY
Entry Submitted By: Linden Alschuler & Kaplan PR
Company Description: PwC firms provide industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to enhance value for their clients. More than 161,000 people in 154 countries in firms across the PwC network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. See www.pwc.com for more information.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Social Media Focused
Nomination Title: PwC US Personal Brand Week Campaign
Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1 2010 (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:
On February 22, 2010, PwC initiated “Personal Brand Week,” (PBW) a first-ever
nationwide virtual campaign created to help students develop skills to
distinguish themselves in a crowded job market. The event was designed as a
social media campaign, with content launched and made available through PwC's
website, Facebook page, Twitter channel and LinkedIn company profile. Due to the
overwhelmingly positive response to the initial launch, a second program was
created within the first 12 months of the initial launch. Personal Brand Week
content, including worksheets, tips and Personal Brand Week eBooks, focused on
10 different career topics. The information was driven to social media
influencers, students and college career centers throughout the United States.
PwC's engagement strategy with the program’s participants and with the media was
a vital aspect of the program. The firm solicited personal branding tips through
Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #PwCbrandweek, which PwC also used to
monitor results. The most insightful tips provided by the social media community
were then aggregated into the final eBooks. To further engage college students
in PBW, PwC hosted “The Best Elevator Pitch Contest” during the 2011 program – a
video competition where undergraduates had the opportunity to share what makes
them valuable and unique and to potential employers – for a chance to win
$5,000. PwC received nearly 200 elevator pitch videos submitted by students of
varying majors from across the country. Approximately 10,000 votes were cast
within the contest’s span of a month and a half.
Throughout its two years, the Personal Brand Week initiative cost less than
$90,000 total and produced more than 500 original tweets and retweets on Twitter
and 39 comments in the LinkedIn Career Services Professionals group page. PwC's
Facebook fan base increased 405 percent within a year of the campaign launch.
Media coverage of Personal Brand Week included stories in The New York Times,
Fortune, ABC News, CNNMoney.com, The New York Post, About.com, FINS.com and more
than 45 college newspapers across the country.
In addition to traditional print media targets, PwC proactively identified a
network of career bloggers, social media influencers, advisors and services
professionals pre-launch. Materials were made available to these groups under
embargo so comments and blog entries could be developed to coincide with the
event’s kick-off.
Prominent bloggers and social media influencers supporting Personal Brand Week
include Dan Schawbel, Alexandra Levit and Heather Huhman. Additionally, there
were nearly 55,000 downloads of PBW worksheets, materials and the eBooks from
PwC.tv, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
distributed an eBook to their 5,000+ members.
The Personal Brand Week microsite remains a first page Google result when the
terms "personal brand" or "personal branding" are searched. It should be noted
that PwC digital media platforms were not associated with these phrases prior to
the campaign.
The Personal Brand Week campaign is a successful and innovative way for PwC, one
of the largest employers of college graduates, to engage with students, recent
graduates and potential recruits on digital platforms they use regularly. In
fiscal year 2011, PwC expects to hire about 6,000 students for internships and
full-time positions.
List hyperlinks to any online work samples, 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]:
http://www.pwc.com/us/personalbrandweek
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/pwctv/pbw/pbw-eBook.pdf
http://www.facebook.com/PwCUSCareers
http://twitter.com/#!/PwC_US_Careers
http://apps.facebook.com/pwcvideocontest/contests/91023/voteable_entries?ogn=facebook
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2115428&mostPopular=&trk=tyah
http://alexandralevit.typepad.com/wcw/2011/02/pwc-hosts-personal-brand-week-for-career-minded-students.html
http://www.examiner.com/entry-level-careers-in-national/pricewaterhousecoopers-launches-personal-brand-e-book
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/careers/pwctv/index.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/index.jhtml
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this campaign:
Paula Loop is the U.S. and Global Talent Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
and a client service partner in our Retail and Consumer sector practice.
With over 20 years of experience at PwC, Paula worked in San Francisco and Los
Angeles before settling in the New York area. In 2007, Paula became the
Managing Partner of the Stamford office, and most recently she was the New York
Metro Retail and Consumer Leader. Her commitment to the growth of
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is underlined by her active contributions in the
market and her ongoing leadership of diversity and women's initiatives within
the firm.