2009 was undoubtedly a tough year for everyone, but there were some highlights. Here’s a tour of some of the best moments from around the Greater China region.

Beijing Nick Wheeler, general manager, Ketchum Beijing

“Although 2009 was, without doubt, one of the most difficult business environments that I’ve every experienced in my two decades in Beijing, two of the highlights of the year for me were actually positive stories. The first was an announcement from McDonald’s that Ketchum managed in April. In the midst of all the economic gloom and worry within the government about how to keep China’s job-generating machine operating at full steam, the Golden Arches generated massive positive publicity with its announcement that it was planning to recruit up to 10,000 new employees in 2009 to help it deal with its expansion plans around Mainland China. Media interest was further heightened by the fact that it was the first announcement made by the new CEO of McDonald’s China - Kenneth Chan. The second highlight for me was the launch of BE Privé in Beijing over the summer. The exciting thing about this announcement was that, to me, it crystallized the future of so many industries. What had once essentially been a Chinese copy-cat brand was morphing into a haute couture clothing brand run by a visionary Chinese entrepreneur and supported by industry-leading talent from all around the world. The scale of the founder’s vision and ambition were exciting, and it was inspiring to work with someone who saw such tremendous opportunity to reshape an industry sector in the midst of such economic gloom.”

Taiwan Marian Ma, general manager, Ketchum Taiwan

“In Taiwan as has been the case everywhere else, under the big umbrella of cost-saving, companies have been conservative on marketing communications spending and PR activity has shrunk hugely in the market. Some areas have been busy however. Issue and crisis management and employees communications have become priority PR tasks in the tough business environment. Many companies have not given up their commitments to CSR and sustainability to keep themselves ahead in the favorability stakes in a competitive market. We’ve also seen some creative use of budgets where they have been squeezed, driving clients to explore more cost-effective alternative communications channels. Social media has became a MUST when planning the communications mix, and the trend will continue-thanks to the increasing ownership of smart phones and the increasing access to the mobile internet across Taiwan.”

Hong Kong Simeon Mellalieu, general manager, Ketchum Hong Kong

“I think something that stood out for me from the past twelve months was how much sustainability and the green economy benefited from the economic slowdown. Whilst the Copenhagen Summit in December helped shape the global business agenda very early on in the year, with fewer new initiatives to shout about companies focused in other directions and sustainability became a watch word in a number of campaigns for us. The Hong Kong team worked on three separate sustainability projects for the Hong Kong Government alone. One of these projects involved launching a public consultation program at an event for 3,000 people. The scale of events we’ve dealt with this past year has certainly moved up a notch, including pop concerts for thousands of people for Chivas. Finally, our Financial Communications Practice has enjoyed its most successful year to date solidly building its client portfolio and experience which has been a joy to witness in such financially troubled times (see sidebar).”

Success for Financial Communications

Sharon Fung, vice president, Financial Communications Practice, Ketchum Hong Kong

“Ketchum Hong Kong’s Financial Communications Practice has done extremely well this year not just in terms of growing our client list but also in expanding the services we offer our clients, particularly in drawing in specialist talent from other teams to explore new communications channels to reach unique stakeholder audiences. For example, we have worked with Ketchum Digital for our client RCG Group as well as the Ketchum Beijing team to expand audience reach in Mainland China. We have also provided news intelligence service for one of our blue chip clients by working with our European and Latin American colleagues in the Ketchum network. I believe as more and more Chinese companies are expanding and going global, we will see increasing cross-team and cross-region cooperation. With a network as comprehensive as Ketchum’s, this is something we can easily deliver.”

Guangzhou Joe Tong, director, Ketchum Guangzhou

“Looking back year 2009, our most significant accomplishment would be being selected as the exclusive communications consultancy for the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games.

The Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (GAGOC) has expressed their high appreciation for the professional and comprehensive services we delivered to support their communications programs over the past year. I’m sure the success we strived for in 2009 will directly result in seamless cooperation as the countdown to the Games in November continues.

It’s also good to see that more and more local companies are becoming aware of the importance of public relations and communications. Wanting to synergize their resources and break into international markets, these local companies are looking to partner with professional PR agencies like Ketchum to enhance their market insights and awareness. We consider this a core strategy to building our business in the year ahead.”

Shanghai Darby Doll, general manager, Ketchum Shanghai

“Shanghai’s economy seemed to rev up during the second half of the year as the Yangtze River Delta region continued to be an engine of Mainland China’s economic development. Sustainable technologies emerged as a priority for policymakers and business leaders and a major topic of interest among the media. Ketchum Shanghai supported sustainable initiatives by key clients including Applied Materials, DSM, Eaton, Jaguar Land Rover China and Voith. In 2009, the media environment in Mainland China also continued to expand and diversify with an increasingly broad range of mainstream, trade and niche print and online publications. Social media grew explosively. While teens and young adult users fueled that growth, more and more business professionals and executives participated in social media. Ketchum Shanghai included digital and social media components into many of its client programs in 2009 and we expect that trend to accelerate in the Year of the Tiger.”

David Wong, general manager, Digital Business and Media Service

“In 2009 the Digital Business and Media Service (DBMS) extended its product range to include a new social media monitoring service called “e-Tracker”. This latest addition makes us a fully integrated one-stop shop for all media monitoring needs. We can now provide both conventional and online media monitoring, real time news updates (e-Alert) and real time information access and analysis through our online mediaROI platform. The responsiveness and accessibility of the system is a powerful combination that can serve both ongoing media monitoring needs as well being an essential element in crisis response situations. Our enhanced product range and value added services were important in winning over important new clients such as Red Bull, Shangri-La and Christian Dior for 2010.”