Dear Reader,

Have you already written all your Christmas cards? Or are there only digital Christmas cards left this year, in the style of the 2.0 wave that has been breaking over us for some time now. Before we say goodbye and wish you all the best for your well-earned break, we’d like to tell you about new exciting topics from our daily work in this third issue of the Fleishman-Hillard Technology News. 

Once again, in the last few months “digital communication” has been at the centre of our focus. In October, I, myself had the opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the world in Milan to exchange ideas on the current trends and developments in the areas of social media and Online PR. I can already reveal that these topics will further occupy us intensively in 2010.  Moreover, in this issue we will introduce the concept of the Social Media Release in more depth, a real alternative to traditional press releases.

A particularly nice campaign we’d like to share with you was for the little Roomba robot vacuum cleaner from our client, iRobot. It gave us great pleasure to conduct Roomba’s well-received appearance at the IFA. Of course, we have also included an event location report for you, this time at the Municon congress centre in the Munich airport.

We are particularly delighted for our client IBC SOLAR whose founder and Chief Executive Udo Möhrstedt was awarded with “Entrepreneur of the Year”. Congratulations!

We wish you much enjoyment reading this newsletter, a restive advent period, a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Yours,

Markus Hermsen

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Fleishman-Hillard continues its engagement in the area of social media

Over the last few months, Fleishman-Hillard has once again been all about social media. For example, David Bradfield, Senior Partner and Global Chair of the Digital Practice at Fleishman-Hillard, visited our offices in Munich and Frankfurt. He had all of the newest trends and campaigns from the USA at hand. We had an invigorating discussion about how marketing and PR consultants should tackle the prejudices and reservations raised in companies when social media is talked about. The result of this discussion was that the question should no longer be: Do we need a social media strategy, but rather, which social media strategies do we need?

Directly after these sessions in Germany, the European Digital Practice group met, along with guests from the USA and South Africa. The participants analyzed case studies in open workshops and developed new applications, you could call it crowdsourcing. The presentation of current campaigns and of the newest trends was a highlight of the meeting.

In the video David Bradfield explains what new possibilities Digital PR opens and how social media can be used successfully. You can also follow David Bradfield on Twitter http://twitter.com/dbradfield.

You can find his blog at http://navigatecommunications.com/.

Do you have any questions about social media? Please contact Markus Hermsen.

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Storage Study 2009

On the occasion of the Storage Networking World 2009, Fleishman-Hillard presented its fourth storage study in a row. This year, the survey covered the topic “Optimisation of the IT storage infrastructure in medium-sized companies 2009”. In the current issue, we researched to what extent and with what technology small and medium-sized companies are improving their storage environments. Furthermore, we inquired what aims companies had in their efforts to optimise. One of the results: In 2009, storage consolidation was the method of choice in IT storage optimisation for the survey participants. Moreover, we wanted to know what sources those responsible for IT storage use to make their purchasing decisions and how they prepare themselves. Together with our media partner speicherguide.de we asked a total of 256 IT specialists and general managers.

Further results and an Executive Summary are available here: http://speicherstudie.fleishmaneurope.de

The studies from previous years can be found in the “Study Archive” as a free pdf version.

The full study is available in print for 110 Euro or as a pdf document for a nominal fee of 70 Euro from Fleishman-Hillard (by telephone on +49 89 230 316 27 or by email at speicherstudie@fleishmaneurope.com)

If you would like to know more about the experience of Fleishman-Hillard in IT-Storage, Robert Belle would be pleased to answer any questions you might have.

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Green Visionary – Udo Möhrstedt is Entrepreneur of the Year 2009

At the beginning of October, our client IBC SOLAR had a reason to celebrate: Ernst & Young named the founder and Chief Executive of the company, Udo Möhrstedt, on the 2nd October as Entrepreneur of the Year in the category Trade. This prize was in recognition of the outstanding role the solar pioneer has played in the development of the solar industry and of renewable energy. A crucial deciding factor was the financial success of the nominated company, which has consistently shown double-digit growth. In particular, the client-focussed sales model and the clearly concentrated business model of the solar visionary were deciding factors for the judges. Since he founded IBC SOLAR in 1982, he has promoted the use and exploitation of photovoltaic for various uses – from small installations for off-grid electricity production to large-scale solar energy plants.

Alongside economic success, the company’s ecological engagement was important for the judges: Möhrstedt successfully promotes employee and educational placements. IBC SOLAR doesn’t only contribute to providing far-flung regions with electricity; it also cooperated with research institutions such as the University of Munich to promote interest in renewable energy to the next generation.

A total of 300 companies were nominated to be Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 by Enrst & Young, 77 of these made it to the final. The awards fell into the five categories of industry, trade, service, information and communication technology / media as well as start up.

Congratulations to Udo Möhrstedt and IBC SOLAR!

The application deadline for Entrepreneur of the year 2010 stats at from the end of 2009.

Links to “Entrepreneur of the Year” : http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/Germany_EoY/Home

If you would like to know more about the expertise of Fleishman-Hillard in the area of green technology, please contact Ortrud Wenzel.

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Innovation Showcase at Fujitsu Technology Solutions in Augsburg

On the 6th and 7th of October, the first Fujitsu Innovation Showcase took place in the Augsburg factory. The international press event drew more than 25 journalists from France, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany and Russia. They wanted to find out more about the new products and innovations from Fujitsu for desktops, notebooks, mini-notebooks, and workstations. On the first day, alongside insights into the strategic direction of Fujitsu, the journalists were offered a guided tour around the factory. The tour, over a balustrade with a view of the production hall where you can see the entire manufacturing process being carried out by over 600 workers, was the highlight of the day for many participants. Also included in the round were the electromagnetic interference testing room, with stalactite-like cones protruding from the walls and ceilings, demonstrations of drop, heat and cold tests of the machines and the viewing of the PC and server motherboard production. The main focus of the second day of the Innovation Showcase was the demonstration of the new products and gadgets. After a presentation of the new features of Windows 7, editors had the opportunity to test the products live on-site and to ask the product experts questions. The highlight of this day was a “Sneak Preview” of new products, which will only be officially presented at the beginning of 2010.

Link to the Fujitsu press website page about the Innovation Showcase in Augsburg:

http://fujitsu.fleishmaneurope.de/category/pressemappen/innovation-showcase-augsburg/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fujitsuts/sets/72157622423624269/show/

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Campaign of the month: iRobot Roomba – helpful little cleaners make the everyday easier

Who wouldn’t want to come home and find a floor sparklingly clean as if by magic? Our client iRobot, manufacturer of household robots has the secret: the Roomba vacuum cleaner! A press of a button is enough and the robot gets to works while you put your feet up. This is just another of the areas we cover at the Fleishman-Hillard Tech Practice Group. For our client iRobot, we lead the market introduction of the vacuum robot for the IFA trade fair. A short overview of the aims, the implementation and the results of the campaign are available in the document “Campaign of the month” in the multimedia list on the right. Alternatively, you can take a look at our selection of online coverage:

• http://news.magnus.de/irobot-roomba 
• http://www.spiegel.de/roomba
• http://www.pcwelt.de/roomba 

If you would like more information about the campaign, please contact Simone Mitterer or Katrin Weißner.

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Press Relese 2.0 – the Social Media Release

A Social Media Release (SMR) is an attractive alternative to an ordinary press release. It is far better suited to the particular editorial and stylistic needs of online editors and bloggers than traditional news bites sent by email. Alongside the pure corporate news, the SMR makes a complete information packet available. The main messages are presented briefly and to the point in “News Nuggets”. Further sources and details such as product white papers, biographies of speakers, links, high-quality picture material such as video and audiocasts are clearly visible in the SMR own navigation area. The Social Media Release makes the work of online editors, bloggers or other disseminators perceptibly easier, as content can be shared via online services such as Facebook, digg or Twitter and newsrooms of Yahoo or Google with just one click.

Here at Fleishman-Hillard Germany we have developed our own template to be able to offer both clients and journalists a SMR that is professional, clearly arranged and as comfortable as possible, and one which can be used again and again.

What such an SMR could look like, you can see from these two examples:

• http://fujitsu.fleishmaneurope.de/smr/Green-IT/
• http://fellowes.fleishmaneurope.de/datenschutzkampagne-mittelstand/

You can also see the multifaceted areas of use of a SMR by the fact that our client newsletter which you have in front of you now is in the Fleishman-Hillard template for Social Media Releases.

If you would like further information about the uses of Social Media Release in PR or in Marketing, please approach Julia Richter or Markus Hermsen.

In the October edition of PR-Report Markus Hermsen explained the advantages and purposes of the SMR in the “Workshop” section. You can find this article in our multimedia column.

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Municon at Munich airport: Flying high with a view of the Alps

The conference centre of Munich airport offers an event setting with a difference. Directly between Terminal 1 and 2, the Municon rooms offer the ideal location for a variety of occasions – from meeting rooms for four people to gala dinners with over 250 guests.

The location is a very good choice for one-day events with participants from all over Europe as it saves the long journey from the airport to the centre of Munich. The location is also easily reachable for Munich residents by S-Bahn or car. Tip: parking tickets can be included in the event package.

The in-house restaurant takes care of catering for the guests. According to the occasion and taste, the chef offers Bavarian, Italian and Asian buffets. With a daily rate of 65 Euro from 20 people, the Municon is an alternative to other providers surrounding the airport. The conference rooms in the seventh and eighth floor of the modern glass-fronted building are an attractive plus: In fine weather you can see all the way to the Alps.

Further information, pictures and contact details are available under: http://www.munich-airport.de/de/micro/municon/

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Contact

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Multimedia

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Campaign of the Month: Case Study iRobot Roomba
Fleishman-Hillard Technology News – Issue 2, September 2009
Fleishman-Hillard Technology News – Issue 1, July 2009