Weber Shandwick awarded ISO 14001 'Green Certification' for its U.S. offices

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NEW YORK - May 21, 2008 – Weber Shandwick, a leading global public relations firm, today announced it has received ISO 14001 certification, the prestigious "Green Certification," for all its offices in the United States.

The ISO 14001 certification is an internationally recognized framework for environmental management, measurement, evaluation, and auditing. Companies control the environmental impact of their activities, products, and services by implementing an environmental policy that meets international standards, but is specific to their operation. Weber Shandwick received its U.S. certification from ERM Certification and Verification Services Limited, an independent member of the worldwide Environmental Resources Management Group of Companies.

"Sustainable business practices are a key focus for us at Weber Shandwick and we are proud to earn this distinction," said Andy Polansky, Weber Shandwick's president. "We have met rigorous standards to achieve certification for our U.S. offices and we will continue to roll out more green initiatives across the globe in the months ahead."

Certification means that every Weber Shandwick office has achieved proficiency in recycling, saving paper, and using energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs, among other steps. In 2006, Weber Shandwick's London office was also awarded the ISO 14001 certification.

"There is no doubt that these initiatives are what our employees and clients expect of us. We have seen terrific support and enthusiasm across the company and will continue to drive this certification throughout our global network," Polansky said.

Weber Shandwick scoops Gold at U.S. SABRE Awards

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New York – May 14, 2008 - Planet 2050's parent, Weber Shandwick, has been crowned Gold category winners at the SABRE Awards Ceremony in New York for their work with Yum! Brands, Inc. and World Hunger Relief Week, scooping the top honours in the Business and Society, Corporate Social Responsibility category.

Yum! Brands, Inc., the world's largest restaurant company and home of well-known brands including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, rallied it's nearly one million global employees, 125 million weekly customers and others to raise awareness about global hunger, encourage volunteerism at local hunger relief sites and spur donations to benefit the United Nation's World Food Programme.

Yum's first-ever "World Hunger Relief Week", in October 2007, was supported by extensive media outreach across myriad forms of traditional and new media in more than a dozen languages by Weber Shandwick's multi-office, global team. This first-year program helped raise visibility through more than a billion media impressions and most importantly will help feed more than 400,000 of the world's most hungry citizens for the next year. As planning is underway for 2008, the World Food Programme has already declared it to be the most successful public-private global hunger initiative in history.

The SABRE (Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation) Awards have become established as the most sought-after awards in the global public relations arena, recognizing the best programs in specific brand-building and reputation management across the United States, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Rising prominence of corporate responsibility on the leadership agenda

Planet 2050 on the minds of CEOs

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New York - April 30 2008 - The favorable impact of corporate responsibility on reputation has made it an important and permanent feature of the business landscape. New analysis by Weber Shandwick's Planet 2050 practice explores whether the rising recognition of the importance of corporate responsibility by global management is being acknowledged among the world's top leaders in their annual reports.

Corporate responsibility mentions have increased 18 percent from 2003 to 2007 in CEO Letters to Shareholders. In addition, Global 100 CEOs' communications on corporate responsibility initiatives have changed considerably in the last several years. In 2007, energy efficiency and carbon emissions were the dominant corporate responsibility agenda initiatives addressed in Global 100 CEO Letters to Shareholders. These topics barely figured into CEO annual report mentions in 2003.

Planet 2050 sponsors Ceres-ACCA North American Sustainability Awards

New research shows rise in CR recognition by Global Fortune 100 companies

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Cambridge, Mass. – April 30, 2008 – Planet 2050, Weber Shandwick's global Corporate Responsibility (CR) and Sustainability practice, is sponsoring the Ceres-ACCA North American Sustainability Reporting Awards. This year's awards will be held today at the Ceres Annual Conference at Boston's Renaissance Hotel. The awards program is designed to highlight best practices in reporting on sustainability issues by North American organizations, and provide guidance to other groups and companies that are publishing sustainability or CR reports.

Brendan May, Managing Director of Planet 2050, will speak at the conference on best practices for sustainability and disclosure. May, a leading expert on CR and sustainability, has advised some of the world's largest companies and brands on corporate responsibility and sustainable development issues.

"In today's world, companies need to embrace corporate responsibility and transparency as a business opportunity and social imperative. CR works best when it becomes part of a company's core DNA." said May. "There are tremendous risks and responsibilities for companies operating on a planet under pressure and we need to help businesses navigate this difficult terrain in a way that helps change cultures, strategies and policies, while communicating corporate values."

Rising Recognition of CR by Global Fortune 100 Companies

The favorable impact of corporate responsibility on reputation has made it an important and permanent feature of the business landscape. New analysis by Weber Shandwick's Planet 2050 practice explores whether the rising recognition of the importance of corporate responsibility by global management is being acknowledged among the world's top leaders in their annual reports.

Corporate responsibility mentions have increased 18 percent from 2003 to 2007 in CEO Letters to Shareholders. In addition, Global 100 CEOs' communications on corporate responsibility initiatives have changed considerably in the last several years. In 2007, energy efficiency and carbon emissions were the dominant corporate responsibility agenda initiatives addressed in Global 100 CEO Letters to Shareholders. These topics barely figured into CEO annual report mentions in 2003.

“Companies have awakened to the fact that corporate responsibility and reputation go hand in hand. Leaders understand that responsible companies attract the best talent, earn valuable trust and generate more positive word-of-mouth,” added Weber Shandwick's U.S. Corporate Practice Chairperson Micho Spring. “Corporate responsibility programs are in greater demand today as leaders increasingly recognize the urgent need to communicate their sustainability efforts clearly, transparently and in alignment with their business strategy.”

Upcoming Events

William Brent, head of Weber Shandwick's Cleantech Practice, will speak at a similar Ceres awards event on May 14, 2008, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Brent is a leading expert on the emerging technologies that many corporations are turning to as they roll out sustainability initiatives.