World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of New Champions – Understanding the Next Wave of Growth

By Anna Tunkel, special assistant to the CEO, APCO Worldwide

The Summit
During the last week of September, the World Economic Forum (WEF) convened its Annual Meeting of the New Champions – the Global Growth Companies, or as it was coined recently, the “Summer Davos.” It was held at the Technological Development Area , Tianjin’s burgeoning new-age investment cluster zone in northeast China, symbolizing a shift in the traditional view of growth and innovation. The three-day gathering provided an interactive engagement platform for public officials, leaders of regions and city mayors, technology pioneers, and business leaders and entrepreneurs from developed and emerging economies. The meeting focused on five main themes affecting most of the participants today: going global, managing risks, drivers of future growth, the next wave in technology and innovation, and China as a global player. More >

 Bailout Will Require Extended Improvisation, New Policy Development

By Senator Don Riegle, chairman, government relations and International Advisory Council member, APCO Worldwide
Jonathan Winer, senior vice president, APCO Worldwide

October’s Congressional authorization for US$700 billion to bailout U.S. mortgages is a first step in a process that will go on for a long time and involve repeated revisions and reviews by Congress.

The primary goal of the bailout was originally to buy mortgage debt products from heavily indebted domestic and foreign banks and brokerage firms. However, its authorities extended far wider – to the purchase of any type of financial instrument deemed necessary by the U.S. Treasury to address financial stability, including student loans, automobile loans, credit card debt and even commercial paper. The Treasury decided instead to use its initial US$250 billion in funding to engage in direct capital infusions into U.S. banks, only to be followed by the Treasury buying residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and holding them until they can be sold (or otherwise disposed of). From there, the Treasury has continued to retain the authority to extend such transactions into any other areas of credit that get into trouble. No wonder some analysts already estimate the total cost of the bailout may amount to US$1.4 trillion, which adds up to some 10 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product. More >

 Internal Communication and Social Media

By David Oarr, vice president, APCO Online^®
Jeff Porter, vice president, APCO Online^®

Over the past decade the internal communication functions of high-performing organizations have become much more sophisticated and efficient, incorporating marketing and communication strategies more traditionally associated with external communication efforts. For many organizations this has meant centralizing the internal communication function to reduce costs, increase accountability, better manage risk and more effectively align internal communication messaging with business strategy. More >

 Where is Thailand Heading?

By James Stent, senior counselor and International Advisory Council member, APCO Worldwide
Apirux Wanasathop, managing director, Bangkok, APCO Worldwide

Since the 2006 street protests and military coup the news coming out of Thailand has been generally discouraging, and has occasionally even verged on the absurd: a lackluster interim government led by a reluctant prime minister alienated foreign investors; a right wing mob took over Government House, forcing the elected prime minister to govern from makeshift offices in an abandoned airport; Prime Minister Samak was ousted by court order due to a conflict of interest arising from two cooking classes he conducted on television, giving rise to the term “cooking coup;” and so forth. Yet residents of Thailand go about their business and daily lives hardly affected by the political turmoil they watch on the daily television news. More >

 Did You Know?

StudioAPCO^®, an award-winning team of producers and designers with experience ranging from video production to innovative graphic and digital design, recently launched its new Web site to showcase work done for clients around the globe, www.studioapco.com.

On the site you can find:

• Creative examples for nearly 40 different clients

• Print ads, pieces of collateral, videos, TV spots/PSAs, videos, radio spots, Web sites or applications, print campaigns, e-cards, pieces of direct mail, an annual report and a VNR

• Information on APCO’s expertise in graphic design, broadcast production, digital design and branding

Please check out StudioAPCO's new Web site if you are interested in seeing some of StudioAPCO’s work and learning more about APCO’s clients.

StudioAPCO is based in APCO Worldwide's headquarters in Washington, D.C.; however, they produce creative work for clients around the globe. If you are interested in working with StudioAPCO, please contact your project manager or Marilyn Fancher at 202.778.1258 or mfancher@apcoworldwide.com.

 CEO Message

We sure do live in interesting times! More than ever before, at least in recent memory, we understand the linkages in our global economy and our reliance on each other. At APCO we have been using our global family of consultants to form teams for our clients to better anticipate what lies ahead and to provide counsel through these challenging times. While no one can predict the future, we are trying to organize our market experts in a way that best serves our clients and helps to provide peripheral vision as they make decisions about their future.

In just the past few months, we bolstered our global team with a number of new experts in the areas that matter most right now. Jonathan Winer, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement and authority on matters related to financial services regulation, foreign investment and trade, joined our market experts, including former U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Don Riegle and former Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Mike Oxley, who serves as a senior counselor.

We also recognize the importance of emerging economies and have expanded our senior leadership in key areas around the world, including new vice chairmen for greater China Kenneth Jarrett, former U.S. consul general in Shanghai; and Alastair Campbell, former executive director and head of corporate finance at the Bank of China International. Eugene Lawson, former president and founder of the U.S.-Russia Business Council and founder of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade; and Lalit Mansingh, former Indian ambassador to the United States and the United Arab Emirates and former Indian high commissioner to the UK and Nigeria, recently joined our International Advisory Council.

Over the past quarter, we continued our tradition of innovation and community service. We recently partnered with the Clinton Global Initiative to help advance their important agenda of addressing global challenges in a changing world. We are also a key partner with the World Economic Forum’s Global Growth Companies initiative, which is identifying and encouraging the next generation of multinational business leaders from around the world. You can read more about these important partnerships in this newsletter.

The opportunities in the coming months are as dramatic as the challenges. We are committed to helping our clients identify, navigate and overcome the issues that are critical to their success. I hope you enjoy reading about our activities and plans as we move forward. As always, we welcome your feedback and appreciate your interest in APCO.

Best regards,

Margery Kraus

 Senator Obama’s Victory Signals New Policy Shift

An Analysis

In politics, as an old adage says, it is better to be lucky than good. There is no doubt that Sen. (now President-elect) Barack Obama ran a smart, disciplined, well-funded campaign.
Read APCO's Policy Analysis> (PDF – 405KB)

 APCO Worldwide at The Clinton Global Initiative

By James Robinson, vice president, APCO Worldwide

At APCO Worldwide, we characterize ourselves as operating at the intersection of business, government and public opinion. Rarely has this been as immediately true as our recent work for the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), where a team of 15 APCO consultants helped amplify communication about the good deeds of CGI’s corporate and nongovernmental organization (NGO) participants and manage one of New York’s busiest media events. More >

 Challenges Facing the Food and Beverage Industry

By Stephanie Lvovich, deputy managing director, London, APCO Worldwide

The political environment for food and beverage companies around the world has never been more challenging. This is particularly true for those companies based in developing markets and seeking to succeed in developed markets. Developed markets have high standards for food and beverage companies, resulting in considerable governmental restrictions. Companies in these markets must also contend with significant pressure and expectations from civil society groups. More >

 The Changing Face of Public Relations and Communications in a Globalizing World

By Roger Hayes, senior counselor, APCO Worldwide

In our increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, multinational companies, whether headquartered in New York, London, Dubai or Shanghai, have to devise ever more sensitive and sophisticated approaches to manage their reputations, position themselves in the marketplace for products and ideas, balance the demands of business and society, and engage with a growing array of stakeholders able to converse and collaborate in a variety of new ways. More >