Opening Its Doors to the World: Russia’s Presidency of the G8 Summit

 

 

Due to Russia’s perceived lack of transparency, the country’s inclusion in the Group of Eight (G8) has been a subject of debate since the country’s entry in 1997. The 2006 G8 Summit, hosted in St. Petersburg by Russian President Vladimir Putin, could have turned the world’s eyes on Russia’s perceived shortcomings, rather than the priorities of the Summit. Therefore, when Russia sought to present a more balanced view of itself in the world’s media, it selected Ketchum to coordinate communications surrounding its presidency of the 2006 G8 countries, including the annual signature event, the G8 Summit. The assignment: to ensure that Russia’s openness, accessibility and transparency were widely communicated to participants and observers of the Summit and to the media during Russia’s 2006 presidency.

 

The first step was for Ketchum teams in North America and Europe to research the global public perception of Russia to determine how to best engage the media. Ketchum defined three objectives: opening direct lines of communication between Russian ministers and the media, educating influencers to tell the Russian story, and capitalizing on new media channels to increase visibility. Outreach began immediately, and in July 2006 an on-site team of more than 25 Ketchum professionals converged on St. Petersburg for the Summit, together with some 2,500 journalists and other observers. Ketchum helped staff more than 25 briefings by senior Russian officials that were broadcast on a special television channel for reporters. In addition, during the year, Ketchum arranged for a global webcast with the BBC and produced the Russian government’s first-ever podcasts featuring senior Russian officials. Ketchum also upgraded the G8 Web site and managed a series of high-profile print, radio, and broadcast placements around the world.

 

In the end, Ketchum succeeded in helping make the once-obscure news of the Kremlin open to the world and shift global views of Russia to recognize its more democratic nature. At the outset of the campaign, there were approximately 183 total stories that were Summit-related. Of those, 56% were negative in tone, 37% were neutral and only 7% were positive. By the peak Summit period, the turnaround was clear: a total of 5,109 stories appeared with the percentage of positive coverage having more than doubled, negative coverage cut in half, and neutral coverage shifted to 54%. Media coverage of the event noted Ketchum's role and the high level of media access. The Financial Times commented on Russia's "re-emergence as a world force" while The Washington Post observed, “The normally opaque Kremlin put on an extravagant show of Western-style openness to the international media.”

 

The G8 campaign was honored with a 2007 Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil, the 2007 PRWeek Global Campaign of the Year award and the 2007 Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation (SABRE) International Campaign of the Year award.