Company: Indo Pacific Public Relations
Company Description: Indo Pacific (IP), founded in 1993, is the largest PR firm in Indonesia with 90 staff offering corporate comm’ns, gov’t rel’ns, public affairs, media rel’ns, crisis management, & marketing PR services to 40% local clients & 60% multinationals. IP runs a media monitoring firm & set up IP University training for staff & clients. Awards: IPRA Frontline 2003, PRWeek 2003, Cakram PR Agency of Year 2000
Nomination Category: Team Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Communications Team

Nomination Title: Indo Pacific's Crisis Communications Davidoff Team

1. Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

A 25-year battle over the Davidoff cigarette trademark in Indonesia ended
December 22, 2003 when the Supreme Court handed back the rights to the
Davidoff brand to its rightful owner after a string of unsuccessful lawsuits against
notorious trademark pirate, Sumatra Tobacco Trading Company (STTC). The
decisive weapon used by the communications team was an aggressive PR and
lobbying campaign. In an environment of endemic judicial corruption, it was
necessary to spotlight the case, limiting the opponent’s ability to manipulate the
court system behind the scenes. It was crucial to raise such an outcry via the
media, public, diplomatic, and business community that the Supreme Court would
be obliged to rule in favor of Davidoff & Imperial Tobacco.

Key Messages:
• STTC’s registration of the Davidoff trademark in Indonesia should be
deleted as it was made in bad faith
• STTC did not use the Davidoff brand for commercial purposes or
produce cigarettes, but simply hoarded the trademark
• Indonesia was the only country left in the world in which Davidoff did not
have the rights to use its well-known trademark

Objectives:
• To raise the profile of the case to such a degree that the judges would
rule on the merits of the case, rather than be vulnerable to other influences and
corruption behind the scenes
• To raise awareness of the importance of legal certainty for foreign
investors, to encourage Indonesia’s economic recovery

Strategy:
• Aggressive media and lobbying campaign
• Investigations into the owner of STTC (a notorious trademark hoarder
who has registered over 200 brands in the cigarette category alone,
including ‘Rolex’ and ‘Harley Davidson’ cigarettes)
• Profiles of the judges appointed to rule on the Davidoff case

Lobbying
• Presentation to European Union trade representatives (Davidoff case
study)
• Ongoing coordination with Swiss Ambassador, who spoke with Minister
of Justice
• Coordination with US Embassy in relation to the US Trade
Representative’s annual review of legal protection
• Coordination with Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting Society (MIAP) to
elicit their support

Challenges:
• Foreign companies encounter strong nationalism when facing local
companies in court
• General public perception of large multinational company attacking
helpless Indonesian company
• Legal climate in Indonesia is unpredictable and rife with corruption

Innovations:
• Development of political cartoons, chronologies and provision of fake
and genuine Davidoff’s to highlight the piracy
• Organization of video media teleconference between top 6 legal and
business media and lawyer for Davidoff in Switzerland (Geneva – Jakarta)
• Ongoing education of corporate headquarters in UK and Switzerland
regarding the unpredictable Indonesian legal environment and steps necessary to
ensure victory

Outcome
• Achieved victory in Supreme Court (unanimous ruling by panel of 3
judges)
• Acknowledgement of the Davidoff case as a benchmark for the legal
protection of foreign investor’s intellectual property rights in Indonesia
• Focus of spotlight on Indonesia’s court system and necessity for
transparency and due process of law
• Consistent mention of key messages in reputable media – less than
5% of articles mentioned quotes from opposing party

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=41&news_id=5767
http://www.worldtrademag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__It
em/0,3483,110858,00.html
http://www.tillekeandgibbins.com/Publications/Newsletters/library_update/library_m
ay03.htm
http://mpelembe.mappibiz.com/archives_02/Intellectual%20_Property.html

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of this nominated team:

Laura Worsley-Brown provides strategic counsel in crisis and litigation
management for such clients as Goodyear Indonesia, Imperial Tobacco, Davidoff & Cie, Prudential Life Assurance, Manulife, Philip Morris, and Nike. She has recently
coordinated political mapping, perception gathering, and media monitoring projects
for international political clients interested in Indonesian perceptions on global
current events. Laura has experience in business communications and strategic
thinking training for such multinational companies as Sony and Koll IPAC Real
Estate. She has also developed IT manuals and business recovery reports for
mining and energy clients, including Unocal Indonesia and the Japan Gas
Corporation.

Aditya Wardhana, PhD, has extensive knowledge of politics, economics, and
financial management. He currently provides strategic communications counsel for
clients such as Visa, Deutsche Bank, Davidoff, and Ericsson. Prior to joining Indo
Pacific, Aditya worked as a journalist at Capital, a biweekly business and
economic magazine. Aditya graduated with First-Class Honors from Oxford
Brookes University, majoring in International Economics and Finance, and has a
PhD in Southeast Asian Political Economics from the same university. Aditya also
serves on the Council of ASEAN Economic Studies, whose periodic report is a
widely-used reference to economic policy formulation in ASEAN countries.