Company: Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, Singapore
Entry Submitted By: Weber Shandwick Singapore
Company Description: Incorporated in 1974, Temasek Holdings ("Temasek") is a Singapore-based global investment holding company with a US$134 billion portfolio (as at 31 March 2008) concentrated principally in Asia and Singapore but with a growing global footprint. Temasek Holdings' portfolio of companies comes from various major business sectors such as financial services, real estate, technology and life sciences.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications Campaign of the Year in Asia (Subcontinent, Australia and New Zealand)

Nomination Title: Temasek Holdings communicates with diverse stakeholders amidst global scrutiny of state-owned investment funds

Tell the story about this nominated communications program (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:

Though wholly-owned by the Government of Singapore, Temasek operates as a
privately-run company. Amidst global scrutiny of state-owned institutions in
2008, Temasek needed to communicate to international stakeholders its entirely
commercial objectives.  This need was reinforced by a corporate image study
conducted in 2007 across six markets which revealed that:

1)            Temasek is viewed as the investment arm of the Singapore Government,
equipped with the expertise to make sound investments.
2)            Concerns were, however, raised that Temasek might have an unspoken
underlying political agenda driving its investment strategy.

Cognizant of this communication objective, the Temasek corporate affairs team
and Weber Shandwick Singapore collaborated on a carefully devised global
communications programme around the launch of Temasek’s annual review – the
Temasek Review (“TR”). Though Temasek is not required to publicly report its
accounts, it has, since 2004, voluntarily published the TR - a platform for
communication with its stakeholders worldwide.

Whilst the team sought to entrench in Temasek’s international stakeholders a
stronger understanding of Temasek as an independently-run and commercially-
motivated global entity, it also aimed to present the company’s strong
financial standing.  To communicate this, the key messages were:

-              Temasek delivered a strong performance with profit doubled from the
year before despite the challenging environment.
-              Temasek continued to rebalance its increasingly global investment
portfolio in an environment of attractive opportunities.

Execution

The media conference, held on 26 August 2008, was fronted by a team of four
senior Temasek executives with risk management and international investment
expertise.

Media collateral was translated from English to five other languages – Chinese,
Vietnamese, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia and Thai to meet the needs of a
diverse media.

In view of Temasek’s significant presence in China, India and Vietnam, a
localised version of the news release was also issued.

Interviews with Temasek’s senior executives were successfully pitched to CNBC,
BBC, Bloomberg TV, The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal Asia.

Copies of TR2008, printed on environmentally-graded paper, were subsequently
sent to key stakeholders and influencers worldwide.

To engage online audiences, a high-quality microsite, developed for TR2008,
went ‘live’ during the media conference.  The media kit, media conference video
highlights and a transcript of the question-and-answer session were made
available online (within six hours of the conference).

Campaign Outcomes

The media conference was one of Singapore’s best attended corporate briefings
in 2008 with 42 journalists from 29 local and international media attending – a
significant turnout considering Singapore’s limited media pool.

Within 24 hours of the release of TR2008, Temasek received 130 media reports
from the mainstream media worldwide – impressive for a non-listed company and a
non-consumer brand.  Over half of the media reports carried Temasek’s key
messages.

The microsite attracted thousands of international visitors with Australia,
China, UK and USA featuring among the top 10 countries.

Following the launch of the TR2008, Temasek received a perfect score of 10
points in the Linaburg-Maduell Transparency Index developed by the California-
based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute in the fourth quarter of 2008, up from
eight points in the third quarter.

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://thestevies.com/IBA09Attachments/WeberShandwickSingapore/CommunicationsCampaignoftheYear.pdf

Temasek’s inaugural microsite for TR2008:
http://www.temasekholdings.com.sg/temasekreview/2008/index.html

News release that showcases Temasek’s financial and corporate achievements for
the financial year ended 31 March 2008:
http://www.temasekholdings.com.sg/media_centre_news_releases_260808.htm

Bloomberg (Video):
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ac5dfrfuDydU

CNBC (Video):
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=832435000&play=1

BBC Online:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7581568.stm

Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aw.UBOZvqj8k

Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aryWrzrZ7T_M

Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/euPrivateEquityNews/idUSSP13051120080826

Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssRealEstateOperations/idUSSP13265220080826

Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssBanks/idUSSFC00004720080826

Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSSGC00223720080826

Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/32c7214a-73cf-11dd-8a66-0000779fd18c,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F32c7214a-73cf-11dd-8a66-0000779fd18c.html&_i_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ft.com%2Fsearch%3FsortBy%3Dgadatearticle%26page%3D11%26queryText%3DTemasek%26y%3D10%26x%3D17

The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/business/worldbusiness/27temasek.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=temasek&st=cse

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this nominated communications program:

Ms Myrna Thomas joined Temasek Holdings in April 2006 as Managing Director,
Corporate Affairs.

Myrna began her career as a newscaster with Singapore’s national TV station. 
She later joined international public relations consultants, Hill & Knowlton
where she eventually became Managing Director for South East Asia before taking
on a position with Caltex Corporation as the Global Communications Director. 
She was later moved to the parent company, Chevron Corp as the Asia-Pacific
Advisor for Government and Public Affairs.  Before joining Temasek, she was the
Senior Vice-President at Strategic Public Relations.