Company: Phonak AG, Zurich, Switzerland
Company Description: Phonak has developed, produced and globally distributed state-of-the-art hearing systems and wireless devices for more than 50 years. The combination of expertise in hearing technology, mastery in acoustics and strong cooperation with hearing healthcare professionals allows Phonak to significantly improve people’s hearing ability and speech understanding and therefore their quality of life.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Hear the World

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved (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:

          Background:

          Hear the World is a global initiative launched in 2006 by Switzerland-based
          hearing system manufacturer Phonak created to raise awareness about the
          importance of hearing. The initiative calls attention to the social and
          emotional impact of hearing loss and addresses prevention of and solutions to a
          problem that affects more than 16% of the world’s population. Hear the World’s
          goals are to educate people about hearing and hearing loss and provide support
          to those affected via the Hear the World Foundation, which was developed to
          improve the quality of life of people with hearing loss through financial and
          technical assistance. The foundation is committed to the prevention of hearing
          loss as well as the support of people with hearing loss and their families.

          2008 Hear the World Team:

          The biggest challenge that Hear the World team faces is ensuring that it
          seamlessly transmits its awareness message to a wide variety of countries
          around the world. From language barriers, to understanding the laws and medical
          practices, each local division of the initiative must adjust its communications
          to properly adhere to the culture of the area in which they are targeting.

          Currently, Hear the World’s global presence reaches: The United States of
          America, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Norway,
          Switzerland, South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand, Netherlands, Italy, Poland,
          Spain, Austria and Australia. Additional Hear the World programs are currently
          being planned in India, Serbia, Bulgaria, Singapore and Thailand, among others.
          To help seamlessly integrate these cultures, Phonak established a Hear the
          World core team consisting of four people. The team does not only coordinate
          the local Hear the World activities but also manages the various outside
          agencies that support the team in developing marketing and communications
          materials and programs.

          The Hear the World communications team provides round-the-clock support to
          local Phonak offices where events designed to raise awareness are executed
          throughout the course of the year. Because of the global team’s support, local
          Hear the World efforts are implemented smoothly without deviating from the
          global agenda developed by the Hear the World team in Switzerland.

          Activities overseen by the communications team in 2008 included:
          • Launched the Bryan Adams Photography exhibition which traveled from New York
          to Berlin and Zurich and will continue to London this July. The red carpet
          opening nights, featuring Bryan Adams and other celebrities, generated an
          enormous amount of press coverage.  
          • Developed content for www.hear-the-world.com and the quarterly HEAR THE WORLD
          magazine, both devoted to providing consumers with a wide array of information
          related to the topic of hearing.
          • Introduced the Richard Seewald Award, given on behalf of the Hear the World
          Foundation to a deserving hearing loss-related charity.
          • Created the Teach for Better Hearing program, which provided 2-week
          scholarship programs for deserving teachers to visit the Hear the World-
          supported Eduplex School for the hard of hearing in Pretoria, South Africa.
          • Conducted missionary work in low-income areas of the United States such as
          the Appalachia region of Kentucky.
          • Planned and executed consumer-facing local market programs that provided
          education and free hearing screenings to local communities around the world.
          • Developed timely news angles to broadcast hearing loss awareness messages
          throughout key markets around the world.

   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]:

          General
          http://www.phonak.com
          http://www.hear-the-world.com  

          Exhibitions
          http://www.hear-the-world.com/exhibition/
          http://www.reneseifert.com/2008/09/bryan_adams_in_zurich_7_steps_for_a_powerful _pr-campaign.html
          http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7426911.stm
          http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/hear-the-world/32993/
          http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aw3vjayxU2ME
          http://www.blick.ch/people/bryan-adams-101109

          Ambassadors
          http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/11/prweb1566874.htm
          http://www.vanityfair.de/articles/kultur/film/franka-potente/2008/01/02/10078
          http://diepresse.com/home/diverse/gesundheit/57100/index.do?from=suche.intern.portal
          http://www.ernstdanielsmid.nl/index.php?id=313&page=bericht

          Free hearing screening campaign
          http://www.metzgerlehner.ch/arbeiten/phonak_htw2009/index.htm

          HEAR THE WORLD magazine
          http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/heartheworld/31970/

          Hear the World Month Germany
          http://www.hear-the-world-monat.com/wordpress/?page_id=5

          Healthy hearing
          http://www.audiologyonline.com/news/news_detail.asp?news_id=3744

          Richard Seewald Award
          http://www.hearingreview.com/news/2008-12-05_02.asp

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

          Vanessa Erhard Blattmann
          Director, Sponsoring and Public Relations
          Phonak AG

          Vanessa Erhard Blattmann serves as the Director, Sponsoring and Public
          Relations at Phonak, the world’s leading manufacturer of hearing systems. In
          this role, she is responsible for the company's press relations and corporate
          awareness programs, including the development and implementation of the global
          Hear the World initiative, which she launched in 2006. The initiative raises
          awareness about the importance of hearing and calls attention to the social and
          emotional impact of hearing loss.

          Ms. Erhard Blattmann serves as Phonak’s delegate to the Marketing Development
          Committee of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA).

          Ms. Erhard Blattmann has over 10 years of international marketing and public
          relations experience.

          Vanessa Erhard Blattmann holds a Master of Arts degree in Communications,
          Advertising Psychology and American Studies from the Ludwig Maximilians
          University of Munich, Germany. She is a member of the European Association of
          Communication Directors (EACD) as well as the Zurich Public Relations Society
          (ZPRG).