Cisco WebEx online meetings provide a high-impact, effective means of enabling people to work together without having to get together. So when we were tasked with devising a new initiative to showcase how collaboration can promote business excellence, we came up with the inaugural Cisco WebEx European Business Awards. Seeking the perfect partner to host the proceedings, we were delighted when LinkedIn agreed to get involved. Founded on similar collaborative values, the forum is highly regarded by professionals across all industries and provided an obvious fit with our campaign aspirations.
We created four categories – Best Business Start-up, Best Business Innovation, Business Leader of the Year and Rising Star – and developed a discrete LinkedIn European Business awards site to which we drove traffic with banners across the LinkedIn site and InMails to give the campaign an extra boost without incurring the costs of bought-in data and broadcasting. Participants could put themselves forward or nominate somebody else, and then add comments and support.
The response was overwhelming: from 76,500 unique visitors engaging with the site (with 3+ minutes’ dwell time), there were over 500 entries and 14,500 endorsements, which had to be whittled down to a shortlist of 10 nominees for each category by a panel of judges including Reid Hoffman, Chairman of LinkedIn, entrepreneur PY Gerbeau and James Campanini, the MD of WebEx Europe. There was also PR support from LinkedIn, a dedicated team of social media managers constantly tweeting updates and adding content to related forums, plus a high profile blogger who proved very influential in encouraging participation across Europe. A LinkedIn Awards group was created, with over 850 members who actively followed and commented on the awards. The polling stage was open solely to LinkedIn members, with just one vote per category, and we were delighted to be inundated with 11,500 votes.
The top three nominations from each category made it to the final – a live awards ceremony on 24th March that required no red carpet or Yves Saint Laurent frocks as it was beamed to the masses via WebEx. To find out who won each of the four categories and to watch the event on demand, visit the LinkedIn European Business Awards site.
We have already received some fantastic testimonials from LinkedIn members thanking Cisco WebEx for this initiative and we’re hugely excited by the success of this campaign, which clearly demonstrates the capacity for social media to create high-impact B2B programmes.
Our website isn't vast, but if you'd like to find something quickly, maybe we can help.
Zola's our Rhodesian Ridgeback who cruises our barn from 9 to 5. We fitted her with a webcam to find out what she really gets up to.
See her view of the world at Flickr or follow her on her very own Twitter page.