Public Relations for the Russian G8 Presidency 2006

The Problem

In the year 2006, the Russian Federation held the G8 presidency for the first time ever. The Russian government wanted to use the chairmanship of this group of leading economic powers to position itself as a strong economic power and to put the three main topics of their presidency – namely energy security, education and infectious diseases – on the agenda.

The Approach

The campaign – a cooperation between agencies from all G8 states – aimed at opening Russia for foreign journalists in order to give them the opportunity to report positively about the country and the enormous progress it had made since the election of former President Wladmimir Putin. This goal entailed the placement of interviews with high-level politicians as well as on-site support of journalists during the summit in St. Petersburg and the preparation for crisis scenarios.

Success

The media mostly commented favorably about the summit. Furthermore, the matter of energy security was sustainably positioned within the public perception. In 2007 the campaign was awarded the SABRE Award, as well as the PRWeek Award.