Winner
Bob Chandler
Summary of work
Over his long career, Bob Chandler has set the gold standard for an employee-friendly, ground-breaking communications company. When he launched his agency with co-founder Gianfranco Chicco in 1995, there were just five people on staff, and it was easy for him to jettison conventions such as executive titles and walled offices with engraved nameplates. What surprised those who were with Bob in the early years was his ability to sustain the original intent - a flat organisation with an empowered workforce - over two decades as the company grew from five to 400 staff and expanded from New York to Washington, Los Angeles and London, and then across Europe and Asia.
Bob has always lived his professional life ahead of the curve. He has an innate feeling for how to get the right message to the right audience at the right time. He’s channel-neutral, and enjoys using a mantra he has repeated many times: “The message is the message.” That message can ride any channel, as long as it is the most effective. Bob would be happy sending smoke signals from the highest hill, if that were the smartest approach to the challenge. Communications is all about strong objectives, smart strategy and robust delivery, to ensure that the message will survive filters and distortion. These are things we tell each other in PR, yet we sometimes forget. Bob’s voice is a rallying call that forces us to remember.
