NetIDme Campaign Scoops Major European Award

UK (SANEPR.com) June 1, 2007 -- A leading Scottish public relations consultancy has won a major European PR award for its launch of NetIDme – the world’s first Internet chatroom security ID card for kids.
Weber Shandwick Scotland scooped top prize in the Product Media Relations category in the European SABRE awards for Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation at the Maritime Museum in Barcelona last Thursday night.

The firm coordinated the worldwide launch of NetIDme, a unique internet service that allows you to prove your identity online, and more importantly, check the identity of others. More than 110 million people had the opportunity to see or hear something about the campaign and Weber Shandwick generated media coverage including the Guardian, ITN Lunchtime News, the National Post in Canada, ABC radio in Australia, 50 minutes on Sky TV on launch day, and even Vatican Radio.

The SABRE awards attracted more than 1400 entries from public relations consultancies across Europe and Weber Shandwick beat off stiff competition from four top PR firms, including Red Door Communications and Kavanagh Communications.

Weber Shandwick Scotland managing director Nora Farrell said: "We are thrilled to come home a winner from these influential industry awards. This is an excellent endorsement for our business as it demonstrates the high standard of work we deliver for our clients. The NetIDme campaign in particular proves that geography is no barrier to delivering great worldwide media coverage for clients.”

Alex Hewitt, chief executive and founder of NetIDme commented on the win: “Obviously with a new product it was vitally important that we got the PR right from the start. What we achieved was a real boost to the product and the business. Making an impact in countries like Canada, Australia, UK and USA is a superb achievement that has allowed us to develop the business and attract potential investment on a worldwide scale.”

The NetIDme technology will help make online chat and social networking a safer place for young people and guard against Internet grooming.

It was developed by the CEO and founder of Glasgow-based NetIDme after he was concerned over his daughter using instant messaging. Alex Hewitt was astonished to find that of the 150 people on his daughter's buddy list – online friend list – she could verify the age and identity of fewer than 50.

Alex Hewitt said: "The Internet is a great resource for children but I was worried that my daughter was at risk to online predators and people who were not who they said they were. People want to feel safe online and know the people they are talking to are who they say they are. We have developed a system that will help children to protect themselves online while still having the freedom to use the Internet.

"With recent high profile cases worldwide, it is clear that Internet grooming is a potential problem that all parents must face up to. Since launch in August we have received millions of hits on our website and we have developed our technology further so that it can be seamlessly integrated into online community sites, in order to provide a secure age and identity verification solution.

We are currently in talks with social networking sites, national governments, search engines and online dating sites in an effort to make the technology widely available."