Happy Holidays to you and yours!

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for your business and support of PR Newswire in 2012.

Throughout the course of this year, we experienced some profound and exciting shifts in the communications industry. The converged media landscape and the resounding influence of content marketing have fostered new opportunities for communicators, shining the spotlight on effective audience engagement strategies and heightening the value of PR practices and tactics as a means to effectively facilitate such interaction.

For PR Newswire in particular, 2012 carried with it a number of milestones and achievements, most notably:

• Launch of Agility brings agile engagement to life: In June, we launched Agility – a single dashboard that allows users to monitor media conversations, target specific media and blogger audiences, engage with influencers in real time and seamlessly distribute content and news utilizing PR Newswire's industry-leading network. In a climate concentrated on contextually relevant communication and content syndication, Agility truly powers and supports an agile engagement strategy.
• Strengthened presence in North America: In November, PR Newswire expanded its previous 50% share in Canada Newswire (CNW) to become the sole owner of CNW, the leading newswire provider in Canada. With this acquisition, PR Newswire is firmly positioned to serve the North American market as the unrivaled industry leader in content distribution.
• Investor Relations expansion & enhancements:  It was a busy year on the IR front. In addition to launching its new web site, Vintage Filings - PR Newswire's financial printing, filing and SEC compliance division - processed the second highest number of XBRL filings in 2012. We also announced strategic partnerships with StockTwits, OTC Markets and theIRapp to provide our clients with enhanced distribution of their news and greater opportunities for mobile and social engagement with stakeholders and potential investors.
• Organizational milestones & industry accolades: MultiVu™, PR Newswire's multimedia production and broadcast division, celebrated ten innovative years in the industry this past April, and one of our key multimedia offerings – the ARC™ Engagement Platform – garnered multiple award wins for its role in driving successful converged media campaigns through multimedia content. On an investor relations note, our RetailInvestorConferences.com platform received EXPO Magazine's E.X.C.I.T.E. award for “Best Use of Integrated Media in a Sponsorship”, as well as a nod from across the pond, being named a top social platform in the Investor Relations 2.0 - Global Benchmark Study produced by the University of Leipzig. In addition to receiving recognition in 2012, PR Newswire presented its inaugural Earnies awards, spotlighting creative and successful earned media campaigns. Generating a wealth of social interaction, nearly 3,000 community votes were received to select the Earnies winners.
• Converged media takes center stage in the content marketing dialogue: From the Financial Times to Adweek, a number of media outlets and industry thought leaders turned their attention to the evolved media landscape and the convergence of paid, owned, earned and social, focusing on how PR is undeniably connected to content marketing, as well as how PR Newswire and its solutions have evolved to enable content marketers to effectively tell their stories within the converged media environment.
• Multimedia releases outperform text-only releases – again!: For the second straight year, PR Newswire conducted a study that analyzed our own press release data to see how multimedia releases stacked up against text-only releases in terms of visibility and views, and the results were unanimous with last year! Multimedia content drives higher views than text-only releases – up to 9.7 times more views.

This is an exciting time for all of us as communicators.  As we embark on a new year, the opportunities are plentiful, particularly for PR practitioners who possess the valued earned media know-how to support and amplify an organization's content marketing strategy.

Undoubtedly, the year ahead holds much in store, and I can assure you that PR Newswire will continue to bring even more innovation, enhancements and solutions your way to power and support your campaigns in 2013.

All of us at PR Newswire wish you, your colleagues and families a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous new year.

Best wishes,
Ninan Chacko
CEO, PR Newswire