Jones Lang LaSalle's Industry-First LeaseAccountingChanges.com Microsite Receives Prestigious BMA B2 Award

CHICAGO, Aug. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jones Lang LaSalle today announced that its website LeaseAccountingChanges.com received the prestigious B2 Award for Best Microsite of 2011 by the Business Marketing Association (BMA). As one of the oldest and most well respected business-to-business (B2B) communications award programs in the industry, the B2 Awards recognize and honor best-in-class B2B marketing including advertising, branding campaigns, PR and digital strategy.

Jones Lang LaSalle's marketing team Jennifer Alberts, Leslie Gall, Jane Manderino, Paige Steers and Meghan Vaughn led the firm's efforts to launch the site, partnering with the firm's subject matter experts Mindy Berman, Michael Billing and Vivian Mumaw.

Jones Lang LaSalle launched the industry-first website in January of 2011 to help corporations worldwide navigate the upcoming changes in lease accounting treatment by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and its counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The site delivers leading-edge strategies, tools and information to enable companies to better understand how these changes will affect them, as well as how to develop a plan for preparing for "Day 1" impact to integrating and aligning their strategic planning and portfolio strategy.

The site's main objective was to position Jones Lang LaSalle as the leading voice on the lease accounting changes and to establish a precedent for designing and executing a global, issue-driven marketing campaign. The strategy seamlessly integrates public relations, social media, search engine optimization, sponsorships, client events, webcasts, and video to serve as a content hub, allowing Jones Lang LaSalle to share real-time perspectives with its global audience.

"Since the new lease accounting standards will dramatically impact every organization that holds a lease, and will have important ramifications across all corporate functions, from corporate real estate and finance to technology and human resources, we wanted to design a site that provides actionable tools and information to help clients formulate robust strategies to support successful compliance," said Vivian Mumaw, Jones Lang LaSalle's Global Leader, Lease Administration. "We are pleased to receive this prestigious award, and to be recognized for transforming a creative marketing idea into a strategic initiative that was the first of its kind in the marketplace to engage the industry around this critical subject."  

Some highlights of the website's features include:

• Lease Accounting Impact Calculator (http://www.us.am.joneslanglasalle.com/UnitedStates/EN-US/Pages/LeaseImpactLogin.aspx): a tool designed to help quickly approximate the impact of proposed lease accounting standards on a given lease and how it would be reported under the new rules. More extensive modelling available through Jones Lang LaSalle services can support decision-making in negotiation of lease terms and provisions.
• Lease Accounting Preparedness Checklist (http://www.us.am.joneslanglasalle.com/UnitedStates/EN-US/Pages/lease-accounting-checklist.aspx): a robust checklist to assess and facilitate a corporation's readiness to implement necessary changes to reach compliance. Specific areas include building a cross-functional team to conduct an initial assessment and manage the ongoing governance process; conducting initial due diligence; and creating an organizational structure to lead the change management process.
• What's New section (http://www.us.am.joneslanglasalle.com/UnitedStates/EN-US/Pages/lease-accounting-news.aspx): a comprehensive collection of articles, press releases, white papers and videos, including the latest news from IASB and FASB.

To complement the site's robust capabilities, Jones Lang LaSalle's leadership team also regularly addresses questions posed via the website's dedicated e-mail inbox as well as provide additional information through regular posts and podcast interviews. 

"As a leading-edge global real estate services firm, we are constantly developing winning strategies for corporations to reduce costs and get more from their real estate within a rapidly changing business landscape," added Leslie Gall, Director of Marketing, Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle. "Helping our clients navigate through the new rules is a top priority."

Jones Lang LaSalle has been the leading provider of client direction regarding the proposed lease accounting changes. One area facing the greatest impact is lease administration, which Jones Lang LaSalle has been managing for clients for nearly two decades. Within the last five years, its lease administration business has continued to grow, providing a range of services from data management to full financial management of lease payments and collections for more than 77,000 corporate sites and $8.0 billion in managed spend globally.  

About Business Marketing Association

Begun in 1922 as the National Industrial Advertising Association, today's Business Marketing Association represents a lifetime of expertise in business-to-business marketing and communications. For more than 80 years, BMA has been the pre-eminent service organization for professionals in this vital industry. For more information, visit www.marketing.org.

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) is a financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate. The firm offers integrated services delivered by expert teams worldwide to clients seeking increased value by owning, occupying or investing in real estate. With 2010 global revenue of more than $2.9 billion, Jones Lang LaSalle serves clients in 70 countries from more than 1,000 locations worldwide, including 200 corporate offices.  The firm is an industry leader in property and corporate facility management services, with a portfolio of approximately 1.8 billion square feet worldwide. LaSalle Investment Management, the company's investment management business, is one of the world's largest and most diverse in real estate with $45.3 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit our website, www.joneslanglasalle.com.

SOURCE Jones Lang LaSalle