Excellence video report Watch a video report from the Excellence Awards Summer Ball and view
pictures from the evening. See the video
here...
Excellence winners announced! Winners announced at the Excellence Summer Ball on 3 July 2007.
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists.
Find out who the winners are here...
Awarded for a corporate communications campaign that builds
awareness and enhances reputation.
Hill & Knowlton: HSBC - The future of retirement: what
the world wants Winner
This campaign sought to position HSBC as an expert in the
growing debate about ageing and to demonstrate how employers and
individuals can embrace it positively.
The basis was the world’s largest survey into attitudes to
ageing, conducted in partnership with Oxford University’s
Institute of Ageing and Age Wave. Extensive collateral for
internal and external audiences included three campaign reports,
a two-phase PR toolkit and press release for use by twenty
global offices, market fact sheets, a website, spokesperson
biographies. There were integrated launch events in ten
countries plus media and stakeholder events for leading
politicians, academics NGO’s, analysts and other influencers.
Strong third party endorsement allowed HSBC to launch the Global
Forum on Ageing and Retirement, an online global community of
experts facilitating open debate on retirement issues.
This was a truly awesome integrated global campaign, which
achieved exceptional, precisely measured results in terms of
media coverage and message penetration.
Citigate Dewe Rogerson: AXA Avenue, The UK’s first
financial social experiment
Citigate Dewe Rogerson was tasked with creating a programme to
position AXA as the leading authority in financial education and
to be seen as contributing to the overall debate.
Twenty mixed households in Brighton were selected for a one-year
experiment to determine whether access to financial education
and advice could help improve a person’s financial well-being.
Channel 4 and the Daily Mirror were selected as media partners
who ‘adopted’ some of the families and guaranteed regular
reports.
AXA Avenue proved a success. Ten of the twenty households were
given access to financial advice and they finished the
experiment upwards of £50,000 better off. The success of the
experiment opened avenues with government officials and created
an influential position for AXA with the Financial Capability
Task Force.
This was a creative and intelligent programme very thoroughly
executed to a high standard in every respect.
E.ON UK: The right tool for the right job – building
awareness of E.ON UK
E.ON is the UK’s second largest distributor and number two
retailer of power and gas. The challenge facing the E.ON
corporate PR team was to put flesh and blood onto the UK arm of
this company and project the UK expression of what E.ON is.
The company has a number of different identities and the
in-house team created a wide range of highly professionally
produced tools to communicate E.ON corporate messages to both
internal and external audiences. The development and complexity
of the company was difficult to grasp so statements such as
corporate values and the commitment to customers and employees
were communicated. A strong environmental commitment was evident
with E.ON promising to develop clean technologies for the next
generation of power stations, striving for sustainability in
operations and helping people make the best use of energy.
This solid, professional PR job shows how the in-house
communicators bring considerable value and recognition to their
company.
McDonald’s Restaurants: Employer Reputation - Not bad for
a McJob
The label ‘McJob’ (a low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity,
low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector) could not be
further removed from the experience of McDonald’s employees in
the UK. Changing perceptions is a key role for communications –
and the most effective way is to challenge your critics with
facts and figures.
Independent research showed that 84% of the hourly paid
workforce would recommend working at McDonald’s to friends and
92% thought that their work experience would be valuable in any
future career. The McDonald’s PR team fought back on a number of
fronts, including the ‘Not bad for a McJob’ advertising campaign
and a piece of psychological research that showed working at
McDonald’s had a positive effect on self-confidence and career
prospects.
A highly professional and well-thought through strategy which is
already showing good results in changing perceptions about the
McDonald’s workforce and, at the same time, is generating
positive coverage about McDonald’s as enlightened and
progressive employers.
Production Services Network: First impression
Production Services Network was created on 1 May 2006 through a
management buy-out. Without any PR support the MBO received, at
best, diffident media attention presenting problems in a
fiercely competitive global labour market and impacting internal
morale. A PR Manager was appointed in the July to re-launch the
company amongst the UK media.
A ‘100-day birthday’ and pledge of 400 new jobs were used as
hooks for a well-attended media conference with directors
trained and briefed. There was extensive press and broadcast
media coverage. The HR department was inundated with people
seeking employment and website hits increased eleven-fold. The
company won twice as many business contracts in the six months
following the launch, compared with the previous period.
This is a real example of creative PR positively affecting
business performance and is all the more laudable that the work
was conducted by one person on a budget of less than £5,000.
Westminster City Council: One City
The aim of One City was to make Westminster the best place in
the UK to live and work and support the capital’s campaign to
make London the greatest city in the world.
The council’s communications’ team trod the classic path of
research followed by stakeholder meetings to scope the
programme. Thereafter they developed a seven-stage
implementation plan leading to the Council leader’s office to
finalise the recommendations. Once agreed, the in-house team
used a wide range of communications tools and techniques,
including hosting a Civic reception, to reach the stakeholders,
residents and their own staff.
The results showed a high response rate of satisfied residents
both in the delivery of the Council’s services and in keeping
the borough informed of the Council’s activities and
initiatives.
This was a well-executed, value-for-money campaign that is
another illustration of the good work done by local Government
PR teams up and down the country - but this one is exceptional.
Financial PR and Investor Relations
Sponsored by Precise Media
Awarded for a financial public relations campaign in support of a
major initiative in either the retail, corporate or institutional
financial markets – domestic or international.
Standard Life: Glasnost and Perestroika Winner
Before demutualisation, Standard Life's culture and working
practices in relation to the media were old-fashioned,
introspective and frankly media-hostile. This all changed with
the new corporate communications team who introduced an open,
proactive and media-centric strategy in order to achieve
demutualisation and flotation.
Identifying, building and reinforcing key media relationships
was crucial and an ambitious contact programme engaged the PR
team with all key journalists. The innovative use of traditional
media packs and the analysis of media coverage to see where they
needed to work harder to get their messages across, coupled with
a new outgoing, press-friendly approach had buy-in from senior
management which contributed to a successful vote to demutualise
and the subsequent flotation.
The effect and success of this new approach to the media was
reflected in improved press survey rankings. This was an example
of an in-house PR operation reforming itself to achieve stated
goals in a short time frame.
Penrose Financial: This little piggy went to market
Penrose Financial was taken on by ETF Securities just one month
before the launch of a range of exchange traded commodity funds
on the London Stock Exchange.
The challenge facing Penrose Financial was to gain mainstream
media coverage for a niche financial product aimed at the mass
market. Catching the media’s imagination from the outset was
vital in bringing the product to life. The idea of organising a
photo shoot of a pig outside the London Stock Exchange was born
and after jumping through many bureaucratic hoops Cilla, the
pig, became the star of ‘This little piggy went to market’.
This was a clever campaign where coverage was strong and clear.
The campaign was within budget with a client which was more than
satisfied. Penrose Financial showed a strong creative element in
the use of a pig to promote commodities, generating targeted
coverage for a product which had little inherent PR value to
recommend it.
The Maitland Consultancy: Mittal Steel’s bid for Arcelor
The Maitland Consultancy was appointed by Mittal Steel to work
with them to devise and implement an international
communications strategy for their unsolicited bid for Arcelor.
This was a massive campaign spread over a number of geographical
areas requiring pan-European and US coordination of
communications. Maitland worked with Mittal Steel and its
bankers to develop and deliver the messages supporting and
explaining the transaction. The bid was complex and
communication was sustained over a period of time.
Key attributes to the success of the campaign are the relative
lack of profile of the client and the industry, and the
political and financial elements. The campaign was not about
creativity, it was about judgement and execution. The results
were outstanding in terms of media coverage, political currents
overcome and ultimately the successful international takeover.
The Wriglesworth Consultancy & edeus: The launch of edeus
This was the successful launch of a technology-focused mortgage
lender into a crowded market. As edeus was one of six large
specialist lenders launched in 2006 it was essential that the
launch campaign enabled it to stand out.
A campaign was devised that would build excitement and interest
over a four month period prior to launch and immediately
afterwards, and aimed to differentiate edeus by positioning it
as an innovative lender backed by ‘skip a generation’
technology. The launch was made difficult by the fact that the
edeus management team was covered by non-compete clauses and the
name ‘edeus’ had not yet been decided on.
Positioned for the younger generation, the campaign achieved
success in terms of media coverage, intermediaries signed-up and
industry awards, particularly for technology and innovation. The
campaign was multi-layered, from a launch party, through
multi-media communication techniques to more traditional press
communications and was sustained over a number of months.
Internal Communications
Sponosored by VMA
Awarded for employee communications which are designed to promote corporate
objectives, whether in the public or the private sector, particularly showing
innovation in the use of new technology.
London Borough of Camden: Living the ways of working
Winner
Camden Council introduced a cultural change programme based
around Ways of Working - WOWs - which focused on employees'
ability to change everyday behaviours and interactions and embed
new ways of working with a belief that to deliver a service,
employees have to truly support its values.
Employee communications were created including poster campaigns
within key council sites highlighting WOW ambassadors and how
they modelled their WOW practices, regular features and articles
appearing in printed council literature, and monthly letters
from the chief executive to all staff to support the
communication.
An independent staff survey showed that 78% of staff stated they
were aware of the WOWs and 48% of managers had discussed with
their staff how to integrate WOWs into their work.
The success of this campaign has been proven by Camden being one
of only ten councils nationwide to achieve a four star and
'improving strongly' rating in the 2006 Comprehensive
Performance Assessment Ratings.
DCT Communications: BP Safe digital living campaign
Information Technology is something we take for granted these days - with
constant browsing of the Internet, extensive use of email and sophisticated
company networks all around us.
But with 80,000 users worldwide and, in a typical month nearly a million
viruses intercepted and 36 million spam-emails blocked, safe and responsible
computer use is not something a company like BP can leave to chance.
This was a cost-effective campaign which needed to speak in a language
understood equally well by a secretary in London or a rig worker on the other
side of the world. It was simple - don't leave your laptop in the car overnight
etc - without being patronising and there was a range of advice to suit every
level of computer proficiency.
Key to its success was creating a few consistent messages and employing them
across the board - and the world - in events, email, intranets, employee
publications, posters and giveaways.
E.ON UK: The energy behind the FA cup
Sponsoring the FA cup in a four year deal was a good way for energy company
E.ON to raise brand awareness. Convincing employees of the benefits was also
critical and this meant raising awareness of all aspects of the sponsorship,
explaining the business case, reinforcing the company's reputation as a great
place to work and also identifying and equipping internal ambassadors.
With those clear objectives in mind, E.ON's in-house team embarked on a major
internal launch with a countdown campaign aimed at exciting all parts of its
diverse workforce. On launch day itself, all staff received a match-day
programme-type document as well as a wide range of communication - using some
brand-new channels in many cases.
The robust evaluation speaks for the success of the campaign - with 95% of
the company's 3,000 employees polled reporting positively on the sponsorship.
This campaign stood out as it catered for all employees, even the non-football
fans.
Rolls-Royce: How intranet improvements meant financial returns for
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce operates in four global markets and employs 38,000 people in
offices, manufacturing and service facilities in 50 countries. Its intranet
service is available to more than two thirds of the company's workforce, but was
falling short of expectations.
The first stage of improvement was giving the internal communications team
global ownership of the intranet in terms of structure and content. Templates
for content provision were created along with processes, policies and standards,
which contributed not just towards the quality of information on the intranet
but also enabled employees across all industries and geographic areas to find
information that they could trust, more easily and quickly.
In 2006, benchmarking results positioned Rolls-Royce 8th out of 36 companies
worldwide. The new intranet model has delivered time-saving opportunities of £8
million per annum and has become a cornerstone of the company's Information
Management Strategy delivering extra efficiencies, greater level of task
completion and information sharing amongst business sectors and employees.
Stockport Council: Easy as ABC - Stockport Council's Communications Month
A survey showed that the quality of Stockport Council's communication was the
key driver to residents' satisfaction, and residents felt strongly about knowing
what the Council was doing.
To address these points, Stockport Council launched a Communications Month to
highlight the importance of communicating clearly with residents and how
essential it is for staff to communicating verbally with one another.
A 'Jargon Top Ten' was created to highlight the importance of using language
that the target audience would understand, and all words / phrases on this list
were removed from the website. The 'Jargon Top Ten' now forms part of the
communications strategy for all Council communications. 'Low e-mail day'
resulted in 74,000 less emails being sent in one day by employees that resulted
in a continued reduction in email traffic four weeks afterwards.
Over 70% of employees surveyed post-campaign registered communication as
important and is now a competency required as a Council employee.
Westminster City Council: WorkSmart
Westminster City Council's bold ambition to be a world leader in city
management - with no additional funding available - requires staff to be
enthusiastic about its major change programme. Central to the WorkSmart
campaign is buy-in to the concept of having a smaller but better rewarded staff
making greater use of paperless and wireless technology.
The Council realised from the start that it needed to show this programme as
being done with staff rather than to them. Advocates were sourced and a
comprehensive range of tactics brought into play to encourage departments to
embrace one or more of the WorkSmart projects.
This was a creative campaign based around five big projects aimed at
improving the way in which employees operated using wireless technology,
electronic records and flexible working.
Transparency, and engaging staff at the heart of the business decision-making
process, made for a well-thought out and structured campaign which was broadly
welcomed by management and staff.
Consumer Relations in the Arts, Sport, Leisure and Tourism
Sectors
Sponsored by On Screen Productions
Awarded to a campaign supporting the marketing of consumer
products or services in the arts, sport, leisure or tourism
industries.
The Red Consultancy: Search for the world’s best blue sky Winner
The Red Consultancy was briefed to launch Expedia’s new blue
skies brand identity in a way that reached a small number of
highly targeted media with ‘killer’ coverage.
Red’s answer was to evolve the ‘Round the World in 74 days’
campaign to find the world’s Best Blue Sky. If all blue skies
cannot be the same, as light and colour are affected by the
elements, Red thought that there must be a ‘bluest blue’. It was
decided to recruit an individual ‘Blue sky explorer’ who would
visit 20 destinations around the world... to eventually find the
world' bluest sky.
This was one of the most original and creative programmes the
judges had seen for years. This ambitious and extensive campaign
was clearly supported by the client and was one which secured
outstanding media coverage that was clearly and thoroughly
evaluated.
Catapult Public Relations: ‘Welcome to Mootown’
Catapult’s brief was to reposition farm tourism by helping
attract holiday visitors to the North West and win back consumer
confidence after the foot and mouth outbreak. As British farm
tourism is not pretty, destination tourism, where the media
clamour for press trips or exotic pictures, creativity was this
campaign’s lifeblood.
This was a campaign where the creativity instantly brought a
smile to the face and the results brought an amazing return on
the fee investment. Under the banner of ‘Welcome to Mootown’,
Catapult produced a ‘Mootown Classics’ CD press kit, to promote
Valentine Day stays in farmhouses a 1970s style all-action Milk
Tray Man visited female travel journalists with hand-made
Cambrian chocolates, and a tea-shop trail used a psychic to read
tea leaves and predict the winner of the 2006 World Cup.
The comprehensive 31-page evaluation report set this campaign
apart from the other entrants and brought a new level in the
thoroughness of approach.
GCI London: Responding to August 10 2006
August 10 2006 is the day now ingrained in the memory of
travellers as the day that changed the way we fly forever.
Everyone recalls the media battering the BAA received at the
time when new security measures were introduced following news
of a thwarted terrorist attack on that day.
This campaign shows how GCI and BAA’s communication’s team were
fast off the mark with a programme to deliver against two
different, but important objectives: to reassure air travellers
that the new security measures were straightforward and for
passengers own safety, and equally important to BAA, that the
airside retail shopping experience was unchanged.
The target audiences of business traveller, frequent flyer and
the family needed to be reached as many times as possible. GCI’s
channel strategy was impressive and the use of London black cabs
and the Heathrow Express to get the messages delivered using
specially made films was highly effective.
Midnight Communications: ‘Brighton Tucs to the Thai road’
Midnight Communications was tasked with managing the pilot
launch in the Brighton & Hove area of the first fleet launch of
the TucTuc, the fabled Asian three wheeled motorised rickshaw,
outside of Asia.
This was a strong entry encompassing more than just PR. The
agency also gave strategic advice to the client on transport and
green credentials through lobbying and in placing this message
in the context of the UK’s sustainable transport policies. The
subsequent creative campaign was so strong it turned into a
national and international media success across five continents.
The extent and quality of the media coverage had a far greater
impact than the client initially envisaged and has meant
expansion to the young business has been quicker and more global
than imagined.
The Red Consultancy: Acacia Avenue: A portrait of middle
Britain
Consumers only tend to think about home insurance when their
policy is up for renewal and it is not something usually
associated with the AA. The Red Consultancy was tasked with
engaging with AA Insurance’s average customer and target market
– middle England – and beat consumer inertia.
What was refreshing with this campaign was that Red ignored
conventional PR research in favour of a new form of market
analysis in communicating directly with consumers through a
three month social study called ‘Acadia Avenue: A Portrait of
Middle Britain’. Rather than focus purely on written data it was
decided to record residents of 15 Acacia Avenues across the
country through warm, empathetic photography. The photographs
were displayed in London at the Cork Street Gallery and the
Ideal Home Show at Earl’s Court.
This campaign had a clear payback of driving quantifiable leads
to a website and qualification of 1,000 new business leads. It
was very creative and very effective.
Consumer Relations
Sponsored by Ipsos MORI
Awarded to a campaign supporting the marketing of consumer
products or services.
Taylor Herring Public Relations: Lara Croft Tomb Raider -
Legend Winner
After a critical mauling for its 2004 Tomb Raider game release
and the poor box office performance of the last film, ‘Cradle of
Life’, the Lara Croft brand was in need of fresh success. The
Tomb Raider brand needed to have its credibility
re-established amongst consumers and the media.
Taylor Herring’s approach was to re-launch Lara Croft as a
celebrity and broaden her appeal at a time when the game had a
new face - Karima Adebibe, a 20 year old unknown model. In
parallel, a vote-generation campaign drove Lara Croft into the
top ten of the Great British Design Quest for the BBC’s Culture
Show alongside icons like the Spitfire, the red phone box and
Concorde.
Taylor Herring developed and delivered a campaign which not only
delivered impressive media coverage but drove sales
aggressively, taking the game to number one in the charts while
making it one of the fastest and biggest selling video games of
2006.
Fishburn Hedges & BT: It’s for you-Who! Tom Baker
launched as voice of BT Text
After two years, awareness of BT Text – an innovation allowing
customers to send texts to landlines – remained stubbornly low.
Fishburn Hedges was challenged to drive up trial and usage by
generating widespread awareness.
The decision to recruit actor Tom Baker to replace the ‘inhuman’
voice of the service was inspired and provided the launch pad to
deliver extensive media coverage. The initial plan was to use
the famous actor’s voice for three months, but his voice proved
so popular that this was extended to include a festive Text Aid
initiative to raise money for homelessness charity Shelter.
A Tom Baker fan was recruited to drop the star’s voice into a
reworked version of The Kinks’ classic ‘You Really Got Me’.
Track samples were sold with all BT’s proceeds going to Shelter.
The total raised was a mighty £190,000 and the volume of text
messages rose by 530% in one month compared to the previous year
as the campaign created a national talking point.
GCI London: Pringles Unsung
GCI was tasked with creating a credible link between the
Pringles brand and music in support of an on-pack promotion to
give away downloads and gig tickets. Not easy for a brand with
no heritage in the cluttered music space.
GCI’s response was to go to grass roots level and search for the
next big breaking talent under the banner Pringles Unsung. Over
600 bands and artists uploaded tracks to a site where the public
could nominate their favourites. The best then went on to play
live during a seven-date regional tour with a final gig in
London. The talent competition offered a genuine opportunity for
unsigned acts to win three days studio recording time and advice
from ex-Island Records MD, Marc Marot and BRIT award-winning duo
Bacon and Quarmby.
The campaign ran for eight weeks and delivered outstanding
results, including an ROI of 3:1. This campaign is a good
example of how to generate strong word of mouth in notoriously
fickle territory.
Starfish Communications: The Lloydspharmacy Suncare
amnesty
Starfish Communications was tasked by Lloydspharmacy to devise a
PR campaign to publicise a sun cream sales campaign to drive
sales to their own brand (Solero) and away from rival retail
pharmacies. Starfish devised the Suncare Amnesty, which was a
simple but extremely effective vehicle for driving suncare sales
for Lloyds Pharmacy.
Starfish devised the weather sensitive, rapid reaction Suncare
Hitsquad which descended on selected cities around the UK on hot
sunny days dispensing samples of Solero to consumers. The
Hitsquads drew attention to the sales offer promotion instore
and were timed to coincide with a reader offer in the Daily
Express.
Starfish negotiated a link with the Teenage Cancer Trust and
donated £100,000 to the Trust confirming that over 100,000
customers visited stores as a direct result of the campaign.
Suncare sales during the main campaign were up 200% on the
previous year and cash sales in the first week were double the
previous record week.
Trimedia Harrison Cowley & BT: Finding a new voice for
the BT Speaking Clock with BBC Children in Need
BT tasked Trimedia Harrison Cowley with celebrating the 70th
anniversary of the BT speaking clock whilst positioning the
service to a new generation of consumers. To engage consumers
and overcome any potential resistance, a cause-related campaign
was devised with BBC Children in Need, featuring pre-recorded
materials by Sir Terry Wogan, along with an X-Factor style
competition to entice potential consumers with a real chance of
becoming the new ‘voice’.
An impressive and rigorous implementation plan was put in place
with a carefully phased approach, measured against quantifiable
results that were soundly benchmarked against previous levels of
activity.
This PR-led sponsorship campaign achieved all the client’s
objectives with an unprecedented volume of coverage. Over 18,000
entries were received to a competition with no monetary prize,
prompting 6.3 million to dial the speaking clock in a three week
period and generating a £200,000 donation to Children in Need.
Unity: The Crisis Pud & Pudstock
Homelessness charity Crisis turned to Unity to drive a Christmas
consumer relations programme. The chief means of achieving this
was via the Crisis Pud – a Crisis-branded, luxury Christmas
pudding sold online via a dedicated website.
Unity felt that the Pud alone was not enough to win over hearts
and minds so they came up with a twist whilst targeting a new
16-34 year old audience to recruit long term donors. One hundred
‘lucky sixpences’ were placed in random puds that could be
exchanged for prizes including a chance to win tickets to
Pudstock a ‘money can’t buy’ indie gig starring two generations
of Britrock.
This was a very creative campaign that made the best use of a
modest budget, used exclusivity well to ensure irresistible
media hooks and exploited social media channels extremely
effectively. The media strategy was cleverly designed to have
wide ranging appeal, yielding extensive coverage across
non-traditional titles.
Public Sector
Sponsored by EDS Media
Awarded to a campaign designed to promote the policies, achievements
and services of a public sector organisation to its stakeholders.
Norfolk County Council & Fox Murphy: ‘Don’t be a loser’
road safety campaign Winner
Drivers aged 17-25 form almost a third of casualties killed or
seriously injured on Norfolk’s roads. To reduce the toll,
Norfolk County Council commissioned a campaign to change young
drivers’ behaviour. Research showed they were more likely to
respond to messages highlighting the risk to others rather than
to themselves.
The extensive and well targeted media, advertising and PR
campaign, part- funded by partner organisations, gave a local
perspective while using recognised national road safety logos.
Actual Norfolk place names, such as Belton and Ditchingham, were
used with crash images and hard-hitting messages. Local
organisations and businesses, including Norwich City FC, added
their support.
Seventy fewer people died or were badly hurt on Norfolk’s roads
in 2006. The target group toll dropped by 17%, (26% in one
hotspot area) - the £110,000 budget was roughly equivalent to
the cost to the NHS of one road death.
Blue Rubicon & The Home Office: Police Community Support
Officer Recruitment Campaign
Blue Rubicon was tasked with helping The Home Office recruit
Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) - this was no ordinary
recruitment exercise. Research showed that not only was it
important to encourage applications from particular segments of
the population, but there was scepticism amongst policing
professionals and key commentators which needed to be overcome.
Blue Rubicon aimed to rise above any controversy about the role
of a PCSO by personalising it and presenting real people doing
the job, focussing on their contribution to the neighbourhoods
in which they worked. These messages were communicated with the
clever partnering of local and regional media and TV soaps.
Critics were invited to get alongside the staff as they did
their job.
The outcomes were clear in the evaluation with a number of
forces achieving recruitment targets in advance of plan and good
recognition of the role of CSO’s in the policing community. The
icing on the cake was the confession of media commentators that
their minds have been changed.
MGB Public Relations: The launch of Electronic Vehicle
Licencing
After a pilot involving one million drivers, the DVLA’s new
Electronic Vehicle Licensing Service went live in January 2006.
MGB PR was faced with the challenge of ensuring this was seen as
‘new news’ and to generate widespread awareness for the DVLA to
meet its 40% take-up target by March 2007.
The main target audience was 18-45-year-old men, but the
campaign had to appeal to the wider motoring public. Model Jodie
Kidd was chosen as the campaign face for the media launch and
continuing publicity. Careful management ensured that when her
picture was taken, the DVLA message was always in shot.
The resulting nationwide coverage, sustained media and online
promotion, an 18-city promotional tour and lifestyle postcards
at cinemas, bars and health clubs drove the message home.
Initial take-up was higher than predicted, regional take-up rose
10 to 30% after each visit and the 40% target was expected to be
achieved on schedule.
Stockport Council: Don’t go in! – water safety campaign
Greater Manchester had been shattered by the tragic death of a
local youngster in a drowning accident, and Stockport Council
aimed to alert their children and other at risk groups to the
dangers of the network of rivers, lakes and canals in their
district, and to achieve full take up of their water safety
training.
They worked with RoSPA to identify at-risk groups and used
techniques like quizzes to research how much the target groups
understood about the dangers of water and negotiated with a
local paper to be a media partner. Knowledge gaps were filled
effectively with carefully constructed messages presented in
attractive leaflets, electronic communications and educational
materials, combined with a controlled media campaign in
partnership with local press, all ideally timed for the risky
summer holiday period.
This campaign was excellent value-for-money, exceeding
communications targets and ensuring full registers for the
safety training. It was a low cost to avoid the loss of another
young life.
Westminster City Council: Park right
Over several decades, Westminster City Council’s parking service
gained an unenviable reputation for its high level of
enforcement and high costs, attracting considerable negative
media coverage.
The City Council’s communications team worked to turn this
around through an intelligently planned campaign with clear and
measurable objectives. By informing the public, building trust
and ensuring the service was seen as more transparent they
achieved a nine-percentage point increase in satisfaction two
years ahead of target and significantly improved the tone of
media coverage.
The campaign, based on detailed research into customer
satisfaction, involved planned and sustained proactive media
activities, stakeholder engagement and highly focused internal
communications to improve customer service standards. It was
supported by a professional and well-thought-out range of
publicity material including a comprehensive parking guide in
the style of a car maintenance manual. A series of forums
involved stakeholders in the dialogue about service improvement.
Business and Trade
Sponsored by Sovereign Strategy
Awarded for a campaign supporting the marketing of
business-to-business products or services.
Primal Public Relations: Remote XT – A global phenomenon Winner
Primal PR’s task was the international launch of Remote XT – a
new network independent mobile phone service. To break into an
already crowded market place, Primal focused on the mobile’s
unique ‘crime stopper’ feature – an ear piercing scream emitted
when the handset is stolen, even if the SIM card is removed.
By crafting a thoughtful and wide ranging pre-launch strategy
which included briefing the Head of the Met’s National Mobile
Phone Crime Unit, past victims of phone crime and key industry
analysts, Primal ensured that come press day there was a rich
vein of independent voices.
The campaign had clearly defined, measurable objectives which
were exceeded. Primal PR’s campaign made a significant
contribution to the success of UK start-up Remote XT and made
them a global phenomena.
Brands2Life for SunGard: From darkness into the light
Brands2Life’s brief was to ensure SunGard remained ‘the trusted
voice’ within disaster recovery and business continuity circles,
and to communicate the importance of Information Availability –
keeping employees and information continuously connected. This
was all with the backdrop of a market that was becoming
increasingly crowded.
Brands2Life’s strategy was to drive SunGard outside its
traditional trade press targets to focus on influential
journalists in the mainstream broadcast and national media.
Brands2Life implemented a highly active media relations
programme, backed by research, which delivered on message
coverage in a wide range of media including the FT, Guardian,
Times, as well as broadcast coverage on the BBC, CNBC and CNN.
Overall coverage was 92% ahead of the target set by SunGard.
Mere Public Relations: Tulips from Amsterdam – bmi
regional
Mere PR was tasked with ensuring that bmi regional’s new service
from Aberdeen to Amsterdam got off to a flying start. Faced with
stiff competition on the route, Mere devised a PR launch
strategy that touched all of their target audiences: business
travellers, professional PA’s, travel trade and leisure.
With widespread local coverage underpinned by creative, tulip
laden inaugural celebrations, media visits to Amsterdam, local
competitions, springtime events and surprise floral deliveries
to PA’s not to mention sponsored business events, Mere had all
the angles covered. The clear, measurable objectives were fully
achieved: extensive media coverage, high levels of local
awareness and the icing on the cake, a sell-out on flights.
This was a good quality, well-executed local campaign with many
creative features. Imaginative implementation created a fun feel to the new
service.
The Wriglesworth Consultancy & edeus: The launch of edeus
Launching a start-up mortgage brand into the highly cluttered
intermediary market is a tough ask. Wriglesworth’s media
relations programme was designed to build interest and
excitement over a four-month pre-launch period. Wriglesworth
successfully differentiated edeus by stressing the firm’s ‘skip
a generation’ technology – designed to speed up the mortgage
application and approval process and make broker’s lives
simpler.
The campaign culminated in a launch presentation to trade media
and brokers – fronted by holograms of edeus’ two founders. This
was followed by a ‘battle bus’ tour taking Edeus around the
country to meet thousands of brokers.
The results of the campaign were impressive – Edeus dominated
the mortgage trade press, the firm broke its target for broker
registrations four months early and three months after launch
mortgage applications were running 30 times ahead of plan.
Corporate Responsibility
Sponsored by Step
Given for a campaign designed to support corporate values on
community, social, ethical and reputational issues.
Trimedia Harrison Cowley: BT in support of Childline Winner
BT’s support of Childline is critical to BT’s social campaign to
ensure that young people develop the skills and have the
opportunity to both improve their communications and, most
importantly, be heard - particularly those most in need.
The campaign merged BT’s ‘Am I listening?’ with an education
programme to form BT’s Better World Campaign. The NSPCC and
Childline merged in 2006 to secure the long-term future of the
latter and to integrate phone, online and text services for
vulnerable children. BT played a strategic role as a sounding
board during negotiations and helped secure £59m of government
funding over five years.
This is an impressive truly integrated, holistic approach across
a large organisation to address a cause and need very clearly
connecting with BT’s goals and values.
August.One / TOTAL UK: TOTAL little learners
TOTAL Little Learners is a road safety initiative aimed at three
to six year olds using Brum, a popular CBeebies TV character.
TOTAL developed, produced and offered free, creative classroom
resource packs, featuring Brum, to reception teachers to help
teach road safety through the classroom, playground and
internet.
August.One was enlisted to launch the initiative, and in doing
so, gained support from the Department of Transport, developed a
sensitive case study, and secured mum and former Atomic Kitten,
Natasha Hamilton, as a spokesperson.
This was a very good reputational campaign for TOTAL. The
components of the campaign were excellent, including colourful
teaching guides, plus the two spokespeople and the school venue
for launch day was also great. The broadcast and print coverage
received was impressive, especially given the relatively small
budget.
Blue Rubicon: Land Securities ‘Poured Lines’
Property developer, Land Securities, has half of its portfolio
in London. To promote the company’s investment in regenerating
local communities, Blue Rubicon identified a public art
commission as a potential flagship project. The art was a 50m
outdoor painting near Tate modern, called ‘Poured Lines’, by
Turner Prize nominee, Ian Davenport.
Blue Rubicon actively managed the news story and community
engagement by a mixture of features and diary pieces, a series
of announcements, and a launch day that took Land Securities
into new media channels. Community engagement was through a
reception, schools art packs and leaflet drops.
This was a strong media campaign that positioned a large
business as having a real interest and involvement in
regeneration.
Limelight Projects: BT community champions
BT Community Champions is an internal award scheme managed by
Limelight Projects which recognises and rewards BT employees who
participate in voluntary work within their local communities in
their spare time. Anyone who has been involved with a community
organisation for more than one year can apply for a cash grant
of up to £500.
The scheme is constantly evaluated to improve the applicants’
experience. The latest evaluation showed that 100% of applicants
rated the scheme as excellent or very good with 80% stating that
the skills they acquired working at BT are used in their
community work.
This is a different kind of CSR programme because it directly
involves employees across the country, encourages volunteerism
and raises morale amongst employees and awareness amongst the
general public / BT customers. The scheme generates charitable
donations of £200,000 each year.
Midland Mainline: momentum Corporate Social
Responsibility programme
Midland Mainline (MM) sought to build closer relationships with
the communities it serves, to motivate and empower its employees
and to engage with the rail users of the future on issues of
social importance: particularly sustainability, waste management
and enterprise. It used its corporate social responsibility
programme, momentum, a bespoke citizenship, personal, social and
health education programme as the focus and channel to do this.
The programme involved working with an ethical communications
agency, children’s authors and teachers to provide schools with
lesson plans, activities, workshops and momentum champions
(volunteering MM staff). The programme also was aligned with
operational sustainability initiatives – waste audits, waste
policy and waste management.
This was a workmanlike campaign that really engaged the business
in its local communities.
3M United Kingdom: 3M Streetwise
Nearly 3,500 children are killed or seriously injured on
Britain’s roads each year, with almost 50% occurring in the
dark, winter months on their way home from school. This fitted
well with 3M being a world leader in the design and manufacture
of road safety products.
The programme began in 2005, but in 2006, 3M extended the reach
of the programme to all 24,000 primary schools and 3M Streetwise
began. In addition to the existing elements of the programme,
2006 saw the introduction of a dedicated website –
www.3Mstreetwise.co.uk – which is colourful, interactive with
excellent, supporting materials for teachers, parents
scoutmasters, etc.
This is a good, solid initiative with 89% of 3M staff thinking
the project is a good idea. Since the programme began, 3M has
donated 70,000 high visibility reflective vests.
Public Affairs
Sponsored by Electus
Given to a campaign designed to inform the public policy agenda or
influence the legislative programme.
Friends of the Earth: The Big Ask climate campaign Winner
The aim of ‘The Big Ask’ was to gather public and political
support for Friends of the Earth’s proposed new Climate Change
Bill. The Bill would commit the government to make at least 3%
cuts in carbon dioxide emissions every year, ensuring the UK
plays a leading role in tackling climate change and set an
example to the rest of the world.
To achieve the objectives, Friends of the Earth needed to reach
beyond their traditional activist audiences and create a popular
and political mandate for the Bill – they needed to target
mid-greens, those interested in the environment but not
activists.
This innovative campaign had creative tactics that demonstrably
interested ‘hard to reach ‘audiences and took a message to the
heart of government. Its focus on mobilising local opinion to
speed legislative change was commendable.
British Heart Foundation: Food4Thought
Over 2.6 million children in England are currently overweight or
obese, which, in adulthood, is a known risk factor for heart
disease. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) identified childhood
obesity as a critical issue for the future health of the UK and
wanted to ensure the need to tackle childhood obesity had a high
political profile and become a priority area for government
action.
The BHF made effective use of a range of tactics based on
conclusions drawn from survey data, policy briefings and
alliances with major charities. Clear progress was made in
hitting the public affairs campaigning objectives. Political
support for the was demonstrated in a poll of 174 MPs that
showed 68% were aware of the campaign and 76% of these
identified themselves as supporters.
Connect Public Affairs: Keeping Policing Local – Stopping
police restructuring
Connect created a coalition of police authorities, the campaign
for local policing, to campaign against Home Office proposals to
merge police forces and create regional ‘superforces’. The aim
of the campaign was to promote collaborative working, rather
than mergers, as the best solution to tackle issues such as
counter-terrorism.
Connect advised that whilst it would be important to campaign
for MPs to vote against the mergers, the greatest chance of
success would be to pressurise the government to abandon the
plans before they were pushed through in Parliament.
This classic parliamentary campaign worked through backbenchers
to persuade ministers of the case against changing local police
forces. It had a clear objective, comprehensively achieved using
an effective alliance of interested parties.
hanover: How the PFI scapegoat survived the cull
Barts and the Royal London NHS Trust had spent eight years
planning a £1.1 billion rebuilding programme but days before a
PFI scheme was due to be signed off, the Treasury suddenly put
the project on hold and the Department of Health (DoH) drew up
cheaper options.
Senior staff at the Trust commissioned hanover (formerly Media
Strategy) to help save the cardiac and cancer services. hanover
needed to convince the DoH and Treasury to allow the PFI to
proceed with minimal alterations and ensure the Trust’s ability
to deliver cancer and cardiac services was not affected.
This joint PR and Public Affairs campaign proved cost effective
and delivered against tight deadlines, securing the future of
the hospital. It was characterised by highly effective use of
media relations that delivered clear messages to government.
Inform Communications NI: Federation of the Retail
Licensed Trade - Response to NI Liquor Licensing Review
Northern Ireland’s Department of Social Development launched
draft legislation to review Northern Ireland’s Liquor Licensing
system to bring it in line with the rest of the UK.
Inform Communications’ brief from The Federation of the Retail
Licensed Trade Northern Ireland’s (FRLT) was to lobby the
Minister not to abolish the existing ‘surrender principle’ and
ensure the power to grant liquor licenses remained with the
courts and was not transferred to local councils.
Rather than focus the campaign on the impact of increased
competition on the trade, Inform sought to build a strong health
lobby against the proposals. The campaign achieved its objective
of changing proposed licensing legislation through a
comprehensive programme of public affairs that united political
parties and put a strong business case to government.
Lansons Public Affairs: Shareholders Rights Alliance
The Share Centre’s brief to Lansons Communications was to change
the law and remedy the injustice that 40% of shareholdings have
no say in how the companies they invest in are run. Lansons was
also tasked with amending legislation to require all traded
companies to extend corporate governance rights to their nominee
shareholders, who are currently denied these privileges.
The high point of the campaign was the shareholder demonstration
- ‘Give us a Voice’ – outside Parliament at the time MPs were
debating the amendment. The demonstration was supplemented by
events at the House of Commons, polling MPs, an online petition
on the Share Centre’s website.
The campaign successfully extended shareholder rights in respect
of small investors. It popularised a dry financial issue through
thorough campaign practice; research followed by coalition
building and briefing supplemented by targeted media relations.
Not-for-Profit
Sponsored by VMA
Given for a campaign in the charitable and/or non-commercial
sectors.
The Royal British Legion: Poppy Appeal 2006
Winner
The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal needed to convey its
ongoing relevance as well as that of Remembrance to modern
generations and raise £26 million, whilst maintaining the
integrity of an 85 year old national institution.
This strategic PR and communications campaign was developed with
external consultancy support to appeal to young audiences and
traditional supporters alike. The use of research, young
spokespeople, a range of traditional and new media and some
highly creative, poignant events successfully highlighted the
challenges faced, the support needed and the extent of the work
of the Legion today.
The breadth and quality of the media coverage and messaging
achieved across a range of media platforms by this integrated PR
campaign was very impressive. At the time of entry, £24.1
million had been raised (£1 million above target).
Age Concern England: Hungry to be Heard campaign
To highlight the national scandal of older people being
malnourished in hospital, Age Concern England launched its
‘Hungry to be Heard’ campaign to communicate and engage with
Government, professional bodies, NHS stakeholders and the
public. The campaign aimed to change practice as well as policy.
Through a mixture of tools, including a survey of nurses,
polling patients, advertorials, leaflets for the public, and the
provision of case studies to support the local Age Concern
network, this was a well managed PR and social marketing
campaign.
As a direct result of the campaign both the Royal College of
Nursing and the Healthcare Commission have announced a focus on
food whilst some NHS trusts are now auditing their practices
against Age Concern recommendations.
Cicada Public Relations: The Royal Entomological
Society’s National Insect Week 2006 – ‘Creating a buzz about
Insects’
The Royal Entomological Society (RES) tasked Cicada PR with
changing perceptions that the Society was stuffy and
London-centric - Cicada PR devised National Insect Week (NIW).
Held in the last week of June, NIW celebrates and promotes the
appreciation and study of insects with a main target audience of
under 14 year olds.
Cicada raised funds from the Heritage Lottery Fund and
Environment Agency to run programmes and developed partnerships
resulting in wide-ranging organisation of and participation in
activities like pond-dipping, insect surveys, school projects,
wildlife events, and a photography competition.
A partnership with the DfES resulted in interest from 16,000
primary schools. The initiative generated impressive media
coverage and the dedicated website received more than half a
million hits around the period of NIW alone.
Shelter: Shelter’s 40th anniversary ‘More Homes Now!’
campaign
Forty years after the Cathy Come Home TV programme, Shelter
wanted to highlight the reality of bad housing in Britain, and
call for more social homes. The result was the ‘More Homes Now!’
campaign.
Shelter unveiled a 30-metre interactive ‘Wall of Shame’ on
London’s South Bank which featured ‘brick’ stickers from more
than 5,000 people who pledged their support. There was also a
virtual wall where people could show their support online.
This was an integrated PR campaign that had hard-hitting
research, creative campaigning techniques and successful media
management. In addition to impressive media coverage, 200 MP’s
signed an EDM and Tony Blair confirmed that ‘a commitment to new
social housing will be a priority in the upcoming Comprehensive
Spending Review’
Unity: The Crisis Pud & Pudstock
In 2006, Crisis once again turned to Unity to promote its Crisis
pud - a Crisis branded Christmas pudding. Although selling puds
was important, it was secondary to deepening relationships with
the 16-34 urban audience identified by Unity.
An integrated campaign across traditional and new media brought
together online selling of the puds; the chance to win tickets
to Pudstock, an intimate and exclusive ‘money can’t buy’ indie
gig; celebrity support; a pudcast press release for journalists;
ambient marketing with top London bars; a MySpace page and eBay
auctions.
This creative campaign generated amazing media coverage. Sales
of the puds exceeded the previous year by 100%, but more
importantly, 1,400 new donors were created. As a result, the
young, urban rich is now the strategic focus for all Crisis
activity in 2007.
3x1 Public Relations: Driving to win
The mission of the Scottish Institute of Sport Foundation is to
build a ‘culture of winning’ in Scottish sport and all walks of
life. It aims to have more Scots at the London 2012 Olympics and
facilitate more Scottish winners in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
3x1’s objectives were to position the Foundation as an
independent business led partnership; unveil its vision; and
support the £7.5 million fundraising target.
A partnership with Stirling University resulted in strong
research which fed a campaign calling for a dedicated Minister
of Sport and more sporting competition in schools.
Although a Scottish issue, the supporting media campaign
achieved both national and UK wide media coverage. £2 million
has been pledged towards the funding target and the Scottish
First Minister has announced a plan to re-introduce competitive
sport in schools.
Planning, Research and Evaluation
Sponsored by Metrica
Given to a campaign showing outstanding use of planning, research
and evaluation techniques.
hanover and Nationwide: Making Mutuality Matter Winner
Nationwide is owned by its members and run for their benefit.
Despite Nationwide’s best efforts, voter turnout at their Annual
General Meetings had fallen steadily and reached a low of
720,000 in 2005. Nationwide tasked hanover (formerly Media
Strategy) with not only reversing this trend but increasing
member participation by one third to 1.1 million.
This campaign had a clear, ‘SMART’ objective and is an excellent
example of thorough research, both quantitative and qualitative,
driving strategy and selection of techniques. Proper investment
in independent post-campaign research indicated that all of the
techniques deployed succeeded in meeting their objective – and
the whole campaign was executed cost-effectively through an
obviously close cooperation between consultancy and in-house
team.
The impact of the planning and research was significant and
underlined the power of a well thought out and executed
campaign.
Munro & Forster Communications: Calpol - The changing
face of parenting
Calpol, a child’s suspension medicine, wanted to become one of
the thought leaders on parenting and childcare issues so Munro &
Forster created a campaign that reinforced Calpol as the expert
in children’s medicine.
This campaign engaged key stakeholders in the planning process
and demonstrated a good use of varied research methods to assess
the environment – desk research, a stakeholder workshop and
quantitative research. The position of the Calpol brand was a
key part of the campaign and this was reflected in the planning
and research.
The strategy was informed by the research findings and the
resultant report had multiple applications. Outreach to a wide
group of influencers and stakeholders ensured the campaign had
relevance beyond the media. This was an extremely cost-effective
campaign with quantifiable outcomes for the brand.
Integrated Campaigns
Sponsored by markettiers4DC
Awarded to a campaign showing the integrated use of
communications, including marketing, advertising and public
relations techniques, to achieve its objectives.
British Heart Foundation: Doubt kills - A campaign that
saves lives Winner
The ‘Doubt Kills’ campaign aimed to save lives by encouraging
heart attack patients to call 999 as soon as they experience
symptoms and to break down ingrained barriers to calling 999. A
focal point of the campaign’s advertising was a striking image
depicting the most common symptom, chest pain.
Critical to the campaign’s success was an advance stakeholder
briefing programme involving UK ambulance services, giving
people ‘permission’ to call 999. Case studies highlighted the
variety of symptoms other than chest pain experienced in the
onset of a heart attack.
In the first week, London Ambulance Service saw a 25% increase
in chest pain calls. The Myocardial Infarction National Audit
Project reported four life-saving minutes shaved off
pain-to-call times, which generated several inspiring stories of
people who sought help quicker because of the campaign.
Darlington Borough Council: Have your say
‘Have your say’ was a consultation campaign with residents and
businesses in Darlington on whether Tesco should build a
superstore on a town centre site. As the superstore would be
built on the site of the existing town hall and a new town hall
built nearby, the campaign also involved extensive staff
consultations.
The message was simple – if people liked the proposal it would
happen, if they didn’t, it wouldn’t. ‘Your say’ would count.
The campaign got Darlington talking through a campaign which
incorporated, the press, local radio, roadshows, consultations
with ‘hard to reach’ groups, online, in Council publications,
and in staff briefings. Feedback was encouraged through
easy-reply post cards, a freepost address, dedicated email
address, telephone hotline, and a MORI poll of residents.
Overall, 75% of responses were against the proposal so the
Council rejected the scheme.
Diabetes UK: Measure up
Measure Up 2006, the biggest awareness campaign by Diabetes UK,
aimed to reach the 750,000 people unaware they have Type 2
diabetes, a life-threatening condition if left untreated.
A campaign visual of naked male and female silhouettes wrapped
in tape measures highlighted the respective at-risk waist
measurements. More than a third of those who saw the campaign
recognized that having a large waist can increase the risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes. The campaign reached the public
through a combination of posters, advertising, press reports, GP
practice nurses, and leaflets.
The simple message and tangible call to action resulted in more
than 150,000 people at risk of diabetes getting tested on the
basis of their waist measurement and one other risk factor.
The ‘Keeping cough relief on track’ campaign promoted individual
dose sachets of Benylin cough relief. The campaign was grounded
in an M&F-commissioned omnibus survey of commuter hates that
showed coughing is as irritating for the cougher as it is to
those around them. This was leveraged by M&F with a unique
sponsorship of a train carriage – the Benylin Cough-Free
Carriage – to highlight the portability of the sachets.
This carriage was in service throughout the cough and cold
season in early 2006 and provided an imaginative vehicle to
communicate the benefits of the sachet format, supported through
the line with posters, advertising, online offers, competitions
and chatroom discussions.
Despite a season of low cough and cold incidence, Benylin
sachets saw sales growth and the M&F campaign was instrumental
in the brand being the talked about cough treatment.
Scottish Widows, 3 Monkeys Communications, Lansons
Communications: Preparation is everything
Although people regard preparing for the future important, they
find financial planning complicated and financial services
companies distant. So, the ‘Preparation is Everything’ campaign
set out to encourage a confused, inert public to take positive
action as well as to inform independent financial advisers about
Scottish Widows’ product portfolio.
The campaign was hard-hitting and integrated from the outset,
employing PR, internal communications, TV and online
advertising, email, corporate hospitality, opinion former
briefings, direct marketing and personal appearances by the
Widow. Zandra Rhodes created a pink cape in aid of Scottish
Widows chosen charity, Breast Cancer Care, which has preparation
at the heart of its core message.
The Little Book of Money inspired public interest and 25,000
copy requests. The online Scottish Widows Personality Profiler,
designed by a personality expert, was tried by 40,000 people in
three weeks.
Unity: The Crisis Pud & Pudstock
Crisis once again turned to Unity to promote its Crisis Pud - a
luxury Christmas pudding. As the Pud concept wasn’t new, Unity
incorporated a twist by placing random lucky sixpences to
exchange for prizes and a chance to win tickets to ‘Pudstock’, a
‘money can’t buy’ indie gig in January 2007. A ‘Pudcast’ audio
press release helped Unity to break through the tough filters of
the glossies.
Unity set out to deepen relationships with the 16-34 year old
urban audience it had identified, radically developing Crisis’
positioning within this demographic. The campaign was both
innovative and consistently well-targeted, with an ICM poll
revealing that 18% of UK 16-34 year olds were aware of it. More
than 2,000 puddings were sold – up 100% on 2005.
Media Relations
Sponsored by Precise Media
Awarded to a campaign capturing the imagination of targeted media
whilst meeting client/project objectives.
Brahm PR: The Football Fever Report Winner
During 2006, the Littlewoods Pools website was redesigned with a
new domain name www.footballpools.com. Brahm PR was tasked with
generating awareness of the new address amongst the key audience
of 21-45 year old males, drive traffic to the site and create a
strong empathy between the Littlewoods brand and football fans.
The result was the ‘Football Fever Report’ - the first in-depth
study into which clubs are the most stressful for fans - watch
out if you are a Notts County fan.
This was a classic media relations campaign which delivered
specific and quantifiable business benefits against clear
targets. Every aspect of this beautifully presented campaign
radiates excellence. It demonstrates a real understanding of the
brand and the audience, and the role of the media in connecting
them. It also shows a real feel for the interests, habits and
working patterns of the journalists themselves.
Brazen PR: Eau de Stilton
Research showed that consumers perceive Stilton cheese to be
stuffy and more old fashioned than continental brands such as
Roquefort and Danish Blue. The Stilton Cheese Makers Association
briefed Brazen PR to raise the profile of Stilton outside its
traditional Christmas period based entirely on PR, there would
be no advertising support. It was also important to reach a
younger audience.
This was an exceptionally creative, cheeky campaign that
delivered a real bottom line benefit to the makers of Stilton
with a high return on their PR investment. Creating a Stilton
perfume was a brave, and successful, tactic. This was a well
constructed and delivered campaign that went beyond a strong
creative idea and carried through some powerful key messages
about the product.
Lansons Communications: Shot at Dawn – Harry Farr
Private Harry Farr, was killed by firing squad in 1916 after a
court marshal ordered he be ‘shot at dawn’ when he refused to
re-join the front line - medical evidence later showed that he
suffered ‘shell shock’. Irwin Mitchell solicitors successfully
campaigned with his daughter, Gertrude Harris, to get the
Ministry of Defence to grant him a posthumous pardon.
This is not just a perfect example of how a professional
services firm can take an issue and make it its own, it is also
a powerful demonstration of the ability of media relations to
directly influence the national mood. Irwin Mitchell was able to
demonstrate its professional skills and understanding, and work
in the public good and at the same time. There is no doubt that
without the media relations campaign, the Armed Forces Bill
would not have changed.
Royal Mail, Shine Communications, Cohn & Wolfe, Eulogy:
Royal Mail – Pricing in proportion
In light of the new pricing structure (Pricing in Proportion)
coming into effect, Royal Mail tasked its internal team and key
agencies (Shine Communications, Cohn & Wolfe and Eulogy) the
mammoth task of raising positive awareness of the new pricing
and target specific ‘hard-to-reach’ groups.
This campaign saw a complex and potentially controversial set of
messages communicated with immense clarity and impact. Its
elegant proof that excellence in media relations owes as much to
rigorous media planning and message management as it does to
creativity and persuasive selling. It is also a very good
example of effective campaign management by the client team,
with different agencies handling different target groups and
their relevant media.
Splendid Communications: Launch of Squeezy Marmite
Marmite has remained relatively unchanged for over 100 years,
until Spring 2007 when a more versatile, squeezy pack was
launched. Splendid Communications was appointed to drive sales
of Marmite using the new pack as an opportunity to talk to
consumers.
Splendid developed a campaign that stayed true to Marmite’s
love/hate personality whilst reinforcing the brand values of
quirky, witty, British and iconic. This campaign was full of
good ideas - from Marmite dishes on the menu at a Michelin
starred restaurant to inventing ‘Marmart’ or Marmite art on
toast. Media coverage was substantial and the campaign got
consumers to actively participate. Significantly sales volume
growth of Marmite reached 6%.
Trimedia Harrison Cowley & BT: Finding a new voice for
the BT Speaking Clock
In an age where ‘time’ is easily accessible, BT still provides
the Speaking Clock service, established in 1936. Although usage
has fallen since the 1980s, it is still a profitable and
important service and Trimedia Harrison Cowley was tasked with
repositioning the service to a new generation of consumers.
This was a PR programme based around a really inspired idea.
Finding a new voice for BT’s speaking clock was a campaign that
had to be right first time, and it was. An X-Factor-style
competition and a link-up with BBC Children in Need found Sara
Mendes da Costa – the ‘new’ voice. With over 1.3 billion impacts
across the campaign it was hard to miss. In a three week period
there were 2 million extra calls to the speaking clock and the
campaign helped BT raise £200,000 for Children in Need.
Best Use of New Media
Sponsored by digital photo
Awarded to a campaign utilising the web, podcasting and other aspects of new
media to promote client/campaign objectives.
DSG International: Introducing the TechGuys
Winner
When DSG International launched its national support service to help
consumers struggling with technology, it was fitting that technology underpinned
its PR activity.
A viral campaign, CEO podcast, online competitions and an employee vote to
find the company's 'TechIdols' was integrated with a mainstream media campaign
to explain the idea very simply. The campaign achieved the almost impossible
feat of appealing to both technophobes and the techno-savvy.
The whole campaign was based around high-quality national research and the
results attracted a string of firsts and superlatives, including a top three
placing in the Sun's Viral Chart, and praise from the Independent and Financial
Times.
This campaign worked on every level with all its audiences and delivered the
outstanding ROI of a fivefold surge in sales calls to the company from PR alone.
GCI London: Pringles unsung
Pringles wanted to create a credible link with music to support an on-pack
promotion with Sony BMG. With a target audience of 16-24 year olds, the
campaign needed to be cool, credible and stand out so GCI decided to focus on
grass-roots music support.
Developing materials that would be useful to the target audience, a
community-based competition to search out new bands led to some excellent
results. Utilising communities online, including webchats and giving the
promotion over to competition entrants, effectively amplified the competition to
a far higher level than a traditional media campaign might have done. It also
made for some exciting events around the country.
With a clear plan of action and a tight budget and timescale, this campaign
hit all the right notes when it came to generating buzz and publicity.
Jackie Cooper PR & markettiers4DC: Anchor Christmas pudcast campaign
In a bid to make Christmas cooking traditions more accessible and convenient
to a modern audience, and keep Anchor front of mind, JCPR launched a Christmas
'Pudcast'.
Marguerite Patten, Britain's' first TV cook, developed a recipe to make a
Christmas pudding in under ten minutes - taking the pressure off busy mums,
Anchor's prime audience. With podcast being the word of 2006, a three-minute
'pudcast' was created of Marguerite making the microwaveable Christmas pudding.
The mix of using a 91-year old chef with modern technology provided the kind of
results to be proud of.
With clearly branded materials, an excellent and experienced third party
spokesperson, a strong online seeding programme with viral elements leading to
offline media interest, the results spoke for themselves. The demonstration of
both creativity and measurable return provided the right ingredients for the
judges to short-list this entry.
Stockport Council: Don't go in! - Water safety campaign
With unusual hot and sunny weather, Stockport Council launched an integrated
marketing campaign to promote awareness of the dangers around open water and
water safety called 'Don't go in!'.
Podcasts were created in the six local community languages to appeal across
the ethnic span, and website, intranet and digital TV were cleverly deployed in
integrating the flow of messages to each target group. Very specific
pre-campaign Key Performance Indicators were chosen, with outputs including site
visitor numbers and outcomes covering lifeguard course uptake by children. The
campaign fused precision, creative innovation and responsibility into one
satisfying whole.
This was an excellent example of the early adoption of social media by a
public sector organisation, given that exchange and dialogue are part of public
responsibility.
International Public Relations
Sponsored by On Screen Productions
Given to a campaign covering more than one country, either based in the
United Kingdom or originating overseas, showing sensitivity to national and
cultural differences.
International Osteoporosis Foundation: Bone Appétit
campaign
Winner
Osteoporosis is not a 'sexy' disease, nor is it widely
recognised. Nevertheless, it is one of the most serious chronic,
non-communicable diseases affecting one in three women worldwide
and one in five men.
The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) team developed a
strategy to communicate that action taken today can reduce the
risk of fracture later in life and covered 175 national
societies in 86 countries. The campaign was launched on World
Osteoporosis Day in three international cities (Hong Kong,
Panama and Paris). The global PR campaign was based on the theme
'Bone Appétit' to encourage people to take responsibility for
their bone health by eating 'bone-friendly' food.
This creative platform for the campaign made excellent use of
celebrity chefs to endorse the programme who assisted by doing
hands-on cooking demonstrations and preparing the meals at
fundraising events. The campaign was aimed at well defined
target audiences, was well conceived, well managed and well
implemented.
Brando PR & Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications: World view with Sony
Ericsson
Sony Ericsson recognised that consumers increasingly have the means to
capture iconic reportage photography. The company briefed Brando PR to devise a
campaign supporting the launch of its latest cameraphone product, positioning
Sony Ericsson as an innovator, identified with cameraphone photography. A
global imaging competition was launched - World View with Sony Ericsson.
The six-month campaign covered 15 priority countries in Europe, Asia and
Latin America, with how-to toolkits provided to PR teams in each market. The
norm was to work with an exclusive media partner, e.g. The Times newspaper in
the UK.
This campaign was shortlisted because of its simple but effective engagement
of people worldwide, transcending cultures. It made a difference, stimulating
an effective and democratic interaction with the Sony Ericsson brand, as well as
achieving substantial positive editorial endorsement and supporting product
sales. Clever and absolutely of its time.
VisitBritain: The Da Vinci Code - Global tourism PR campaign
When it comes to deciding to visit Britain, 40% of potential visitors are
influenced by films. VisitBritain has worked on film-related global marketing
initiatives for over 10 years and in 2006 the 'big' one was The Da Vinci Code,
triggering VisitBritain's largest ever global film tourism marketing campaign.
A key element of the campaign was delivering press and PR activity in
VisitBritain's overseas markets.
VisitBritain established a partnership between three tourist boards (Britain,
Scotland and France), Sony Pictures, Eurostar and other commercial travel
partners. Marketing activity originated in the UK and used a network of 30
press officers in 35 overseas markets. The campaign was creative in the use of
the film's locations and the DVD and well distributed promotional material
helped generate extensive international media coverage.
Weber Shandwick: KFC Global Relaunch - The Face from Space
It was the job of Weber Shandwick London to launch the new KFC logo and
updated restaurant designs around the world and turn the re-brand into a 'global
talking point', crossing cultures and time zones, and targeting younger
consumers in particular.
Enlisting a variety of technical experts, following extensive research, the
PR team undertook the major logistical task of creating a logo that would be
visible from space. The initial production goal was achieved, with a 'logo' of
more than 80,000 sq ft created in an American desert, filmed by a commercial
satellite and converted to a zoomable website image.
This was a remarkable campaign, admittedly benefiting from a large budget,
but nevertheless demonstrating extraordinary ambition and creativity. Such
chutzpah resulted in massive worldwide media impact, almost entirely positive.
Perhaps more important were the opportunities built into the campaign for
measurable consumer engagement with the brand online.
Crisis Communications
Sponsored by Agincourt Communications
For a campaign demonstrating how a crisis was successfully managed from a
communications perspective.
Southern Water Services: Engaging the public to Beat
the Drought
Winner
As the summer of 2006 approached, with no sign of the
drought ending, Southern Water was faced with an extremely
challenging situation -a real risk that there would not be
enough water to meet demand. Southern Water launched a
high-profile public awareness campaign to enlist the support
of its customers which led to 22 million litres of water
being saved during the summer of 2006 - enough to meet the
demand of the Isle of Wight.
The campaign clearly demonstrated the impact of
communications in altering customers' behaviour in order to
mitigate an even more pressing potential crisis situation.
It was also a good example of creativity, applying news
values to company communications and of using a fully
integrated set of communications tools. The commitment of
the in-house team was clear and compelling.
Golley Slater Public Relations - Manchester PR: Surviving the Nightmare
before Christmas
When Farepak ceased trading it left thousands of customers out of pocket just
before Christmas. Investigations unravelled a complex web of finances and the
crisis threatened to plunge the industry into disarray.
Park Group was trading successfully. Golley Slater was tasked with
protecting their reputation as a well-established, secure and profitable
company, whilst reassuring its customers and the public it was in a healthy
financial situation and the industry was not in dire straits. Through good
strategic advice, Park Group survived the nightmare, even turning it into an
opportunity.
There was a strong danger that the whole sector would be tarred with the
Farepak brush in a highly charged emotive situation. Through good, effective
use of mass market media, which exactly reached the target audience, the knock
on impact of Farepack's problems was substantially mitigated for Park Group.
London Borough of Brent: In the Eye of the Storm
In December 2006, a tornado struck Kensal Rise in North West London. It
wreaked havoc on the lives of many residents and left Brent Council, the local
authority, with a major clean-up job. In the immediate aftermath, and the days,
that followed, communications was a key priority for Council staff, who sought
to help people get back to normal as quickly as possible.
This was a freak of nature that brought intense media interest and scrutiny.
The Council led on what the residents needed to know, and not with information
about the tornado. Putting their emergency plan into action swiftly undoubtedly
averted damage to the authority's reputation and genuinely helped the community
recover.
VisitScotland: Avian flu
VisitScotland knew Avian Flu would hit the UK at some point and it was
crucial there was a plan in place when it arrived to ensure sensational
headlines would be minimised and not adversely affect tourism. And arrive it
did, in April 2006. They played down the 'crisis' element - 'Crisis? What
crisis?' - but realised they had a very fine balancing act to do.
Previous crises, such as the outbreak of foot and mouth, allowed Visit
Scotland to make some clear learnings. This was a well handled situation that
turned a potentially very damaging event round. Cellardyke, where the affected
bird was found, even had a boom in tourist visitors as the public saw how lovely
the village was from the TV coverage. The World Tourism Organisation now sites
this as a case of best practice.
Broadcast
Sponsored by Media Training Masterclasses
For a campaign that effectively used broadcast media to reach target
audiences and achieve its objectives.
Unity: The Crisis Pud & Pudstock
Winner
Genuine creativity was the hallmark of this entry and a real
understanding of the difficult-to-reach target audience.
Unity was tasked with raising awareness of the plight of the
homeless at Christmas — a story that has been covered many
times — and given specific goals of deepening awareness with
the 16 - 34 urban audience and recruiting new long term
donors from that demographic.
Unity's creative awareness of the possibility of new media
(of every form) was used to reach all links in the
communication chain — with some appalling puns, including 'Pudcasting'
and 'Pudstock'. Proof that humour can work.
The outcome was 93 broadcast mentions including MTV footage
played out on five channels, 15 times, in 78 countries.
British Antarctic Survey with ITV News: The Big Melt
This turned conventional broadcast PR on its head with broadcasters pitching
to broadcast the British Antarctic Survey's story.
The objectives were simple but extraordinarily ambitious, both
journalistically and technically - to communicate climate change to a mass
audience and to make TV history with the first live news programme broadcast
from Antarctica.
Both these objectives were met despite considerable logistical challenges.
Over 8m UK viewers watched three daily special reports focusing on the science
of climate change. Global coverage was achieved through partnerships with CNN,
NBC, Australian News and two German Stations.
The British Antarctic Survey gave this important story even more impact and
real value by identifying the most appropriate media and then working with them
to successfully achieve their ambitious goals.
Lansons Communications: Ageism is Rife - Driving the broadcast agenda
EFA - Employers' Forum on Age - engaged Lansons to publicise the new
Employment Equality (Age) Regulations so as to refresh a long-running
anti-discrimination campaign.
Lansons' approach to this task demonstrated an excellent, rather than
ordinary, approach to media grooming. This entailed inviting broadcast
journalists to a teach-in, or masterclass, on the subject area so as to ensure
maximum journalistic engagement with the message.
The outcome demonstrated the success of this technique
with substantial coverage across virtually all appropriate
broadcast media — driving the news agenda for the rest of
the day.
The benefit to the client was a 92% share of voice in the broadcast coverage
of the issue, with EFA as sole communicator in 73% of instances.
Medialink: The Forensic Science Service - DNAboost
A new service for the Police that enabled them to differentiate smeared DNA
at crime scenes may not appear at first to be an easy subject for broadcast PR.
Furthermore, the client was under pressure from the Government to raise income
from their services.
Medialink's creativity piggy-backed the popularity of Cold Case and CSI-type
TV programmes to enthuse broadcast journalists with every communications
objective met or exceeded.
Particularly impressive were the real business outcomes for the FSS, not just
national broadcast publicity. By the end of the day, the FSS had received
enquiries from all UK Police Forces as well as from the USA and Australia — even
Downing Street was forced to sit up and take notice.
The Home Office and The Red Consultancy: DJs On Service
Local radio used effectively is a powerful medium. Here the Red Consultancy,
working for the Home Office, needed to bring to life what Community Service
Orders really mean and make the public aware of their effectiveness.
By carefully selecting and engaging ten local radio DJs and 'sentencing' each
of them to a community order, the real effect of the punishment was understood
and communicated.
This approach targeted the agreed audience in a particularly dynamic way, but
had the additional benefit of educating the presenters who took part, making
them opinion leaders and ambassadors for the message to a hard to reach audience
— with potential spin off for future coverage.
Healthcare
Sponsored by PRWeek
Awarded to a campaign designed to promote a healthcare issue, product,
service or initiative to its stakeholders.
Chandler Chicco Agency: Take Control: Epilepsy - A Brighter Future
Epilepsy is the most common neurological disorder in
the UK, but 70% of people with epilepsy could be seizure
free with the right medication. Only 50% are actually
seizure free. This means that one in five patients
with epilepsy is not receiving appropriate medication or
is unaware that the management of their condition could
be improved.
This integrated multi-media campaign, piloted in the north-east, was designed
to reach disengaged epilepsy sufferers (and their families) and encourage them
to seek a review of their treatment. The campaign was backed by promotional
materials for patients and professionals, including a website and online diary.
This was a succinct, empowering campaign, thoroughly executed with good
regional media coverage, positive commitments of professionals particularly GPs
and pharmacists, and a higher-than-expected impact on epilepsy patients seeking
reviews.
Lansons Communications: Men's health campaign
PruHealth is a radical new concept in private medical insurance as it rewards
those who look after their health by giving them lower premiums. Lansons was
tasked with bringing the private medical insurance message to a new younger,
fitter audience, particularly men under 40.
A four-part campaign was devised around men's wellbeing during the World Cup,
drawing on a specially commissioned omnibus research of male opinion. This
prompted a series of front-of-paper stories and features in the press and on
websites. The research was popularised with the theme 'Rooney is the new
Beckham', with the shift from metro sexual to real man, prompting even more
coverage.
This campaign exceeded its objectives and PruHealth was the most mentioned
health insurance provider during the two month campaign.
Pegasus Public Relations: Hedrin - Licensed to Kill!
Faced with an already crowded marketplace and a reluctance amongst
journalists to write about head lice treatments, Pegasus PR was tasked with
launching Hedrin - a unique means of killing head lice without pesticides or
time consuming combing - and making it the consumers number one choice for head
lice treatment.
This was a well executed PR campaign with a strong media relations element
and some interesting and creative promotional ventures. The results were
excellent. The first four months of the promotional campaign only featured PR
and Hedrin grabbed a 17% market share which has since shot up to 40%.
Following staff consultation that identified levels of stress at work,
Stockport Council set out to improve the health and wellbeing of its 6,000
employees, with the support of Sport England and the North West Public Health
Team. The campaign focussed on a healthier lifestyle - encouraging exercise,
proper lunch breaks, and better diet - and prompted a number of initiatives
including a wellbeing workout, a stepwise walking competition, and daily health
messages on the intranet. Staff were encouraged to monitor their progress.
This was a very simple yet effective approach that ensured this highly
targeted campaign had a significant impact on the Council's employees. The
campaign had strong evaluation methods ensuring that key objectives could be
met. The results speak for themselves, with one third of staff taking part and
44% fewer days lost through sickness.
The Red Consultancy: Demand More
This campaign targeted urban, confident 20-25 year old women with the
challenging theme 'It's your choice - demand more' by checking out whether the
prescribed contraceptive pill is best.
Through advertorials (or info-tutorials), a specially produced Rough Guide
issued through Oasis and Essensuals, a Happy Hormones Tour of UK's shopping
centres, and a website, the campaign got the message across, motivating women to
take action on seeking the best pill for them. This high profile campaign had
to work within the direct-to-consumer regulatory healthcare constraints.
A vibrant, sensitively developed, targeted campaign that made young women
think, seek more information and take action. In fact, 58% women receiving the
special Rough Guide did so. Overall the campaign resulted in significant growth
for Scherings product, Yasmin.
External Newspaper or Magazine
Sponsored by Fox Print
Awarded to a magazine or newspaper produced four times a year or more, aimed
at an organisation's target audiences.
Beetroot Publishing & The Prince's Trust: Enterprising
Winner
Enterprising is the flagship publication of the Prince's Trust. The
publication raises awareness of the Trust's work and demonstrates how the Trust
offers real opportunity to young people who might otherwise not get a break in
life.
Fresh, youthful, and modern, it has good editorial content and uses the
talents of young rising Trust stars, aspiring to work in the media, to edit
sections and conduct interviews. The winter 2005/6 issue showed that 90% rated
it good or excellent with 28% of readers encouraged to donate to the Trust after
reading it.
This is a strong publication which helps change young lives for the better.
It's a magazine that young people can identify with, be inspired by and use as a
tool to effectively change their lives for the better.
Coast Communications: The Son
The Son aims to communicate core aspects of the Christian faith to a
principally non-believing audience in an entertaining, accessible and relevant
way. It does not preach, it simply invites readers to re-evaluate their own
lives through the experiences of high-profile and every-day Christians and
challenges perceived wisdom about Christianity.
It is colourful, eye catching and punchy with strong writing and high
journalistic standards. Whereas other Christian newspapers are failing, The Son
is successful and on the up with an increasing circulation and a clearly
identified and growing readership.
An impressive list of third party endorsements including national press,
testify to the newspaper's popularity.
Écurie25 & Zero Collective: é25 Magazine
Écurie25 is a membership based Supercar Club with a £1.7m fleet of
supercars. The company needed a communication tool which moved potential
members from the initial enquiry phase to joining. Research identified that they
needed to target affluent City Boys rather than car enthusiasts so it was
important to focus on the lifestyle aspects of membership and thus é25 was born.
é25 has been successfully positioned for their 30s aspirational male
demographic without offending their older 'been there done it' clientele é25's
clever use of high-end names as brand association, rather than revenue
generation, coupled with its feature and high-end photography led approach has
been hugely successful and fundamental in growing the business by a staggering
320%. 44% of new members listed the magazine as the single most effective piece
of marketing involved in their decision.
Group 4 Securicor plc: G4S
Group 4 Securicor is a leading international security services company
operating in over 100 countries with approximately 430,000 employees. The
company needed a magazine relevant to external audiences: customers, investors,
governments and the media. The G4S team clearly understood the market and its
target publics.
What sets G4S apart form other corporate customer magazines is that it is
genuinely informative, interesting and at times controversial, and not just a
company news update. G4S is well written and produced and emits a classy and
trusted aura from its glossy cover to each turn of a new page. It is also a
great read with interesting articles and excellent use of images and
photography.
G4S is a fascinating read, and beautifully and professionally produced.
London Borough of Southwark: Southwark Life
A review of design and print across Southwark Council concluded that
Southwark Life should be the primary vehicle for reaching residents. It was
decided to invest in Southwark Life and increase the frequency from six to ten
issues per annum. The re-launch was the result of a six-month project to find
out what residents wanted, and to develop new copy and design ideas.
Southwark Life had an inclusive approach from the start of the re-design
process, including research and focus groups, to the pre-launch testing with
residents. This level of inclusiveness is quite unusual in the public sector.
Compared with the previous publication the new one already enjoys a near 20%
increase in recall.
Richmond Towers Communications: Natural Wellbeing
Since 2002, when Alpro was a niche soya dairy free alternative stocked mainly
in the health trade, Richmond Towers Communications has risen admirably to the
challenge of finding a way to move the Alpro brand from being just a dairy free
alternative to that of a mainstream 'healthy living' brand, seen by consumers as
a healthy choice. In five years Alpro has become mainstream with its chilled
products in all major food stores and supermarkets. The success of natural
wellbeing as a communication tool has been instrumental.
Whilst it is paid for by Alpro, natural wellbeing is not an extended
advertisement for its products. It is an independently edited magazine with a
range of original interesting stories which meets the needs of its target
consumers.
Good research, careful planning and strong evaluation are clear in this work.
Internal Newspaper or Magazine
Sponsored by John Lewis
For an in-house magazine or newspaper produced four times a year or more,
aimed at an organisation's employees.
Royal & SunAlliance: Upfront Magazine
Winner
Quantitative and qualitative research, in the form
of an electronic survey and numerous focus groups,
was used to understand audience needs and develop a
bold, engaging and effective publication. The layout
is busy, but the publication is packed with relevant
and highly informative content. The secret of its
success is that it doesn't look like corporate
publishing.
Upfront tackles issues head-on, laying out the pros
and the cons, the views of frontline employees,
bosses and customers. It is provocatively written
and about as far removed from pussy-footing
management speak as you can imagine. This is a well
conceived, expertly delivered piece of employee
communication.
With Upfront, Royal & SunAlliance show a bravery
that is rare in a usually risk-adverse sector.
BBC News: theNEWSmagazine
This monthly magazine targets the 3,000 staff of the BBC News Division who
are spread around the globe. It is seen as a crucial way to connect staff -
from camera operators to correspondents and producers to programme editors.
The majority of the content is serious (Norfolk murders, Saddam Hussein's
hanging), and some covers technology (VOIP, for example), but there are
features, like Snapped! and a caption competition, which provide a light-hearted
and welcome balance.
Each newsroom and bureaux receives copies, and there is an intranet version
for staff in far flung places. An important element of The News Magazine is the
understanding and appreciation it gives staff of other roles in the Division.
The design perfectly reflects the serious, news-oriented nature of the magazine,
adding emphasis with its clean and uncluttered spreads.
British American Tobacco: GHQ - British American Tobacco's HQ Magazine
Research showed that the precursor to GHQ was not being read by the target
audiences. In GHQ, the audience segmentation - 550 permanent staff, 250
contractors from as many as 25 different nationalities - coupled with the
magazine's objective to be more business-orientated have all been accommodated
and 82% of staff now say they read GHQ.
There was a need to not be staid and predictable. The magazine uses strong
photography, has a clean design and innovative spreads which all serve to draw
the reader in. The stories are constructed well, communicate effectively, and
regular features, like the 60 Second Interview, engage senior management - a key
objective.
Centrica: The 'Inside' suite of employee publications
Where Inside differs from similar publications is that the Centrica team
behind it have recognised the importance of local flavour, resisting the
temptation to produce a one size fits all group-wide publication. Inside is a
suite of three publications which share a common look and feel, but speak
directly to the employees of each distinct operating business.
These magazines are engaging, interesting, informative and genuinely
audience-centric. They are well designed, well written and make great use of fun
photography. As a reader you can't help feeling that Centrica is a fun place to
work. This is an expertly conceived product that shows a deep understanding of
employee communication and a sensitivity that is rare to find in group-level
functions.
GNER: Newsline
A diverse and dispersed workforce is something that can derail internal
communicators, but the GNER team have created a publication that is fresh,
contemporary, engaging and effective. The new-look Newsline is modern, bold and
clean in design terms with photography used to good effect, with plenty of
people shots.
The content is well thought-through with broad appeal, and topics are
approached from the reader's perspective with editorial that is both rich and
straight-talking. The team have put in place some very sensible guiding
principles - such as the cover should always feature employees.
This publication shows a good understanding of the audience, has clear
editorial direction, an effective design and good use of research.
SASS Brand Communications: Reveal
Venture has to communicate to over 1,200 employees - many of whom are
photographers - across 96 locations in the UK, Ireland and Hong Kong. An
internal communications audit in 2005 identified that the company needed to
improve communication with franchised employees, improve knowledge transfer and
share best practice.
The new magazine, Reveal, was launched in August 2006. An independent
readers' survey was subsequently carried out and demonstrated the new magazine
was highly successful, well-received and met the objectives set by the audit.
The entry looks fantastic “on paper”, but the real evidence of the success of
Reveal is the actual magazine - the design is bold and highly creative with each
spread looking more fantastic than the last. There is substance behind the
design, the writing is well executed, successfully addressing the target
audience without being boring or tedious.
e-Newsletters and Magazines
Sponsored by Corp Comms
Awarded to a newsletter or magazine produced four or more times a year, aimed
at an organisation's internal or external audiences.
Devon County Council: Insider- Improving
Internal Communication within Devon County
Council
Winner
Insider is a weekly e-magazine which sets out to
improve internal communications within the local
authority of Devon County Council.
The aim of Insider is to provide an
authoritative and entertaining digest of news,
views and information direct from the County
Council to its Councillors and staff. With over
8,000 employees spread across the third largest
county in England, traditional print
communications were considered to be ineffective
and costly.
Sent to over 6,800 staff and Councillors, the
software which Insider is built upon
automatically tracks how many people read the e-zine
and which articles are most popular - giving
clear information on each link. The simple and
very readable design combines good use of
headlines, photography and imagery and is
successful in encouraging recipients to read it
- the average readership is 70%.
BioIndustry Association: BIA NewsCAST
The BIA (BioIndustry Association) is the authoritative voice of UK
bioscience. It exists to promote the human health benefits of new bioscience
technologies, encouraging the commercial success of the bioscience industry by
focusing on emerging enterprise and the related interests of companies with whom
such enterprise trades.
BIA NewsCAST is the Association's e-newsletter aimed at the UK bioscience
industry and provides information on industry activities, political and
regulatory developments, media coverage and BIA news. It is the only
publication (print or electronic) aimed at this audience with a circulation of
1,900, including its member companies and journalists.
This is a nicely presented e-newsletter. It makes excellent use of colour
coding to define category areas and reflect website branding.
CLIC Sargent: eXPRESS - The inside news from CLIC Sargent
CLIC Sargent, the UK's leading children's cancer charity, uses eXPRESS as its
main internal communications tool. eXPRESS aims to draw the organisation
together, encourage cross-departmental understanding and empower staff to
contribute to the content.
eXPRESS is produced as a monthly staff newsletter to inform and educate. It
combines a review of news from the industry and summaries of articles from
medical journals with content which highlights the success stories of the
charity.
It is a full colour interactive pdf document which is uploaded onto the
charity's intranet homepage at the beginning of the month. Distributed to 350
staff, 95% of which access it in its clever pdf format with the remainder
downloading a print-friendly format or having a hard copy sent in the mail.
eXPRESS has a clean and easy to read style with good use of photography.
GNER: Inside Track
Inside Track is a quarterly electronic newsletter emailed to 6,000
organisational stakeholders of GNER. As a privately-owned company delivering a
high-profile public service through a Government franchise contract, GNER has
several groups of stakeholders including; passengers, employees, rail industry
partners, the media, and other organisational stakeholders.
Inside Track is designed to communicate local, regional and corporate GNER
news and messages to a diverse range of individuals and organisations, such as
MPs, Members of the Scottish Parliament, local, regional and central Government,
business groups, academics and other interested parties such as cultural bodies.
This is a quarterly, full colour, interactive pdf document that has a clear,
bright, easy to read style and is well written using a professional journalistic
style.
Annual Report
Sponsored by to the point
Awarded for an annual report produced for an organisation's stakeholders or
shareholders.
Engage Group for The Independent
Living Funds: Annual Review 2005/2006
Winner
The Independent Living Funds had a great story
to tell, but didn't know how to tell it. Behind
all the numbers and the business strategy, the
organisation was changing lives by providing
financial support to over 19,000 disabled people
in the UK. They offered them the choice to live
independently in the community rather than in
residential care.
This annual review places the real benefits of
Independent Living Funds centre stage, looking
beyond the numbers to show how the Funds change
lives. The copy is clear, honest and refreshing,
supported by strong images, and the whole
approach reflects the clear focus on using the
annual review as a wider communications tool.
The document is accessible and combines
statutory reporting and statistical analysis
with great human interest stories.
BDO Stoy Hayward: An annual report that made all the difference
As a professional services practice, BDO Stoy Hayward, does not have any
shareholders in the usual sense, so its profits figures are mainly of interest
to observers, employees, partners and peers. In 2006, as a relative newcomer to
the world of annual reviews, BDO Stoy Hayward saw it had a real need for an
annual review to be seen, and effectively used the document to demonstrate its
values and its unique approach to client handling.
In short from design to content, the approach was designed to educate
potential customers about the difference between doing business with BDO Stoy
Hayward and its competitors. There was a clear fit with internal and external
communications strategy as well as an obvious commitment to putting people at
the centre of the document. Evaluation was robust and clear.
Co-operative Financial Services was created in 2003 to bring the Co-operative
Bank and Co-operative Insurance Society together under common leadership. Faced
with the challenge of needing three separate reports for different stakeholders
- one for the Bank, one for the Insurance Society and the other a consolidated
version of both reports - Co-operative Financial Services managed to find a
style which was consistent, clear and accessible across all three documents.
In the face of a difficult brief, the annual review is clear, attractively
designed and uses striking visual imagery. There was a clear focus on
communicating with employees as well as with external stakeholders and a good
approach to evaluation. The reports tell a story of the company rather than
being a glossy report full of figures.
United Utilities: Stakeholder Report 2006
United Utilities' Stakeholder Report is a key corporate document that sits
alongside the company's Annual Report and Accounts. The document is issued to
approximately 135,000 shareholders, 2,500 community representatives and opinion
formers including MPs and employees.
This annual review focused clearly on its stakeholders and target audiences,
demonstrating a firm grasp of their diversity and differing information
requirements. These groups were involved throughout the process, making
evaluation and target audience understanding an integral part of the process.
There was good use of evaluation techniques to assess the report's
effectiveness in reaching target audiences while design and creativity brought
the people behind the business to life.
Westminster City Council: One City
One City is an important tool to help advocates spread the word about the
work of the council. It is an easy read with the content written specifically
for Council stakeholders to dip in and out of - these are busy people who don't
have time to read large tomes of copy.
This is a dynamic and bright publication which clearly sets out the Council's
commitments to their One City strategy, including progress to date. Developed
using community feedback with a firm focus on being accessible and transparent,
the review also captures the spirit of the activity through use of strong
photography and an eye-catching design.
The judges were particularly impressed by the focus on meeting target
audience needs for information and by the Council's rigorous approach to
evaluation.
Zymo Marketing & Public Relations: Defra Rural Standards Review
Affordable homes, schools, village shops, and health are all areas of great
concern for rural communities and it is important that local people know what
sorts of standards of services they can expect and that they can make a
difference in things that matter to them. In 2006, Defra wanted to produce a
review of Government services for people living in the countryside.
This publication took a fresh look at its subject matter - taking account of
feedback and making the issues at the heart of contemporary rural life more
personal. The copy is easy to read and photography has been used well
throughout to communicate a more modern view of rural issues. This is a
creative, personal and audience focused approach to communicating public policy
and action.
Website
Sponsored by British Computer Society
For a website produced by an organisation in the public or private sector
that successfully reflects its aims, objectives and culture, and interacts with
stakeholders.
More than two million people have diabetes
with more than one million of us undiagnosed
and unaware. Diabetes UK, a registered
charity, wanted to spread the word by
building a website and various online
campaigns to help those diagnosed, and also
raise funds for diabetes sufferers
The site has a 'two minute test' for people
to find out if they are at risk and includes
help stations and contact areas for members
of the public who are sufferers and also for
medical practitioners to share best
practice. Statistics show that the new site
has increased 'stickability' with the
average length of time visitors stay on the
site having doubled.
The education aspects of the site are
impressive, and feedback from the users
showed that they found the site to be
informative and reassuring.
Sadly 81% of websites don't meet basic web accessibility criteria for blind
and partially sighted people. Therefore, Action for Blind People set out to
build a website that would be a shining example, fully accessible and meet the
objectives of being an information resource and to raise funds through online
donations.
Usability and accessibility research and testing was carried out with a range
of groups including blind and partially sighted people, dyslexics and the
elderly. Feedback was incorporated into the new site.
RSS news feeds, podcasts and online polling were introduced amongst many
other new services to give the occasional or regular visitor more reasons to
return.
Online donations increased and continue to do so, funding even more
development to meet the needs of the visually impaired.
The main audience for the site is 45-55 year olds looking for social services
for an elderly parent or relative and the Commission for Social Care Inspection
didn't want a 'corporate' site - they wanted something that was friendlier and
not what visitors would expect.
The site is well-targeted, well-presented and very easy to navigate.
Information is very clearly and concisely laid out and is also delivered in
'bite-sized' chunks which have good audience appeal.
The site achieved a Plain English Campaign Internet kite mark and the
development team conducted in-depth research on their audience's requirements as
well as carrying out benchmarking tests on usability - an impressive commitment
to improvement and also to 'getting it right'. Rising visitor numbers and
consistently positive feedback from users are also testament to the success and
reach of the site.
ePolitix.com is the UK's leading political information website, providing
critical information to help the political audience make informed policy
decisions. In 2006, a parliamentary briefing service was developed and an
advisory board was set up of cross-party MPs and a senior civil servant.
Stakeholder symposia were hosted and podcasts introduced with over 32,000
downloads of audio files over a four month period.
ePolitix.com also launched a select committee website giving further
publicity to its critical work and engaging the public using pioneering video
file technology.
The website is simple to navigate and the easy way information flows makes it
a truly engaging experience and a debating forum in itself.
There are now 12,000 daily subscribers to the news bulletins, and the online
news reports and interviews are picked up in broadsheets, daily papers and news
websites.
This microsite is one strand of a campaign by Manchester Metropolitan
University called 'Destination MMU'. A work placement student from the
University's Business School wrote the copy and gave the all-important user's
eye-view to living and studying at the University.
Aimed at new and prospective students, the site had clear, targeted and
deliverable objectives that it was able to meet in every aspect. To encourage
buy-in, students are encouraged to e-mail in content which also has the bonus of
making sure the site is constantly updated
Encouragingly, site traffic continues to grow and not just during the
University open day season and 'Clearing'. This site strikes a fine balance
between delivering student-centred content and delivering the MMU sales message.
Stockport Council: Plain sailing - Junking the jargon from the web
(www.stockport.gov.uk)
Stockport Council's website was re-built to improve accessibility and
usability. The council pledged to make its online communications jargon free and
so launched a 'junk the jargon' communications month in October 2006.
The council staff, plus Stockport residents and businesses, were consulted
and a top ten list of offensive jargon was identified. Meaningless phrases like
'joined-up thinking', 'flag up', 'top level competencies', 'going forward' and
'singing from the same hymn sheet' were all flushed out and replaced with simple
to understand plain English phrases.
The simple approach to resolve a problem many organisations have and fail to
recognise is impressive. The campaign was swift, taking just a few months to
identify the jargon, purge the website and measure the positive effects.
Outstanding Young Communicator
Sponsored by Huntsworth
This award recognises the excellent work of young professionals
in all areas of public relations.
Lansons Communications: Karen Mignon
Winner
Rising from account assistant to account director and equity
partner at Lansons in five years reflects Karen's credibility as
a communicator. Running some of the agency's highest profile
accounts, managing four teams, as well as being heavily involved
in running the business, Karen has risen to a senior position
very quickly.
With a focus on media excellence and the delivery of many
campaigns, her clients value her knowledge, understanding and
commitment to their businesses. Her enthusiasm and energy have
contributed towards delivering excellent results to her
financial services clients.
Karen's personal commitment to training and mentoring means that
she is already sharing her skills and experience with those
trying to follow in her footsteps.
Chase Midland: Charlotte McCarthy ACIPR
Charlotte has faced and conquered a number of challenges in her
impressive PR career, not least moving from a large consultancy
to a PR-sceptical in-house role where she has single-handedly
worked to raise the profile of PR and integrate the discipline
into the business process.
As the sole PR practitioner at Chase Midland, Charlotte
personifies what can be accomplished with impeccable
organisational and creative skills and a tenacious approach to
the media. She has achieved impressive coverage for her employer
across an array of national broadcast and published titles as
well as positively engaging with key stakeholder Birmingham City
Council.
A staunch advocate of regional PR, Charlotte strongly believes
in celebrating local uniqueness and diversity, giving the
regions their own mouthpiece on the national stage.
Limelight Public Relations: Susanna Simpson
At 29, Susanna Simpson is no stranger to awards, having already
been tagged as ‘one to watch’ in PR. In the five years since
setting up her agency, Limelight, she is now responsible for the
careers of ten employees and the reputations of nearly twenty
clients, more than doubling her turnover in the last twelve
months.
As someone who has built her business on openness and honesty,
Susanna can be relied on for straight talking and forthright
opinions and is keen to build the professional reputation of the
PR industry.
Still at a relatively young age, she is already active in
putting something back into the industry she so passionately
champions, particularly at a grass roots’ level. Susanna is a PR
professional that others, at all stages in their career, should
admire and look to emulate.
Shine Communications: Lawrence Collis
With his creative flair and thinking, Lawrence has been pivotal
to many successes at Shine Communications during his five years
with them. Rising to Associate Director, heading up the youth
and music division, overseeing a team of 12 and accounts worth
over 1.1million, Lawrence is clearly already a successful PR
professional.
Delivering significant growth in terms of clients and fee
income, he has impressed his clients and colleagues, leading the
agency's new website, setting up 'trend-watching' teams and now
leading Shine Digital. His strategic approach has been essential
in winning and keeping key entertainment and music clients.
His inclusion in PR Week's 29 under 29 is testament to his
achievements so far.
The Mistral Group: Victoria Stainton MCIPR
Following an impressive career with Porter Novelli, Victoria was
actively recruited to join Mistral - an established small
consultancy at a crucial time in its history as it witnessed the
collapse of a business sector in which it had historically been
market leader. Victoria played a pivotal role in the pro-active
repositioning of the business and helping the business owner to
set realistic and measurable objectives. This was alongside the
implementation of a bespoke accounting software model and the
introduction of a 360-degree appraisal system for all
consultants.
Chosen for her tenacity as well as her grit and determination to
face the agency’s problems head-on, Victoria has succeeded in
leading the agency to prestigious new client wins including the
British Potato Council, Countryside Agency and David Wilson
Homes with extensive B2B coverage across an impressive array of
media.
Outstanding Small Consultancy
Sponsored by Blyth Valley
This award recognises excellent work by a small consultancy.
Unity
Winner
Set up in 2005, Unity wanted to reshape the PR agency ethos and
was determined to use the entire marketing mix to solve PR
problems. The founders wanted to have the UK’s first ‘outcomes’
agency – less on tactics, more on what works - and Unity
genuinely feels like a PR company with a difference.
Their role in the Crisis Pud campaign for homeless charity
Crisis really stood out. The Unity team took a good idea and
made it brilliant, across the marketing mix. Initiatives
included Pudstock, an event created for the campaign and which
XFM described as ‘unbelievable’; a podcast press release;
Wikipedia entries; a MySpace page and numerous blogs and a hand
stamp used by 13 top London clubs. Results included 235 media
hits, an MTV documentary which was shown in 78 countries and
£74,000 raised for Crisis.
betterpr
betterpr has a good track record in delivering PR in the South
Midlands and aims to be the number one PR agency in the region.
The agency is now in its tenth year of business and has gained
an excellent reputation for delivering PR using various methods
and techniques. Impressive among the material submitted was a
campaign Standing Up for the Black Country and a school milk
project that was funded by the Milk Development Council which
had a major impact on children, parents, and those working with
children.
The team of three – all senior practitioners – manage a client
base of seventeen on a retained or project basis. The agency
offsets its impact on the environment via initiatives with
Climate Care and The Woodland Trust.
Cherish PR
Cherish is a small, close team that delivers big results for its
clients - from being instrumental in the coining of the phrase
‘Justin Trousersnake’ with The Sun for Marie Claire, to placing
a pigeon in a knitted cape in the Evening Standard for Knitting
Magazine.
Their work in positioning online matchmakers, Match.com, was a
storming success. The team placed an eligible bachelor in a
three metre tall plastic love bubble in the centre of Selfridges
in an attempt to find ‘the one’. He was courted via Match.com
and picked his favourite girl for an all expenses paid date. The
campaign achieved a reach of over 38 million - it was covered
around the world on 127 TV news stations. Renée Zellweger even
made a special visit to Selfridges.
Karian & Box
Karian and Box develops and executes creative, powerful
communications which engage audiences and drive organisational
performance. Established in 2006, Karian & Box is a young
communications and campaigns agency, started by former ‘CIPR
Outstanding Young Communicator’ Ghassan Karian. In the first
year’s trading, Karian & Box won 10 consultancy projects and
exceeded overall revenue targets. Its clients list is already
impressive and includes the likes of BP, BAA, Rolls-Royce, Defra
and the RSPB.
In each instance, Karian & Box apply their ‘magic and logic’
approach to great effect. Their work for Rolls-Royce in
supporting a major change programme particularly stood out.
In addition, the agency is quickly building a strong reputation
as thought leaders within the sector through initiatives such as
a joint research project with VMA into the state of the internal
communications sector.
Litmus PR
This is an innovative small agency with a team of four people -
quality not quantity is the driving force. The agency has done
some exciting work and has seen its turnover grow by 39% in the
past three years.
The work they handled for Controlled Demolition Group (CDG)
achieved much radio and TV acclaim. Their dedication when CDG
was plunged into administration directly contributed to CDG
being purchased - it now stands as an influential player in the
‘demolition’ world.
A number of personal endorsements from clients show that Litmus
takes great pride in its work, and is well placed to grow. Their
clients are long-standing and they have never lost a client to
another consultancy.
Vero
Vero was established in January 2006 to provide bespoke
communication programmes, brand support and strategic advice,
particularly within the sport and business arena. Their approach
is underpinned by three fundamental values: truth, imagination
and impact. The best stories are true, capture our imagination
and you can change the way the world sees you.
Vero achieved acclaim when handling the PR accounts for two
takeover bids for West Ham and Liverpool football clubs. They
have a good track-record in dealing with sport related work,
particularly surrounding complex issues of interest to the
world’s media. They achieved success in ensuring that the new
Icelandic owner of West Ham was projected as a man deeply
committed to the club and the British heritage of football.
Outstanding In-house Public Relations Team
Sponsored by Hanson Search
This award recognises excellent work by an in-house public
relations team.
GNER: The Corporate
Communications Team Winner
The team was established in 2004 and after bringing together
internal and external communications in 2006 it is now seven
strong. GNER built up an enviable reputation for customer
service that was shaped by the PR team who had to manage
uncertain times during franchise bidding whilst promoting the
benefits of GNER travel and building relationships with multiple
audiences along a 920-mile route.
The company culture is very hands on and this shines through in
the Communications team. All staff wear name badges and help out
when travelling on the trains, from the most senior level down.
Railway PR is one of the most difficult fields but GNER shines
out with flying colours. Endorsements from some of the most
difficult journalists are not easy to come by, but the GNER team
managed it.
British Red Cross Society: Media and Public Affairs Team
As part of the world’s biggest humanitarian emergency response
organisation, the British Red Cross plays a major role wherever
disaster strikes. The in-house team is an integral part of the
organisation’s crisis response and the team of 13 PR
professionals manages strategic, high-profile campaigns, whilst
balancing planned work alongside unpredictable emergencies.
The organisation’s communications is informed by corporate
strategy and has three aims: to be recognised as the country’s
number one emergency response organisation; be recognised as a
campaigner for, and provider of, first aid skills; and to raise
funds. They have handled events including the Tsunami, Pakistan
Earthquake, and the London bombings
This was an outstanding entry that included a Times Leader, more
higher national press mentions than any other charity and an
innovative partnership working with the likes of Tesco.
Glasgow City Marketing Bureau: Glasgow - Scotland with
Style
In the 21st century, a city brand was considered essential for
Glasgow to compete in the global marketplace for tourism and
inward investment and the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau was
born. The Bureau’s small PR team has been responsible for major
image gains and the transformation of the city’s image to one of
a hotbed for style. A major factor in the transformation was the
change of emphasis in media targeted. The PR team moved away
from just travel writers to contact lifestyle, fashion, arts and
culture – the media who influence style-setters.
The results of the Scotland with Style campaign speak for
themselves - an impressive ROI of 1:67 and 282,000 additional
visitors generating £32 million in economic benefit. Glasgow and
style are now synonymous, and given the standard of this entry,
it is not difficult to see why.
Scottish Widows: Corporate Communications
Following demutualisation and a severe stock market slump, the
media perception of Scottish Widows was neutral at best. The
previous bottom-up approach to internal and external PR had to
change and integration of three individual teams the Press
Office, Internal Communications and Public Affairs, was
essential. A Director of Corporate Communications was recruited
to provide the team with direction and board level
representation – a first for Scottish Widows.
Change management is never easy, but this was a great example of
change management leading to an effective team, and of that team
then working with outside agencies to counteract a declining
perception. A readiness to look beyond traditional consumer
outlets and to tackle key influencers underlined the thought put
in by this team.
The Co-operative Group: Hitting the heights for the
Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group is the largest co-operative business in
the UK with over 12 million customers regularly using its
services in more than 3,000 outlets. It is a diverse business
with interests including Food, Financial Services, Funerals,
Travel, Pharmacy and Legal Services. In January 2006, a single
PR department was created to support the corporate and
operational needs of the group and its family of businesses.
The PR team showed an awareness of not just of the need to gain
coverage but of the imperative of positioning the brand. Even
taking into account the strength of the brand, the fact that the
team managed to achieve both coverage and reinforce the brand
essentially without an advertising budget was impressive.
Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy
Sponsored by the John Lewis
This award recognises excellent work by a public relations
consultancy.
London Communcations Agency Winner
The founders of London Communications Agency (LCA) understood
that the arrival of the Greater London Authority would create a
niche for a new type of regionally specific PR agency. LCA was
established in 1999 targeting regeneration and infrastructure
projects, and London’s complex network of public, private and
‘third sector’ organisations. Eight years on, LCA still has a
clear focus and remains the only consultancy of its kind.
There is a clear commitment to delivering quality work to client
expectations with the directors devoting 75% of their time to
client business. The consultancy consistently adds value to its
clients by creating networks between policy makers and clients,
giving access to key influencers. They have influenced opinion
on a range of issues and activities during a period of
exceptional change and opportunity in the region - this style of
working offers something genuinely different to clients.
Fishburn Hedges: Breaking the mould - a different kind of
big agency
Established in 1991, Fishburn Hedges offers communications
strategy and implementation to both private and public sector
organisations. From building blue chip reputations to
encouraging behaviour change among UK citizens, Fishburn Hedges
help its clients address their communication challenges. The
consultancy stands at 130 staff and the strong focus on their
people has been borne out by being placed in the 'Financial
Times’ Top 20 Best Companies to work for' for four consecutive
years.
2006 saw significant growth (25 new business wins) and the
recruitment of 23 new members of staff. During this growth the
company has managed to retain the family feel of the agency
whilst bridging the transition from being a mid-size to a large
agency.
JBP Public Relations
JBP Public Relations has been around for 22 years and is a
leading light in regional PR with 85% of its clients based in
the South East – the consultancy itself is based in Bristol. JBP
is a full service PR company that offers expertise across the
whole marketing communications mix and is just as happy
providing special solutions for start-up companies or small
businesses, as it is for household names and public limited
companies.
The last three years have seen an impressive 48% increase in fee
income and a 30% increase in turnover. The consultancy has won a
significant number of awards and was named South West PR
Consultancy of the Year in the 2007 Chartered Institute of
Public Relations PRide Awards.
Lansons Communications
Lansons was formed in 1989, has 110 staff and more than 80
retained clients. It is one of the top five independent
consultancies (PR Week’s top 150 UK agencies) and is owned by 25
partners who all work within the business. Lansons has grown by
50% since January 2004 and has exceeded its annual growth target
of 15% each year.
The recruitment and retention of talent is seen as key within
the consultancy and is something they work hard to achieve.
Their efforts obviously pay off as they have a very low staff
turnover (12%), and are the only PR consultancy to be listed in
both the Sunday Times Best 100 Small Companies to Work for
(three years in a row) and the Financial Times’ Best Workplaces
(two years). This is a rounded business that has won many awards
- it is easy to see why.
Octopus Communications: The More Legs the Better
From the day Octopus was formed in 2001, this Windsor-based
consultancy has been based on common sense and best practice,
concentrating on three objectives: chemistry, passion and focus.
This 26-member team is growing, yet is managing to keep its
culture the same as the day it started.
Like many consultancies, Octopus is committed to developing its
staff, but their approach to training is extraordinary – a mix
of internal and external courses, plus internal mentors and an
external career coach whom each member of staff sees every six
months. Only 13 sick days in three years is a demonstration of
strong team motivation and commitment.
The directors seem to really care about making a difference,
rather than just money, and their consumer approach to B2B
corporate work is refreshing. Their 100% customer satisfaction
and 70% profit growth is very impressive.
