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James Maxwell Award
WINNER
Anna Magee
York University English graduate Anna Magee first began thinking about a job in PR because she said it was 'one of the few careers that specifically gets recommended to English students'. Magee's decision to pursue this further has been Ketchum's gain, with the 21-year old this year winning the coveted James Maxwell Award and a one-year placement at the agency.
Magee was already fine-tuning her communications skills while at York. She was an events rep at the university and helped Launch a series of branded club nights there. She also spent time on work experience with London-based marketing and PR agency The Crocodile.
To stand out from the other entrants of this year's James Maxwell Award, Magee had to present her PR solution for keeping Londoners interested in the 2012 Olympics between now and the start of the Games. Although Magee was originally unable to make the presentation date, she impressed the judges by sending a video of herself giving her pitch instead. It was good enough to gain her a recall and deliver her presentation in person.
Her solution was to come up with two PR campaigns. One was to enlist ex-Olympic stars to act as figureheads to promote sports academies in deprived areas of London. In addition to presenting a coherent media plan to put this campaign into action, judges were impressed by Magee's second solution - to launch a campaign where ordinary Londoners could earn points on their Oyster travel cards, which could be used to gain access to sporting events.
Low-profile sports - but those at which Britain has previously excelled in the Olympics - were specifically chosen. These included show-jumping and gymnastics, which both had upcoming UK-based championships and international-standard competitions.
Under her scheme, the more Londoners travelled on the Tube, the more points they would earn.
Magee has been working at Ketchum since September in its consumer division. She has already worked on events for Procter & Gamble, sponsor of Milan Fashion Week, and will be helping to launch a new Samsonsite range designed by Alexander McQueen.
'I'm already finding PR to be a busy, fun and challenging industry,' says Magee. She adds that last year's winner, Alicia Mistry, has been on hand to show her the ropes - Mistry is also a former York University graduate.
