Pride Awards: The toast of Scotland

Jenifer Stirton MCIPR
Chair,
CIPR Scotland Group
The public relations industry in Scotland is incredibly talented and vibrant. 

 The PRide Awards in Scotland celebrates this commitment to excellence – honouring the individuals and teams behind the most outstanding campaigns of the past year.

In line with the institute's growing membership north of the border (CIPR Scotland is now the largest regional/national group outside London), I'm delighted to report that there was a record number of entries for this year's PRide Awards in Scotland.

The main Scottish judging was carried out by CIPR Wales – and our colleagues at CIPR HQ. Their decisions have showcased the very best the Scottish profession has to offer.

My thanks go to everyone who entered this year – and congratulations to our deserving winners
and finalists.

GRAND PRIX

The Edrington Group
The Cat's Whiskers
Who could replace Towser, the legendary mouser at the Glenturret Distillery, home of The Famous Grouse? That was the question The Edrington Group posed to viewers of Grampian TV, GMTV and numerous BBC radio listeners when it was charged with increasing footfall to the tour of the distillery. The 'search' for a cat with the right credentials included a tie-up with the Cats Protection League, which put forward candidates, and whose CEO hosted a site visit. Numerous cats were rehoused and the distillery has increased visitor numbers.

LOW-BUDGET CAMPAIGN

GOLD
Artisan PR
Cashmere Collection for Lambs
VisitScotland Borders' spring marketing campaign got off to a flying start for less than £2,000 thanks to Artisan PR deciding a creative solution was needed to grab press attention. It designed a 'Cashmere Collection for Lambs' with a photocall and news briefing in the Borders featuring the lambs in their jackets. Total broadcast coverage reached nearly 3.5 million people with targeted readership of 1,890,000. Return on investment for the campaign was 40:1.

SILVER
Great Circle Communications Ltd
The Enchanted Forest

The Big Partnership
Endowment Compensation Centre


CONSUMER CAMPAIGN

GOLD
3 x 1
Fish and Chip Shop of the Year
Now in its 18th year, The National Fish and Chip Shop of the Year competition pulled off some memorable PR coups, including promotional posters in Ian Beale's chippy 'Beale's Plaice' on EastEnders. Scottish agency 3 X 1 sent silver chip forks to journalists with a sheet of unusual fish-and-chip facts and more than 100 items of coverage were secured, including an eight-page best-chippies feature in The Independent. The overall winners were Gregg and Caroline Howard (pictured with celebrity chef James Martin)for their shop 'Our Plaice' in Hagley, West Midlands.

SILVER
The Big Partnership
Launch of Saga 105.2 FM

The TFF Agency
'Ortagist'

Visit Scotland
Come Walk in the Footsteps of Your Ancestors


BUSINESS TO BUSINESS CAMPAIGN

GOLD
Euro RSCG Leedex
Company Cars: The Drivers' Perspective

SILVER
Budge PR
Scottish Grass Machinery - Fighting back

FINALIST
Porter Novelli
Showing Scotland Means Business


IN-HOUSE CAMPAIGN

GOLD
Visit Scotland
'Sea Scotland' campaign

SILVER
NHS Ayrshire & Arran
Valuing Differences


CORPORATE AND FINANCIAL CAMPAIGN

GOLD
Budge PR
Launching Scottish Friendly's Child Trust Fund


CHARITY OR NON-PROFIT CAMPAIGN

GOLD
Platform PR
Dolphin Defenders
Rather than use the 'cute' angle to alert people to declining numbers of dolphins around the Moray Firth, Platform PR wanted to produce
a more heavy-hitting campaign. It encouraged people to alter behaviour that threatens the mammals and strove to raise awareness of the Moray Firth Partnership. It culminated in a media relations campaign for 'Dolphin Week' that achieved double the target of signed pledges to save the dolphin. Coverage included BBC TV on-site at Portgordon Primary School, which joined the Dolphin Defenders scheme and fitted the dolphin-saving campaign into its curriculum

SILVER
Citigate Smarts
See Me
Strong media initiatives to reduce the stigma faced by people with mental health problems in Scotland.

FINALIST
The TFF Agency
Women of Influence Awards Lunch


COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN

GOLD
The PR Store in conjunction with Oldhand Media & West Lothian Association of Community Councils
Your Community Council

SILVER
Platform PR
Dolphin Defenders


INTEGRATED PR CAMPAIGN

GOLD
South Lanarkshire Council
Holocaust Memorial Day

SILVER
Consolidated Communications
Bang Out of Order

Elaine Howie Public Relations
Lloyds TSB Scotland
Sponsorship of Scottish Cricket


ISSUES OR CRISIS MANAGEMENT CAMPAIGN

GOLD
Platform PR
Kitchen Nightmare? PR Nightmare!

SILVER
Weber Shandwick Glasgow
Glenmorangie Spirited


PR TEAM OF THE YEAR - CONSULTANCY

GOLD
Platform PR
A Track Record of Success
In only its third year, Platform PR has successfully defended its
title as PR Team of the Year. The agency has ten clients and ensures no client dominates its fee income. This year The Crown Estate and The National Trust (Scotland) were just two of its account wins and one client appeared on Channel 4's Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

FINALISTS
Indigo

Weber Shandwick Glasgow, Positive Performance


PR TEAM OF THE YEAR - IN HOUSE

GOLD
Visit Scotland
Various campaigns
For its imaginative take on presenting Scotland as the perfect holiday destination, and its work with the merger of the Area Tourist Boards, the judges singled out Visit Scotland as In-house Team of the Year.


SCOTTISH PUBLIC SECTOR TEAM OF THE YEAR

GOLD
NHS Ayrshire & ARRAN
We Can Do
Communications is still a relatively new function in NHS Scotland, with not every NHS board  having a comms team.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran's team of nine PROs was formed in 2003 and is responsible for all internal and external communications. Although still relatively new, the department already coined its motto – 'We Can Do'.

At the end of 2004 it set out a communications strategy comprising standards and principles towards which it strives to work – a strategy that has underpinned all of its communications with the press. To augment this, the team produces its own staff magazine  – 'Stop Press' – as well as a bimonthly magazine that promotes the use of plain English.

During the past year, it has built up a successful body of campaigns, including promotions for 100 Years of Biggart Hospital, Real Nappy Week, the Ayrshire Special Games and Breastfeeding Week. It also dealt with potential health scares, including outbreaks of e-coli and hepatitis C.


YOUNG COMMUNICATOR

WINNER
David Connor, Holyrood Partnership

FINALISTS
Martin Allen
Indigo

Lorna Gilmour
Budge PR

Alison Laing
3x1

Stephen McLean
Matthews Marketing

Kristy Tucker
NHS Lothian


SMALL TEAM/SOLE PRACTITIONER

WINNER
Artisan PR


PUBLIC AFFAIRS/LOBBYING PROGRAMME

GOLD
Bank of scotland (BoS)
The plight of first-time buyers
To push forward the debate on the stamp duty threshold, BoS wrote to 800 MPs and opinion formers with research,  and suggested solutions with a PR campaign about its mortgages. The result was an Early Day Motion in the Scottish Parliament in January that referred to BoS. The Lib Dems proposed raising the threshold for stamp duty from £60,000 to £150,000.

SILVER
Pagoda Public Relations
London 2012 – Scotland Backs the Bid
Judges praised the targeting of stakeholders in changing negative views of the London Games.

Weber Shandwick Glasgow
Alladale Wilderness Reserve
Dances with Wolves 
A laird's plan to introduce wolves to his highland estate had to tread a fine line on a controversial subject.


PUBLIC SECTOR PROGRAMME

GOLD
South Lanakshire Council
Holocaust Memorial Day
An event titled 'Survivors, Liberation and Rebuilding Lives' marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in January. The team placed a 16-page Trinity Mirror newspaper supplement, a 36-page commemorative booklet, and gained coverage in the Daily Record, The Scotsman, The Sun and Daily Mail, and on Scottish TV. Material has since been adopted as a teaching aid for South Lanarkshire schools.

SILVER
Consolidated Communications
Teacher Recruitment
The clear brief to boost teacher recruitment numbers was backed by celebrities talking about who they remembered as a favourite teacher.

Visit Scotland
Merger Comms for New Tourism Network
Following the merger of VisitScotland with the previous Area Tourist Boards, Scotland had a new national tourism network that needed promoting.


BEST USE OF MEDIA RELATIONS

GOLD
The Edrington Group
The Cat's Whiskers

SILVER
The Big Partnership, Launch of Saga 105.2 FM

Visit Scotland, Visit Scotland Adventure Challenge

FINALISTS
Pagoda Public Relations, London 2012: Scotland Backs the Bid

Real PR, Think Pink! Pink Afternoon Teas at One Devonshire Gardens

The Big Partnership, Use Your Head

Weber Shandwick Glasgow, "Dances with Wolves",
Alladale Wilderness Reserve


USE OF INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

GOLD
Scottish Water
Making the Connections (MTC)

SILVER
Falkirk Council
Celebrating Success

FINALISTS
NHS Ayrshire & Arran
Valuing Differences

West Lothian Council
Celebrating Success