CIPR PRide Awards: From East to West

Business and Trade

Running the Gauntlet by East of England Development Agency

Running the Gauntlet was launched in 2005 as an investment competition for East of England entrepreneurs, led by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA). It works as a partnership between EEDA and a range of investors, and gives entrepreneurs free access to The Gauntlet, a virtual investor licensed by EEDA from Library House and the London School of Economics.

Four equity investors and nine commercial partners were secured for the 2008 campaign. Nearly 3,850 people visited the site, resulting in 303 registrations from all over the region.

‘Very good use of e-marketing, combined with strong visuals, an excellent spread of regional coverage, as well as national presence,’ said the judges.

Best Small Consultancy

The Word PR

The Word PR launched in November 2007. In the past 12 months, The Word has gained a wide-ranging list of clients and has an 80 per cent pitch success rate.
best PR Consultancy

Tribe

After ten years as Band & Brown in East Anglia, the 11-strong agency rebranded as Tribe in January. It has grown fees by 24 per cent this year, and is on course to turn over £1m in 2009.

Best Use of Photography or Design

Construction: Getting the Bigger Picture by Stratton PR

Stratton PR was commissioned by Haven Gateway Partnership to manage the production of a 16-page brochure showing young people that construction was not all about ‘blokes, bums and bricks’.

For case studies, Stratton PR approached young people working in construction who had grown up in the region. The style of photography and the local case studies amplified the fact that young people are succeeding in construction careers.

The local Connexions (Careers Advisory) service was so impressed by the brochure that it posted it to the
8,100 Year 10 students in Suffolk at its own cost.

Internal Communications

Meet Vestor by Cambridgeshire County Council

When Cambridgeshire County Council embarked on a programme to become re-accredited with the Investors in People (IIP) award, it found that IIP meant nothing to its employees.
In May 2007 its employee magazine Countywide turned the IIP letters into ‘Interested in People’. The ‘Vestor’ cartoon was made, showing the dog giving a paw print mark on a form.
IIP status was secured with the comment that the campaign clearly spelt out the Employee Charter.

Low Budget

Mackle Pet Foods by Morrow Communications

Morrow Communications (MC) was charged with launching McGrath pet food, produced by Mackle, to pet owners across Ireland. The agency was asked to raise awareness, differentiate the product from key competitors and generate interest.

To launch the product, MC hired a model from Northern Ireland who was studying veterinary science at Dublin University, and found a show dog identical to the breed used on the McGrath brand, for publicity photographs. A news release was sent out highlighting the ‘new breed of dog owner’ and presentation bags were personally delivered to media.

To keep interest going after the launch, key contracts with supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury’s were announced.

Extensive media coverage was achieved and sales exceeded targets. Judges said the campaign ‘extracted every ounce of PR value’.

Not for Profit

The Coca-Cola Marie Curie Cancer Care Appeal by Coca-Cola Bottlers Ulster

Coca-Cola Bottlers Ulster chose Marie Curie as a charity partner after an employee survey in late 2006.
The partnership was launched in March 2007. Employees ran their own events, such as a Coca-Cola ‘X Factor’, a sponsored walk and a charity ball. In total more than £110,000 was raised.

The campaign helped Marie Curie launch an outpatient therapy service for lung cancer patients in January 2008. To date more than 1,538 patients have been treated. Judges said the campaign was a ‘truly worthy winner’.

Best PR Consultancy

JPR

JPR has won a gold award at the CIPR Awards every year since their introduction. In three years it has boosted fee income by 40 per cent and counts the Ulster Bank Group among its clients.

Best In-House PR Team

The National Trust – Northern Ireland

The team has overseen a 40 per cent increase in visitors to properties in the past three years and is gaining increasing media coverage thanks to what judges called ‘talented PR’.

Best Leaflet

Phoenix Natural Gas by ASG

Phoenix wanted to create a leaflet that could be handed to potential natural gas customers in busy shopping areas.

It had to be attention-grabbing, promote the message that boilers can be wasteful and allow potential customers to book a free home heating check.

The leaflet had the question ‘is your boiler wasting £400 of every £1,000 you spend on home heating?’ on the cover and was handed out by promotional staff in branded clothing. It also had a section to allow customers to make appointments for a heating check. The leaflet used large fonts and bold colours to stand out.