10 Tips for Winning International PR Awards

Following is from Mr. C K Sardana, Bhopal

I am reproducing the ten tips because most of these are applicable to Journalism and Communication research also:

Ten Tips for Winning International PR Awards

June 23, 2015 vikram Opinions, Public Relations, Vikypedia Exclusives

Recently I was fortunate to have attended PR Week Asia Awards in Hong Kong, where I had an opportunity to interact with various Asia Pacific PR leaders as well as the juries. From these interactions and a specific panel, discussing ‘what are the most important elements that makes a winning case’, I am putting forward 10 tips that can help you win an international honor.

§ Think campaign: while we routinely work towards meeting client’s communications objectives, we need to think from a campaign perspective right at the beginning of the year. Identify clients and specific area to focus around which a creative PR campaign can be developed. A good case cannot be created just before the awards submission. There has to be a concentrated thinking, focus and long term approach to build a really powerful case.

§ Strictly follow the rules: one of the most common frustrations of judges is that many entries just don’t follow the rules mentioned in the entry form, such as word count, formats of supporting materials etc. Many good campaigns get disqualified only for not following the rules.

§ Senior members of the team should dedicate their time in enhancing the quality of entries, writing a winning case requires a lot of experience, intelligence and creative bent of mind.

§ Clear objectives: Good entries should have well-crafted objectives and outcomes should reflect that they were really met

§ Budgeting: Even if you have worked on a shoe-string budget, your entries should reflect how well it was utilized

§ Focus on business results – entries that demonstrate achievement of unequivocal business results stand-out amongst others

§ Integrated approach: entries built solely on the strength of media relations, fall out as judges look at a more integrated, multi-faced campaigns that was successful in engaging all stakeholders

§ Add a context: In the international arena, judges come from various countries and backgrounds and hence it becomes imperative to add a context to your campaign. For example: success of a local business through PR may not be of high significance to judges from developed countries or from the region where such businesses have been traditionally successful

§ Client Endorsement: entries that have been endorsement by clients’ scores as it reflects that your clients are happy with your work and it has made difference to their business.

§ Tell the truth: Be honest in your claims as you may be asked to submit proofs for your claims and not being able to submit one can bring a lot of embarrassment to you and your organizations.

So go ahead and participate, there are many international awards where you can send your entries, atleast let’s attempt. We may be doing much better work than our international counter parts but for some reasons we shy away from demonstrating our work to the outside world. Now is the time, let’s make India proud by dishing out quality work from our region and set a benchmark for the world.
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