Gong, But Not Forgotten

At the very end of the year, we were named this region's Outstanding PR consultancy by our profession's chartered institute, the CIPR.

It was the culmination of what has been a brilliant 12 months for us. The well-wishes and congratulations were genuinely touching and came from all quarters in the days after the announcement; clients, colleagues, media contacts and even those who are supposed to be our PR industry ‘rivals’ in this region.

Importantly for me personally, it was our team here at W North who seemed the most thrilled. As is their wont, the posts to their chosen channels were numerous over that period and the mood in the office since the win has been off the charts… well, it was after the hangovers subsided, at least.

And here’s the thing about awards. They’re a source for enormous goodwill right across your networks. In those days afterwards, we enjoyed positive media articles, an uplift in staff positivity and more than a few enquiries about meetings to talk business. Results all round. Sometimes, it’s all well and good you telling others that you’re pretty good at your job, but its so much more powerful when others are saying it for you, isn’t it?

We very nearly didn’t enter. With little more than 18 months under our belt as an agency (even less when we submitted the application), we honestly didn’t know what chance we’d stand. But if you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t win the lottery, right? We knew we’d achieved a lot: We’d executed some great campaigns for our clients (two of those campaigns also won awards on the night, as it turned out), we’d grown really quickly and had put in all the foundations to know where we were headed.

Some suspect, possibly justifiably, that awards ceremonies are a great money maker for the organisers. Well, yes, I see that point, but then its up to you to decipher which you think are the ones worth pursuing and which are, frankly, going to be lining the pockets of the organisers from the sale of tables at the swanky dinner.

Used correctly, awards and recognition add enormous weight to your business’s currency. Awards and their value is something frequently asked of us as a part of a communications campaign. Essentially, this is about applying solid PR practices. We approach it with a sense that the target market, that judge or panel of judges, is probably bored rigid of poorly written, poorly laid out and frankly boring submissions. What are you going to give them to make them engage in a meaningful manner and buy in to what you’re doing as a business or individual? You entry, as well as your business, must be something a bit special.

Some years ago, I remember working on the communications campaigns for Storey Carpets. Every year, they used to win a stack of gongs. None more so than at the Flooring Industry Awards. I remember it, because a national newspaper columnist at the time picked out these awards to talk about the very worst of what these ceremonies were all about. His argument, I seemed to remember, was that nobody cared. Simon Heptinstall, the owner of Storey Carpets, was a brilliant businessman. He could see the benefit of these awards. Carpetright, the giant in the market at the time, was always in the same room and, no doubt, watched these upstarts from the North East chew into their customer base as well as their trophy cabinet. Eventually, Carpetright paid a gazillion pounds for that business. Don’t tell me entering, and winning, those awards doesn’t make sound business sense.