2018
Read on for the results of the CIPR Midlands PRide Awards 2018. Click on the links below to view the winning entries.
Note: All case studies are in PDF format and open in a new window.
Corporate and Business Communications Campaign
Gold winner:
- Citypress
Schweppes, the nation’s favourite mixer
This campaign used creative storytelling to give trade journalists a chance to engage with the brand. Delivered within a tight deadline, this campaign placed creativity at its heart, resulting in some impressive results which helped to challenge perceptions of the Schweppes brand.
Silver winner:
- London PR
MuscleFood For Thought (Leadership)
Finalists:
- Story Comms
Revving the Midlands Engine - The Marketing Pod and Inenco
The Cost of Inaction - Whistle PR
Antalis: Championing the UK’s Paper Industry - WPR and Ishida Europe
The Poultry Processing Blueprint
Internal Communications Campaign
Gold winner:
- Thread & Fable and Birmingham Metropolitan College
Sharing the Friday Feeling
This is a really smart campaign that was successful because it was so clear on its objectives. They knew the behaviour they wanted to see and how Yammer worked. This meant they designed a campaign that tapped into how people interact with social and made it simple and appealing to join in. The budget was sensible for the scale of the work; but the ROI was huge, with a significant sign-up to this new channel. A beautifully simple and well-executed campaign, demonstrating great ideas and creativity – a worthy winner.
Silver winner:
- Loughborough University
Heart 2 Heart
Finalists:
- IMI Precision Engineering
Communicating the strategy using senior and middle managers - Purple Monster and Severn Trent
Journey to Upper Quartile - Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
4ward
Consumer Relations Campaign
Gold winner:
- WPR and Hungry Horse, Greene King
Glitter Gravy
This campaign stood out for the research and insights into their target market that enabled them to come up with a creative idea that would make a big impact through social channels. With ‘social first’ an imperative for the campaign, the team must have known that the “Glitter Gravy” idea was undoubtedly worthy of ‘clicks’. This campaign delivered an incredible impact for such a modest budget; testament to the power of a smart idea, executed brilliantly.
Silver winner:
- McCann PR & Social, Birmingham and Haier Appliances
“Fresher Diaries”
Finalists:
- Edson Evers
Securing the nation with National Home Security Month - Grayling Birmingham and Aston Villa Football Club
Managing the changing face of football - Superdream
Say yes to fun at Drayton Manor Park - Whistle PR
Vax – 40 Years of Innovation
Public Sector Campaign
Gold winner:
- Syndicate Communications
Shakespeare’s Celebrations
This was a great example of how, by keeping awareness high through phased activity over a period of six months, the PR team was able to make maximum impact and stretch the modest budget accordingly. The team showed real awareness of the target audience and the buying habits of UK domestic tourism. The wide variety of channels used over the course of six months contributed to a great deal of coverage, exceeding original objectives.
Silver winner:
- McCann PR & Social, Birmingham and Midlands Connect
Midlands Connect: making regional transport a national conversation
Finalists:
- Liquid and Birmingham City Council
Birmingham “Handover” and “Homecoming” for Commonwealth Games 2018 - Telford College
Define Your Future with Telford College - West Midlands Police
We’re Talking Stalking
Not-for-Profit Campaign
Gold winner:
- Farm Safety Foundation
Mind Your Head
This was a powerful way to tackle a sensitive subject, aimed at a notoriously hard-to-reach audience, and with a subject area that doesn’t naturally have broad appeal. The tactics covered a variety of channels and showed good use of affiliations with interest groups and celebrity/influencers. Importantly, the campaign made a big impression across lots of different types of media, achieved via a well-planned timeline and modest budget.
Silver winner:
- BakerBaird Communications and NWG
Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation; tiny charity, massive impact
Finalists:
- Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity
The Big Sleuth - Cartwright Communications
Nottingham’s bid for European Capital of Culture 2023 - Chartered Institute of Housing
Make a Stand - NASUWT
Too Much Too Young
Healthcare Campaign
Gold winner:
- WPR
A High Wire With No Safety Net
The intelligence gathered at the research phase set this campaign up for success, recognising that the barrier they needed to break through was changing perceptions of senior HR professionals. The industry report, compiled with survey data, was a great centrepiece to the campaign. The entrant also showed very strong measurement and evaluation of the campaign’s impact; the ROI, from a modest budget, was powerfully demonstrated by over 100 actionable leads versus a target of 50.
Silver winner:
- Stone Junction
An authoritative medical voice
Finalist:
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
We are the Hospital
Integrated Campaign
Gold winner:
- The Marketing Pod
Take a marketing health check
This integrated campaign created a brilliant mix of interaction (online game and B2B events), insights (research report and blogs) and innovation (personalised reports). They strike a great balance between generating general interest in the subject area through the use of the survey and subsequent press coverage. But the real impact comes through the personalised reports, which became a powerful lead generation tool. This was a smart and cost-effective campaign which delivered an impressive return on investment.
Silver winner:
- Edson Evers
Home is where the smart is for Yale
Finalists:
- spottydog communications
Using Trends to #Trend for Heritage Bathrooms - Stone Junction
Putting the rise of the cobots in context - WAA Chosen
Protyre Tyre Safety Month Campaign - WPR and Farmhouse Inns, Greene King
Creme Egg Yorkshire Pudding
Transport or Automotive Campaign
Gold winner:
- Vision Express
Eye Tests Save Lives
This campaign is a great example of a brand alignment to an important social message. Compelling storytelling brought their message to life, backed up with great incentives – such as a free eye tests – and partnering with important figures including MPs and charities to add weight to the message. Great research and tactical planning led to great outcomes for a relatively modest level of investment.
Silver winner:
- RBH Creative Communications
Turning The Region Orange
Finalist:
- One Black Bear
National Express #NationalWonders
Low Budget Campaign
Gold winner:
- WPR
All that glitters is…gravy?
This campaign had good SMART objectives that then clearly linked to the evaluation and measurement. The creative was highly visual and clearly resonated with the target audience. Whilst the budget was low, this campaign provided a significant return on investment for the client. A great campaign!
Silver winner:
- London PR
MuscleFood For Thought (Leadership)
Finalists:
- Loughborough University
Heart 2 Heart - Ofwat
Spark! Innovation in the water sector - Story Comms and Mills & Reeve
The Midlands’ inaugural Innovation 50 index - Tank
Destination Employer
STEM Campaign
Gold winner:
- Stone Junction
Putting the rise of the cobots in context
This campaign had good clear SMART objectives which linked with measurement and evaluation. Stone Junction carried out thorough research and developed an effective strategy which targeted a well defined audience with relevant and well crafted content. This campaign achieved impressive results on an international level.
Silver winner:
- Stone Junction and EU Automation
Delivering more across the Atlantic
Finalists:
- spottydog communications
Transforming the future of composites for Pentaxia - WPR and Spirax Sarco
Food and drink’s most powerful ingredient
Education Campaign
Gold winner:
- Telford College
Define Your Future with Telford College
This campaign had good SMART objectives that were clearly linked to the outcomes. The inclusion of market research to provide baseline data was impressive and the delivery was well thought-out and nicely implemented. Set objectives were achieved and, overall, the campaign provided good value for money. A worthy winner.
Silver winner:
- NASUWT
Too Much Too Young
Finalists:
- Loughborough University
Excellence 100 - Loughborough University
Good Luck Cards - Loughborough University
Heart 2 Heart - Loughborough University
School Games 2017
Best Use of Media Relations
Gold winner:
- WPR
All that glitters is…gravy?
This campaign had good SMART objectives that then clearly linked to the evaluation and measurement. The creative was highly visual and clearly resonated with the target audience and with the media. Whilst the budget was low, this campaign provided a significant return on investment for the client. A great campaign!
Silver winner:
- NASUWT
Too Much Too Young
Finalists:
- Loughborough University
School Games 2017 - NFU Mutual
Rural Crime Now - PDSA
100 years of saving pets and changing lives - Tank
PR by design
Best Use of Digital
Gold winner:
- WPR and Hungry Horse, Greene King
Hungry for Summer
The WPR team created a highly imaginative and very well executed campaign with a key digital asset which allowed them to evidence delivery against their brief; to encourage repeat visits and attract new customers for their Hungry Horse client, while building in data capture. The campaign exceeded all KPIs by more than 100% and became the most successful promotion that the client had ever run.
Silver winner:
- Tank
Destination Employer
Finalists:
- Loughborough University
Gold Coast 2018 - Loughborough University
Health and Wellbeing - Loughborough University
School Games 2017
Best Use of Social Media
Gold winner:
- WPR and Farmhouse Inns, Greene King
Creme Egg Yorkshire Pudding
This was an example of using creativity and insight to build a social campaign that would resonate with the target audience. The Creme Egg Yorkshire Pudding captured people’s love of food and delivered some great results, including return on investment for the campaign – a worthy winner!
Silver winner:
- WPR and Hungry Horse, Greene King
Hungry for Summer
Finalists:
- Clarity Comms
Hobgoblin’s #SeasonofMischief 2017 - One Black Bear
National Express #NationalWonders - spottydog communications
Serving up tasty jobs for Mitchells & Butlers - Tank
Something Spectacular
Best Use of Content
Gold winner:
- WPR
All that glitters is…gravy?
This really was a standout example of how to effectively use content. This campaign used a simple and creative hook to create a piece of content that exposed their client’s brand to a global audience in a way that delivered above and beyond the original brief and objectives.
Silver winner:
- Tank
Destination Employer
Finalists:
- Derbyshire Constabulary
Silent Night - NFU Mutual
Rural Crime Now - The Marketing Pod and Inenco
The Cost of Inaction - WAA Chosen
Gibbs & Dandy, The Daily Nail
Best Use of Photography or Design
Gold winner:
- Telford College
Rebranding Telford College
This entry ticked all the boxes of a strong award entry: SMART objectives, creativity, great evaluation, a clear breakdown of all the costs (including staff time), and demonstrated return on investment. It was a worthy winner of the Best Use of Photography or Design.
Silver winner:
- West Midlands Police
#HumansOfWMP
Best Event
Gold winner:
- Telford College
7th Form Launch – A UK-first for education
This was a solid entry, which presented clearly defined, measurable objectives for Telford College’s inaugural ‘education to career path’ event. All of these objectives were comfortably exceeded. This, together with a clear measure of ROI which was provided along with the campaign budget, allowed the judges to understand how the campaign delivered real value to the college through its planning, implementation and cost effectiveness.
Silver winner:
- West Midlands Police
Sound of Da Police
Finalists:
- Loughborough University
Heart 2 Heart - Superdream
Bosch Botanics at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show - Superdream
Spinning Planets for The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience - The Marketing Pod and Inenco
The Future Utilities Manager
Best Publication
Gold winner:
- BBC Birmingham
Spotlight
The judges were impressed with the ability of Spotlight to deliver a personalised communications experience to each of the BBC’s 21,000 employees. This is an outstanding example of how a publication successfully reflects a brand vision. In this case, the concept of ‘One BBC’ has been brought to life by the unification of numerous e-bulletins into one customised publication. Staff have clearly been inspired too – as evidenced by a 100% increase in the open rate and engagement levels in just one year.
Silver winner:
- The Marketing Pod and Inenco
The Future Utilities Manager
Finalists:
- NFU Mutual
‘Improving food confidence’ – The Food Fraud Report - spottydog communications
Bridging the gap with Mitchells & Butlers - The Marketing Pod and SES Business Water
Encouraging SMEs to take the plunge - WAA Chosen
Gibbs & Dandy, The Daily Nail
Outstanding Young Communicator
Gold winner:
- Jade Devlin
NFU Mutual
Jade is hugely professional and clearly able to elevate the importance of PR in her organisation to senior level. Her work showed clear objectives and measurable results, as well as a genuine connection to the audience. Any organisation would be proud to have Jade in their comms team.
Silver winner:
- Tom Bower MCIPR
Telford College
Finalists:
- Allyson Loots
Superdream - Emily Wildbore
2 Sisters Food Group - James Watkins MCIPR
Tank
Outstanding In-House Public Relations Team
Gold winner:
- Loughborough University
Loughborough’s strategy is driven by data and emotional understanding which was a winning combination in the judges’ eyes, and clearly delivers strong results across the board, with the team beating all of their targets and taking on new briefs. The judges were impressed that three interns had gone on to hold full time positions, demonstrating Loughborough’s commitment to supporting entrance to the industry. Their #SpitHappens campaign broke records for stem cell donors signing up in a single day and it is evident why this team are rightly seen as sector leaders.
Silver winner:
- Birmingham Hippodrome
Outstanding Public Relations Consultancy
Gold winner:
- Stone Junction
In a strong field, Stone Junction stood out with obvious energy, enthusiasm and a smart business strategy that is yielding results. The judges were especially impressed by their clear and extremely ambitious vision for where they want to take the business. Congratulations to Stone Junction!
Silver winner:
- Tank
Finalists:
- Cartwright Communications
- Citypress
- Plinkfizz
- Whistle PR