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Knowledge is Power: Rewards and Awards

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One of the many definitions for Public Relations is the practice of managing and disseminating information for an organisation to the public to affect their public perception. So far so good. Many of you reading this will probably be thinking ‘why am I being told what I already know?’.

Well, there is a reason and that is the word ‘information’. It’s the cornerstone to knowledge in all its many manifestations and can have a powerful effect on campaigns. So, we want to take this opportunity to highlight how information acquired through market research cannot only help you reap rewards, but perhaps even win you an award.

When examining some of the most successful campaigns of recent years, unsurprisingly they were all informed by insight. That is to say, the messaging behind a campaign is developed with the help of research that helps them strike the right tone.

This is not hearsay. There’s a veritable bounty of award-winning campaigns whose creative direction was sparked by insight.

Take for example Don’t Cry Wolf’s activism campaign for Tangle Teezer. To create a campaign that could address a sensitive issue and more importantly prompt real change, Don’t Cry Wolf leant on research. The result was 3 awards, 2 finalists and 1 nomination.

That return is nothing to sneer at. And this is just one example. A former judge at Cannes Lions revealed that the one of the best campaigns he’s seen was driven by insight. He cited the example of a campaign by REI that one 9 (yes 9!) Lions.

Using insight gained via market research, REI developed a Twitter campaign that pushed back against the Black Friday buying rampage as the research found that its audience actually preferred not to shop on Black Friday. Insight sparked the idea that led to a wildly successful Twitter campaign that sparked a movement and challenged long-held assumptions about consumers.

Knowing this is one thing, but how can it help you? Well, these case studies can help you formulate your own campaigns. This advice comes not from us, but from Susie Walker, VP, Awards & Insights at LIONS. She recommends that those aspiring to win a Lion should learn from Lion-winning work.

If you look at some of the most creative campaigns of recent years, what connects them all is how they embraced insight and used it in their campaigns. Rather than seeing insight as an obstacle to creative, they used their new-found knowledge to get the creative juices flowing.

Let’s end with a word from Heather Kernahan, the CEO of Hotwire Global Communications. Heather is an ICCO partner and has won many awards for her work. Now, she has some advice for those who are looking to catapult into the pantheon of award winners:

“Knowledge is a powerful tool so embrace knowledge in all its forms. It won’t stop the creatives among you from coming up with all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas. Rather, it will give them a sense of structure and direction and help them to channel their efforts into the most productive avenues.”

Author:

Jane Hales who will be at Cannes Lions this year is the co-founder of the award-winning Sapio Research. Sapio Research is a full-service market research company supporting Agencies and Brands to make confident decisions or achieve extraordinary headlines. The team does this through their ABC process: Audience, Brand and Content Research.

Four Global Industry Leaders Inducted into ICCO Hall of Fame

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The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) inducted UK Government Communication Executive Director Alex Aiken, Nigerian PR trailblazer Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, and Global Women in PR co-founders Angela Oakes and Susan Hardwick into its exclusive Hall of Fame during today’s ICCO Global Awards ceremony.

Established in 2003, the ICCO Hall of Fame recognises those who have made exceptional progress in the internationalisation of the public relations industry, and who have combined cultural sensitivity with commercial acumen to create agencies that share global reach with local relevance.

The 2021 Class joins industry greats like Harold Burson, Richard Edelman, and Margery Kraus.

 

Alex Aiken, Executive Director for UK Government Communication, said:

“It’s an honour to be recognised alongside leaders of our industry like David Gallagher, Karen van Bergen and Barry Leggeter. And I’ve learnt from the work of many people that the ICCO have already recognised, from Harold Burson to the Edelman’s, and the late Lord Bell. I’m grateful to the ICCO and will use this recognition to redouble my efforts to promote effective, ethical and enterprising communication around the world.”

 

Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, President, African Public Relations Association (APRA), Group Managing Director, CMC Connect (Perception Managers), said:

“I am deeply humbled and honoured to have been elected into this famed hall of achievers in public relations. As I celebrate it, I am quickly reminded of how much more work we still have to do to ensure public relations is rightly valued. Many of our clients relate with us with great levels of ambiguity, which blunts our competitiveness. We as practitioners must collectively correct this anomaly through Affirmative Public Relations. I thank ICCO for recognizing Africa through me and as a continent, promise to continue our contributions to the advancement of global practice.”

 

GWPR Co-Founders Angela Oakes and Susan Hardwick said:

“We are both absolutely delighted to accept this award in recognition of the networking organisation we founded and developed – GWPR. Sue and I launched GWPR as a not-for-profit membership organisation in 2015. Our goal is to champion, connect and support women in senior roles in PR and Communications all over the world.

“Over the last six years we have successfully built a truly global membership organisation, with GWPR national networking groups and affiliates across Europe, Russia, India, Africa, the Middle East, Central America and Asia Pacific.  And in 2022 we are thrilled that the US will also be joining the GWPR global network.

“The gender issue of ‘women in the boardroom’ is high on the business agenda globally and although PR women dominate this industry worldwide, there remains a significant imbalance in the boardroom. We strongly believe that creating a better balance is important; not just for women, but for business as a whole. Not only do we shine a light on these issues, but we drive activity programmes to come up with solutions and help make change.

“Finally, we would wholeheartedly like to thank ICCO – and in particular Francis Ingham – for having faith in us and supporting us since the very beginning.”

 

 

 

Further information about the 2021 ICCO Hall of Fame Inductees:

 

Alex Aiken is the Executive Director for Government Communication covering international issues and national security. He is part of the leadership of the Government Communication Service and was appointed in December 2012. He had led the biggest government campaigns of the last decade on Covid, Brexit, and the GREAT Britain campaign. Between 2000 and 2012, he was Director of Communications and Strategy for Westminster City Council. Before joining Westminster he worked in Parliament and for Conservative Party. He has trained and advised politicians and officials in countries and states around the world in the practice of government and communications.

 

Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, or YBO, as he is popularly called, is one of the premier PR practitioners in Nigeria and Africa, with more than 30 years of experience. Having founded CMC Connect Limited in 1992, Yomi has consulted for many multinationals and governments in Nigeria and abroad in areas of government relations & legislative affairs, perception management, marketing, advertising, PR and crisis communications. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) where he was past Chairman of the Lagos State Chapter. He also sits on the boards of several blue-chip companies in Nigeria. As part of his continued efforts at mainstreaming Africa into global PR practice, YBO has served as a Board Member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA).

His love for Africa is evident in his selfless service to the African Public Relations Association (APRA) where he served as a two-term Secretary-General and is the current President. He was recently appointed as West Africa Chair for the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA). He has bagged several awards in his profession including the prestigious PR Golden Eagle Award as the Most Outstanding Public Relations Person of the Year 2010.

 

Angela Oakes is a PR professional with an impressive track record working with global multi-nationals on strategic brand development and integrated consumer campaigns. In the 1980s, Angela worked at several London-based PR agencies including Hill & Knowlton, Catalyst Communications and the Grayling Company, where she worked with the Grayling founder to help develop the business. This invaluable experience of seeing a successful agency being built from scratch led her to subsequently launch her own PR agency Oakes Bacot, later re-branded Treehouse PR.

Angela’s personal experience of the value of a networking organisation like WPR, at a time when she was juggling her own business with childcare responsibilities, spearheaded her decision to work with Sue Hardwick on launching Global Women in PR in 2015. She believes this is her legacy to the global PR industry and a clear demonstration of her passion to empower the next generation of PR women to become senior leaders.

Susan Hardwick was formerly a board director at one of the UK’s top PR consultancies (owned by Countrywide Porter Novelli), head of communications for a large retail chain, and ran her own business (Hardwick PR).

An experienced advisor on brand development and issues management, Sue handled a wide portfolio of UK and international clients. Clients ranged from FTSE 100 companies to top international sporting events. Whilst being primarily based in the UK her work was of a global nature masterminding communications programmes throughout Europe and the USA.

Being involved with Women in PR provided a very important support network when juggling running a business with being a mother. To have had the chance to then develop GWPR has been a significant part of Sue’s involvement in the PR industry. Networking remains an essential part of business life and to have helped to generate a worldwide group of organisations, supporting each other, has been a real high point and an important part of supporting women in an industry she loves.

Ketchum shine at ICCO Global Awards

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Ketchum companies clinched the most wins with five at the ICCO Global Awards: Purpose, Digital and New Media, Influencer Marketing, Financial Services and Media Relations.

Fleishman Hillard claimed the team award for Network of the Year as well as the team award for Championing Diversity. BECG won Independent Consultancy for the Year, while the Grand Prix Prize for the best campaign of the year went to Fanclub PR for ‘Mount Recyclemore’. Leader of the year was Dr Vivien Chiong from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

 

The awards, sponsored by CARMA, Vuelio, thenetworkone, Milk and Honey PR and M&A Advisory, took place online and were hosted by ICCO Chief Executive Francis Ingham. Finalists from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States competed for 25 prizes.

Alison Clarke, Awards Jury President, said:

“As the challenges of the pandemic have continued throughout 2021, the awards entries show that agencies have responded with impressive campaigns at the heart of critical global issues, creative commercial work, and impactful ideas. What all the winning campaigns share across a wide variety of countries and cultures, is that they achieved tangible results in line with their strategic objectives. It was a joy to see the work and I’m greatly encouraged by this evidence that the industry is in great shape”.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Healthcare Award – sponsored by PRovoke

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Hill+Knowlton Strategies/WPP – Walgreens Combats Health Disparities During the COVID-19 Pandemic with Its Vaccine Equity Initiative

 

 

Digital and New Media Award – sponsored by BlackHouse Media

Ketchum London – Bodyform/Libresse – Pain Museum

 

 

Best Cross Cultural Campaign

Omnicom Public Relations Group – SEA BEYOND: A PRADA GROUP CAMPAIGN IN COLLABORATION WITH UNESCO

 

 

Purpose Award

Ketchum & McCann and CARAT – Mastercard – The Strivers Initiative

 

 

Broadcast Award

The Others – JUST THINK ABOUT THIS!

 

 

Influencer Marketing Award

Ketchum & Omnicom Public Relations Group – The Incredible Egg Challenge

 

 

B2B Award – sponsored by M&A Advisory

Kurio – Framery One – The First Connected Sound Proof Pod

 

Financial Services Award

Ketchum, McCann & Carat – Mastercard – The Strivers Initiative

 

 

Strategy and Evaluation in a Campaign – sponsored by CARMA

Methods and Mastery – Biden for President Influencer Activation

 

 

Media Relations Award

Ketchum Austria – New German Media Makers #WeatherCorrection

 

 

Public Affairs Award

Interel UK – APPG – On Beauty, Aesthetics and Wellbeing #notalaughingmatter

 

 

Event, Launch or Stunt Award

Fanclub PR – Mount Recycelmore

 

 

Consumer Award

W7Worldwide – Healthcare Innovation for the Saudi Market

 

 

Technology Award

Fanclub PR – Mount Recycelmore

 

 

Not-for-Profit Award

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and Hill+Knowlton Strategies – Making the Global Goals Personal

 

Lifestyle Award

Orta Communications – Barbie, «You can be anything», with Anna Kikina

 

 

Automotive and Transport Award

Value360 India – ANCHORING in the storm of national unrest: MG Motor India

 

 

Crisis & Issues Award

FleishmanHillard Vanguard – Avon Campaign Against Domestic Violence

 

 

Employee Communications

Pragma komunikacjie  Internal Product Launch for Takhzyro

 

Grand Prix: Overall Campaign of the Year

Fanclub PR – Mount Recycelmore

 

 

Rising Star of the Year

Victoria McNish, Interel UK

 

 

PR Leader of the Year

Dr Vivien Chiong, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

 

 

Championing Diversity

FleishmanHillard

 

 

Independent Consultancy of the Year – sponsored by The Network One

BECG

 

 

Network of the Year – sponsored by CARMA

FleishmanHillard

International judging panel announced for ICCO Global Awards

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ICCO is proud to announce the judges for the ICCO Global Awards 2016; the global showcase for the most effective PR from the world’s most talented practitioners.

The awards are the only internationally recognised awards programme purely based on effectiveness, measurement, results and impact for the global PR industry, and supported by PR trade associations representing 48 countries worldwide.

Entries are judged by an elite international panel of top PR practitioners who will consider excellence and effectiveness of PR work submitted from across the world.

David Gallagher, co-President of the jury said: “Much of the discussion in PR about earned, paid or owned media, or the changing nature of social media, or the importance of creative storytelling, or any of the other myriad topics we discuss, are largely academic. The thing that matters: results. What happened as a result of our activity in terms of behaviour, attitude or ideas? That’s what the ICCO awards emphasize – and that’s what makes them unique.”

 

ICCO Global Awards International Jury:

Co-President: Renee Wilson, President, PR Council (USA)

Co-President: David Gallagher, President, Growth and Development, International, Omnicom Public Relations Group (Global)

Poli Stuart-Lacey, Head of Communications, UK Government (UK)

Michael Schröder, Global President, IPREX (Global)

Michael Frohlich, CEO, EMEA, Ogilvy Public Relations (EMEA)

Victoria Wagner, CEO, Ketchum Germany (Germany)

Denise Kaufmann, CEO, Ketchum London (UK)

Lucio Bergamaschi, Director General, Below Communications and Media Relations (Italy)

Jean-Leopold Schuybroek, Chairman, Interel Belgium (Belgium)

Andrey Barannikov, CEO, SPN Communications (Russia)

John Ehiguese, Founder & CEO, Mediacraft Associates (Nigeria)

Dimitris Roulias, CEO, Out of the Box PR (Greece)

Sharon Murphy, Deputy CEO, Wilson Hartnell (Ireland)

Jürgen Gangoly, Managing Partner, The Skills Group (Austria)

Emine Cubukcu, Managing Director, Ogilvy Public Relations Istanbul (Turkey)

Kresten Schultz Jorgensen, Managing Partner, LEAD Agency (Denmark)

Bridget von Holdt, Executive Director, Glasshouse Communication Management (South Africa)

Grzegorz Szczepanski, CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies Poland (Poland)

Andras Sztaniszlav, Senior Consultant & Communications Strategist, PersonaR (Hungary)

Jelena Sarenac, Director of Corporate Communications, Henkel (Serbia)

Michaela Benedigova, Director and Partner, SEESAME Communication Experts, (Slovakia)

Katya Dimitrova, Managing Partner, Interpartners (Bulgaria)

Stian Lyberg, Consultant & Founder Partner, PR-operatørene (Norway)

Marina Haluzan, Information and PR Adviser, Croatia Control (Croatia)

Tatevik Pirumyan, Founder, Managing Director, Communication Management Group (Armenia)

Sari-Liia Tonttila, Managing Director, Ahjo Communications (Finland)

Gary Muddyman, Managing Director and CEO, Conversis (UK)

Aaron Kwittken, CEO, Kwittken Communications (USA)

Sconaid McGeachin, President & CEO, Africa, Middle East & Turkey, Hill+Knowlton Strategies (MENA)

Tanya Hughes, President, SERMO Communications (Global)

Isabelle Wolf, CEO & Founder, Kingcom (France)

Loretta Ahmed, CEO Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Grayling (MENA)

Barry Leggetter, CEO, AMEC (Global)

George McGregor, Managing Partner, Interel UK (UK)

Aye Verckens, Managing Director, Recognition PR (Australia)

Rakesh Thukral, Managing Director, Edelman India (India)

 

KEY DATES:

Final entry deadline: 02 November 2016

Shortlist Announced: 17 November 2016

Awards Night (St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London): 01 December 2016

 

For more information on entries the awards or attending the awards night, visit awards.iccopr.com.

The ICCO Global Award Entries: The Quest To Demonstrate True Effectiveness

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Article by Renee Wilson, president, PR Council; co-chair of ICCO Global Awards jury

Another awards program? Oh my…….but wait! – here is a chance to get some deserved recognition for your team’s stellar work, while helping educate the global marketing communications community on the power of public relations.

Our industry is going through somewhat of an identity crisis redefining who we are, and what we do, at an incredible pace.  There are many types of different discipline agencies that claim to know how to ‘earn influence’ or ‘earn media’ in a way that public relations can, with credibility and relevance.  However, our discipline is truly an art and a science, and operates in some similar ways but in a lot of unique ways too.

The ICCO Global Awards is a great opportunity for our industry to showcase the way in which public relations campaigns achieve real results, through powerful outcomes.  It is the measurement of changes in attitudes, opinions, and behavior (eg,votes, shares, sales etc.) that truly helps underscore the effectiveness of our campaigns, and what the ICCO Global Awards are all about.

The Cannes Lions Festival and Awards is very much rooted in creativity, and we love it for that, while the ICCO Global Awards punctuates the campaign “effectiveness.” That’s not to say that you don’t need a creative entry to win the ICCO Global Awards too, but proving how you help achieve your clients’ objectives with something measureable and tangible, not just opinion, is where your focus should be when entering for an ICCO Global Award.

Additionally, could this be the year we come up with the best collection of global campaign entries that demonstrate the powerful effectiveness that public relations offers?  I think it could.  Let’s challenge ourselves and our industry to do it!  Then, let’s use these ICCO Global Award winning campaign entries as calling cards to clients all over the world to better demonstrate what our discipline is capable of when it comes to effectiveness.

In my role as president of the PR Council, I talk to many leaders from CMOs and marketing clients, to communication directors, about the power of PR.  In order for them to continue to prioritize PR within their organizations with supporting resource, and in some cases, start to prioritize, we need to do a better job of explaining our effectiveness.  It’s that simple.  And, it’s that complex.

If you listen to the trade media that cover our industry and the industry pundits, some feel that we are moving too slowly in doing this.  The observation – (whether you agree or not) – is perhaps we are not retooling as quickly as other disciplines in terms of our talent, infrastructure and campaign thinking.  Let’s prove them wrong!  Let’s show the remarkable work our teams produce.  Let’s enter the ICCO Global Awards and use these entries as our industry calling cards.

For more information on the ICCO Global Awards visit: awards.iccopr.com

Serbian Public Relations Association awards the best in the field

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The Serbian Public Relations Association (DSOJ) awarded the best communication campaigns, projects and initiatives in 2015 at the traditional 19th annual reception PRijem held this week in Belgrade.

The special guest of the evening was Maxim Behar, President of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) that recently welcomed DSOJ within its members. A total of 87 projects competed for the awards in 13 different categories at this year’s PRijem.

On the occasion of awarding ceremony, President of DSOJ, Jelena Sarenac, said to guests at the event:

“The Serbian Public Relations Association gathers all PR professionals in Serbia and improves our profession actively. We want to empower cooperation with our colleagues and similar organisations all over the world, in order to keep in track with newest trends and also present examples of good practice from our market globally. At this journey, membership in ICCO is vital for us, since it makes our organisation more visible both in our country and internationally. We are very happy and proud for having the President of ICCO, Mr. Maxim Behar, with us at our yearly awarding ceremony in Belgrade.”

At this year’s awarding ceremony, the Serbian Public Relations Association awarded Represent Communications with PR agency of the year (large agencies) and SVA agency (small and medium agencies).

Awards also went to New Moment New Ideas Company, Executive Group, Home Page, Smart Vision and Blumen Group, while a special award for Extraordinary Contribution to Communications went to Miloje Sekulic from Home Page agency.

 

ABOUT SERBIAN PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOCIATION (DSOJ)

The Serbian Public Relations Association was established on 17 May 2004, continuing the tradition of PR Society of Yugoslavia – the oldest professional organisation in this field on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The company founders are prominent representatives of the University, the agency for public relations, government institutions and organisations, as well as large private companies. The mission of the organisation is to contribute to the field and the public relations profession, to assist the introduction and implementation of the highest professional and ethical standards and implement cutting-edge professional programs, organisation of conferences, seminars and training, as well as international cooperation and exchange of experiences.

http://pr.org.rs/

 

Winning at Cannes – an Interview with Tom Beckman, Prime PR

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Swedish agency Prime has received more Cannes Lions awards than any PR agency since the creation of PR Lions in 2009. Cannes Lions interviews Tom Beckman, Executive Creative Director and Senior Partner of Prime PR, about what it’s like to win and the affect on the agency.

Tell us about the foundations of Prime; where do the agency’s roots lie?

Our origin traces back to American political campaigning in the 90’s. That was probably the real birth of the channel agnostic approach – long before social media or even the internet. To build and activate a universe of communication assets under one common frame story is still a valid principle for us.

What is the philosophy of the agency?

Communications should have a value in itself beyond the product, idea or message its promotion. We try to create value that generates awareness – not create awareness that generates value.

How did you first learn about the Cannes Lions Festival?

The founder of legendary ad agency Forsman Bodenfors took us there. He introduced us to the festival and how to use the insights from the festival to grow our business. And we’ve been there ever since. For our delegates it’s all work and (almost) no play – see all the seminars, look at all the case reels, and bring home the insights.

When did you know you were ready to enter?

We started to compare our work with the best work out there from all agencies, not just PR agencies. And the only way to do that is start building your own case videos. We didn’t know if we were ready when we entered the first time – I guess you must just start somewhere and build from your experiences and learnings.

Tell us about the experience of winning your first Lion.

A shortlist is really a remarkable achievement. In fact – the way I evaluate our performance is the number of shortlists divided by the number of different campaigns entered (not multiple entries of the same campaign). That gives you a good idea of the strength of your agency. To win a Gold – that’s special of course. People don’t realize how big the audience actually is on that stage – it’s insane.

How do you choose the work to enter into Cannes?

Sometimes the clients take the initiative, sometimes it’s the team. Regardless we make sure that the work can represent us and our clients. Entering in the right category is important of course. The fact that a good case fits in a lot of categories proves how integrated the industry is today.

Since first entering in 2010 Prime has been awarded 14 PR Lions alone – what impact has this had on your business?

It has given us access to pitches we didn’t get have before. And going head to head with ad agencies forced us to up our game even more. It has led to more CMO budgets and to a ticket to play on an international arena.

How did winning influence the culture of your team?

It has changed the way clients look at us obviously. But more importantly it has created an internal culture of living up to our own requirements and expectations. We now benchmark with the best – and that’s a painful but rewarding relationship to your own work. It has helped us break free from limiting industry definitions.

What advice would you give PR agencies looking to enter work into PR Lions?

Cannes Lions is about ideas. Make sure your unique idea comes through. And then validate the relevance of that idea through engagement from stakeholders and media. Getting a lot of clippings is not enough – all decent campaigns in Cannes have that. Instead make sure to focus on the problem and the solution – what did you solve and why was it important? And show how the idea came to life and became a part of society or discussion.

 

ICCO named Best International Association at Association Excellence Awards

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The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) has been named Best International Association at the Association Excellence Awards. ICCO won the award on Friday at London’s Hilton Bankside hotel, beating four other shortlisted associations including the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). 
 
The Best International Association award was presented as a recognition of ICCO’s impressive achievement of its goals in 2015.
 
Francis Ingham MPRCA, ICCO Chief Executive said: “ICCO is in rude health – in fact, we’re in a stronger position than ever. We represent more consultancies and more associations than at any time in our history. Our services are better and more numerous than they’ve ever been. Our relations with other leading organisations such as AMEC have never been deeper. 
 
“So I am delighted that this strength has been recognised by the Association Excellence Awards. I’m proud to agree that yes, ICCO is indeed the best international association in the world. And I’m honoured to be its Chief Executive.” 
 
The judges said that “ICCO has worked hard to position itself at the centre of the industry and has a fantastic set of services and benefits. They launched a really exciting set of recent activities.”
The award recognised the fact that ICCO achieved the following goals during 2015:
 
To grow ICCO’s membership, and increase turnover by 20%
Three associations joined in 2014-2015: Canada, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. ICCO also launched its Direct Membership proposition and welcomed eight new consultancies and networks to the organisation. ICCO membership grew to 33 national trade associations in 32 countries across the globe, collectively representing 2,500 PR firms. ICCO turnover increased by 46%. 
 
To increase engagement and influence with our existing national trade associations worldwide 
ICCO set up committees where each country member is invited to contribute to set the agenda for the organisation. ICCO also built a new user-friendly website, and launched Global Women in PR, a new global networking organisation for senior women working in public relations. 
 
To increase perception of ICCO as being central to the global PR industry
ICCO became a sponsor of the Young PR Lions competition at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, to increase the awareness of young talent at the festival. ICCO also formed partnerships with Haymarket, publisher of PRWeek, and AMEC.
 
To bring more content, research and events to members 
ICCO launched the World PR Report, in which it polls its member trade associations and gathers their opinions on a wide range of topics. ICCO also launched its PulseCheck, providing a quarterly update for members on global markets, and a revised and enlarged PR Professional’s Guide to Evaluation.
 
On the events side, ICCO launched the inaugural ICCO Global Awards in London at the Riverbank Plaza Hotel on Thursday 26th November 2015. Over 28 countries entered the Awards, which was attended by PR professionals from around the world. 
 
ICCO also held the ICCO Global Summit in Milan, bringing together senior practitioners from public relations consultancies around the world, in conjunction with the Milan EXPO 2015. 
 
About ICCO
The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations in 32 countries across the globe: from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australasia. Collectively, these associations represent over 2,500 PR firms. ICCO provides a forum for senior management of the world’s best PR consultancies to meet and address issues of mutual interest and concern.
 

Inaugural ICCO Global Awards 2015 recognise consultancy and individual PR excellence

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London 27th November 2015: The ICCO Global Awards 2015 saw leading agencies, and individuals from across 6 continents win accolades for effectiveness in PR and communications.

Leading PR practitioners from across the globe attended the ICCO Global Awards 2015 at the Park Plaza Hotel, Riverbank on the evening of Thursday 26th November, hosted by BBC personality Helen Fospero. Top consultancies, individuals, and networks all competed for awards in 18 categories.

The winners for Independent Consultancy of Year include: Interel Group for the EMEA region, Avian Media for the APAC region and Imagem Corporativa in the Americas.

Christopher Onderstall of FleishmanHillard won the award for Rising Star of the Year while Nitin Mantri of Avian Media was awarded PR Leader of the Year.

Ketchum walked away with the award for Regional Network of the Year in the Americas, Weber Shandwick in APAC and TRACCS in EMEA.

David Gallagher, CEO of Ketchum Europe and ICCO Jury President said: “We believe that effectiveness is the one true and equal parameter we can all be measured by. We wanted to recognise not just the obvious, loudest campaigns but the smartest, most elegant, and highest value work our industry has to offer. Congratulations to all the winners.”

Francis Ingham, ICCO Chief Executive, said: “I would like to congratulate the winners, and indeed all of those shortlisted. We are delighted that our inaugural awards have been such a success, celebrating outstanding PR professionalism from around the world. PR is great shape on every continent, and ICCO is proud to help showcase that fact.”

The full list of winners is below:

Regional Network of the Year Award:      

EMEA: TRACCS

APAC: Weber Shandwick

AMERICAS: Ketchum

 

Independent Consultancy of the Year Award:

EMEA: Interel Group

APAC: Avian Media

AMERICAS: Imagem Corporativa

 

World’s Best PR Campaigns Award:        

Media Relations: Hill + Knowlton Strategies

Consumer: Burson-Marsteller

Digital and New Media: MSL Group

B2B: NetProfile

CSR: The Skills Group

Not for profit: CROS

Technology: MSL Group

Crisis & issues: CROS

Broadcast: Lansons

Healthcare: FleishmanHillard

 

Rising Star of the Year Award:

Christopher Onderstall, FleishmanHillard

 

PR Leader of the Year Award:

Nitin Mantri, Avian Media

 

ICCO Hall of Fame:

Arun Sudhaman, The Holmes Report

Kathy Cripps, PR Council

Ray Kotcher, Ketchum

Richard Houghton, Agency Doctor

Barry Leggetter, AMEC

 

About ICCO
The International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) is the voice of public relations consultancies around the world. The ICCO membership comprises national trade associations in 32 countries across the globe in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Collectively, these associations represent some 2,500 PR firms.
www.iccopr.com

 

Press Contact

Binta Kristin Hammerich
ICCO General Manager
binta.hammerich@iccopr.com

 

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