Click here to download this year's Call for Entry
A - Best Media Relations Campaign
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding earned media coverage. The entry will demonstrate thinking beyond the standard media release; it will show how powerful storytelling and strong content delivered exceptional results in a competitive and cluttered market. Judges will need to understand the challenge and context, and will be looking for a clear strategy, the ‘hook’ and effective execution that resulted in outstanding media coverage.
B - Best Media Partnership
-This category rewards remarkable integrated PR, Experiential and/or Social campaigns that use media partnerships to drive awareness and/or engagement. The partnership should be a core component of the campaign, and demonstrate how it was critical to success of the overall campaign.
C - Best Corporate PR
This category recognises outstanding public affairs or stakeholder/community management campaigns. Focusing on government relations, issues management, social responsibility, community management or a combination. Your campaign must influence public policy, build, maintain or manage a strong reputation, deliver a positive impact for the business or community and/or manage stakeholders. Judges will be looking for clever use of insights and research, along with evidence of how and why stakeholders and/or communities were successfully influenced and impacted by the campaign.
D - Best Use of Social Media
This category recognises outstanding social media campaigns. We want to know how you brought all the pieces together to drive exceptional results, not just listing reach results. Judges will be looking for evidence of what the business challenge was and how you approached it with insights and social media strategy. Judges will look for creativity, innovation, sound communication and, of course, data and metrics, showing how your campaign measured up against objectives.
E – Best Social Content Creator or Influencer Marketing Campaign
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding social content creator or influencer marketing campaigns. We want to know how you utilised social media influencers or content creators for the good of your brand and drove results, not just ‘likes’. Judges will be looking for evidence of what the business challenge was and how you approached it using insights - right from content creative, channel planning and content creator or influencer selection. Judges will look for content creator or influencer + brand alignment, creativity, innovation, sound communication and, of course, data and metrics, showing how your campaign measured up against objectives.
This category is not about using well known faces as traditional ‘talent’ but using them to drive third-party endorsement which typically includes access to their own social channels or networks.
F - Best Creative PR Campaign
This category recognises entries that deliver an epic campaign that features a creative PR idea at its heart. This category is not simply about tacking on a PR element to an advertising idea or platform, it needs to be earned and led with evidence showing how the idea or execution centered on a great PR idea that drove earned coverage through traditional or social channels. Judges are looking for strong insights and strategic thinking that enhanced the idea and pulled through to the resulting outcomes.
G - Best Experiential or Event
This category recognises entries that deliver outstanding experiential campaigns via live events, pop-ups, expos, product launches or large and small-scale publicity stunts and experiential campaigns. The campaign will be physical in its core but can have virtual elements around it. Judges will be looking for evidence that the experience was the central component of the campaign, rather than campaigns with an experiential/event component. They will also need to understand how the campaign integrated into the wider marketing strategy and how it was leveraged to deliver outstanding campaign results.
H - Best Integrated Campaign
In this category we are looking for an epic campaign that was implemented across a multitude of channels including PR, Experiential and/or Social. This category is not about simply listing multiple channels and executions. Judges are looking for evidence that the campaign was seamlessly, and cleverly, integrated across a multitude of PRES channels and that the PRES channels were the lead channels. Entrants will need to show that each channel or activity was deliberately selected to enhance the idea and that the core strategic and creative thinking was adapted appropriately for each channel, that components were designed to coordinate with each other, and that each component played a significant role in delivering the results.
I - Best Strategic Thinking
The category recognises campaigns that demonstrate extraordinary insights and strategic thinking. The winning campaign will need to demonstrate the strategic thinking process, highlight a clear strategic direction and how this directly contributed to the results. Judges will be looking for evidence of research, insight, quality of thinking and development of strategy.
J - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
This category applies to any PR, experiential and/or social campaigns, brand or non-profit, whose success was dependent on effectively and authentically connecting with specific cultural, ethnic, or underrepresented groups or communities (example: LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, etc.). If the entry had multiple audiences, it is necessary to demonstrate results for the specific audience detailed in the entry. Identify any elements in the creative work or strategy that are specifically directed to this community and any relevant cultural differences, dynamics and/or nuances, traditions, values, linguistic characteristics, and their significance with respect to your submission. Judges may not be familiar with your particular segment, so this is your opportunity to showcase the details that they may miss.
K - Non-profit
This category will recognise the most effective PR, experiential and/or social media work for or by a charity, voluntary or not-for-profit organisation. Particular attention should be paid to the cost-effectiveness of the campaign, and in the case of fundraising activities, to the monies received.
L - Young Practitioner of the Year
This award recognises an individual who has achieved incredible results in the past 18 months and is making a serious mark on the PR, social and/or experiential industry. We are looking for individuals on the rise who are ready to be acknowledged for their contribution today, and more importantly, are likely to be significant change makers and leaders for our industry in the future. Nominees must be under the age of 30 and have less than five year’s total industry experience at the time of the entry deadline.
