ICON.PR for sustainability and corporate social responsibility; Red Agency as a large consultancy; the in-house team at Brisbane’s Regatta Hotel; PR Edge winning the National Campaign of the Year – and, the campaign for the release of Australian journalist Peter Greste from custody in Egypt.

These were some of the highlights of the 39th Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) Golden Target Awards (GTAs), staged as part of PRIA’s 2015 National Conference, Huge Transformations at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart, in October.

Major category campaign winners on the night included Rowland; Hardman Communications; PR Edge; Weber Shandwick; HBF; Red Agency; VIVA! Communications; Cannings Purple; Bayer Australia; Ogilvy Australia; Sydney Convicts Rugby Club; and icon.pr.

Susan Redden Makatoa, on behalf of Ogilvy PR, accepted two GTAs, including the International Campaign of the Year, for Ogilvy’s work with Al Jazeera English in freeing Peter Greste.

“For the team, especially Steve Reilly and Michael Hartmann who put in hundreds of hours, this was a once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Ms Redden Makatoa, who is the group MS-corproate for Ogilvy PR. “It was our privilege and our honour to have played a part in bringing Peter home.

“Freedom of the press was absolutely core to this campaign, so we wholeheartedly supported it.”

Sydney Convicts Rugby Union Club media and PR manager Erik Denison accepted the award for the club’s anti-homophobia campaign in the sport.

“Many of the players on our rugby team, myself included, have felt unwelcome in sporting environments because we are gay,” Mr Denison said. “Sport remains one of the last pockets of western society where homophobic behaviour is widely accepted.
“Winning this award is a deep honour and we hope it will continue to help elevate the issue of homophobia in sport and motivate continued change.”

There was a long list of individual award winners. Dr Melanie James of the University of Newcastle, won Educator of the Year; Emma Kershaw of Dairy Australia, won Top sPRinter of the Year; and Arthur Delbridge of LFPRIA and Paul Rushton-Clarke of MPRIA, share the National President’s Award, presented by PRIA Life Fellow and Tasmanian local, Greg Ray.
Group winners included Patrick Macdonald’s Regatta Hotel team, winning In-house Team of the Year.

Red Agency, represented by chief operating officer James Wright, won Large Consultancy of the Year for the second consecutive year.

“We are humbled and honoured to go back-to-back as consultancy of the year,” Mr Wright said. “It’s a testament to the dedication, passion and expertise we have across the consultancy that is delivered day in, day out, that has enabled us to pick up these consecutive wins.

“We have a vision to redefine the meaning and role of PR in today’s world and you can see that in the work we are doing. I want to thank all of my team for their supreme efforts in making this happen.”

Joanne Painter, icon.pr managing director said, “Winning a Golden Target Award is the pinnacle achievement for any PR consultancy and we feel very privileged to have been recognised by our peers. With six awards and one GTA trophy, last night was the biggest in Icon's history – and proof that our integrated approach to PR can achieve big things for clients.
“As an agency committed to sustainability and positive behaviour change campaigns, winning a Golden Target Award for Love Food, Hate Waste was particularly thrilling,” she said.

Fee Townshend, representing PR Edge, took home the National Campaign of the Year with the ‘Yellow Pages: RUOK? Covers Partnership’.

Weber Shandwick Australia managing director Ava Lawler said, “We are grateful to our client, Accor Hotel, who had the courage to support a truly innovative and integrated campaign. We are also fortunate to have an inspired, smart team that worked tirelessly to drive tangible, business-focused results.”

The night was hosted by the Univerity of Tasmania’s Dr Melanie Irons, who also spoke during the main PRIA annual conference earlier that day. She thanked GTA co-chairs Angela Coombes and Grant Smith, for their support and hard work in managing the program. Representatives from Isentia, Arthur J. Gallagher, Copyright Agency and PRIA’s own council and board volunteers, helped present the long list of awardees.

Established in 1976, the Golden Target Awards have recognised excellence in public relations for 39 years. The awards celebrate the achievements of PRIA members and identify innovative and exciting communications programs.

2015 PRIA AWARD WINNERS

 
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MAJOR media and entertainment companies around the world are gearing up for an unprecedented splurge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, in a business climate that is ripe for it, according to research from EY.

EY’s 12th Global Capital Confidence Barometer indicated the pursuit of acquisitions by major media and entertainment groups would accelerate to the highest levels in many years, as company leaders get beyond short-term tactical challenges to focus on long-term strategic opportunities. 

The report also shows media and entertainment (M&E) executives have heightened their focus on “structural industry challenges resulting from digital transformation”. EY’s latest Global Capital Confidence Barometer covered more than 1,600 senior executives, of which 70 were from M&E companies, in more than 60 countries. 

Confidence in the global economy among the world’s leading M&E companies is at its highest point since the global financial crisis (GFC). This wave of confidence is fuelling their deal pipelines and creating an expected record number of mergers and acquisitions, according to EY.

EY Global Media and Entertainment Transaction Advisory Services leader Tom Connolly said, “Media and entertainment companies have set their sights on aggressive growth both organically and through mergers and acquisitions. Companies are looking for deals that will both complement and enhance their digital capabilities.

“More than $10 billion of deals are projected and the number of executives expecting to make an acquisition during the next year has more than doubled, indicating not only confidence in the economy but an enthusiasm for the future.”

Mr Connolly said when asked their perspective on the state of the global economy, an overwhelming 77 percent of executives surveyed said it was improving, with 21 percent indicating it is stable and only 2 percent that it is declining. This is a significantly better outlook from six months ago when only 52 percent of executives said the global economy was improving, 45 percent that it was stable and 3 percent that it was declining.

A vast majority of executives see the global M&A market remaining strong for the remainder of the year with 96 percent indicating it will either improve or remain stable and only 4 percent that it will decline.

Half of all respondents expect to actively pursue acquisitions in the next 12 months, compared with less than half of that (23%) two years ago.

Companies have meaningful deal pipelines, with 29 percent indicating they have five or more deals in their pipeline right now and 60 percent of respondents expect their number of deals to increase during the next 12 months.

Mr Connolly said, additionally, long-term opportunities from ongoing growth resulting from global digital media adoption, combined with overwhelming confidence in the economy, are driving a significant increase in the number of deals in the pipeline and companies’ intentions to invest.

The top markets in which companies will be most likely to invest are China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and the United States .

The report is a survey of senior executives from large media and entertainment companies around the world that gauges corporate confidence in the economy, identifies boardroom trends and provides insight into companies’ capital agenda.

www.ey.com/au

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AUSTRALIAN Regional Media (ARM) chief executive, Neil Monaghan, has launched a Digital Marketing Services (DMS) division to offer full-service marketing solutions for small-to-medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Mr Monaghan said ARM Digital Marketing Solutions (ARM DMS) aims to help local businesses take advantage of the growing digital economy, increase market share and achieve business goals.

“There is an increased need for regional SMEs to have access to digital marketing solutions from a trusted, quality provider,” Mr Monaghan said. “The launch of ARM DMS enables us, through already existing relationships, to fill this gap at cost effective rates.”

The ARM DMS division is being led by Jodi Berdou who oversees ARM’s classifieds including the online platform finda.com.au. 

“ARM DMS provides local businesses with tailored digital solutions that allow them to grow and prosper beyond their traditional brick and mortar establishment,” Ms Berdou said. “Our end-to-end personalised service will differentiate us from other service providers.”

The service has been launched initially in Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast and will expand to other SMEs in ARM’s regional footprint of Queensland and Northern New South Wales from January 2015.

“We are very encouraged by the early results and look forward to extending our service across regional Queensland and Northern NSW,” Ms Berdou said.

ARM has partnered with Spotzer Media Group as its fulfillment provider for its DMS division. Spotzer Media Group provide full-service marketing and digital fulfillment to small and local businesses in 16 countries including Australia and the USA.

In addition, ARM DMS is also working with Google as a premier SMB partner. This allows ARM DMS to provide high quality customer service and expert professional AdWords account management, Ms Berdou said.

ARM DMS will offer its services to new and existing small-to-medium sized business customers initially in the ARM footprint with a view to expanding beyond its traditional publishing boundaries.

The division will offer SMEs a variety of digital marketing services including website creation, SEO, Google AdWords and search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing, e-mail marketing, online and mobile display advertising, video production and Facebook advertising.

www.apn.com.au

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EXTRA >> IT IS a play on the David and Goliath story, so it is no wonder Click PR’s rebranding as Sling & Stone coincides with the public relations agency going after some giant accounts.

The rebrand represents the agency’s focus on exclusively working with disruptive, innovative brands challenging their industries and changing the status quo.

“We are very proud of our agency’s history as Click PR, and what we have achieved over the past four years,” said the agency’s founder and managing director, Vuki Vujasinovic. “However, when looking forward to 2015 and beyond, we realised we needed a new brand to signify who we have become.

“We decided that our identity needed to match our evolved specialty, services offered, mission, and values.

“Just like the entrepreneurs and challenger brands that use smart, efficient, and agile tools to take on bigger competitors, David opted for just a sling and stone when he successfully took on Goliath.

“We’re humbled and honoured that some of the world’s most respected disrupters and innovators choose us among the hundreds of agencies in the country, and we are thrilled that we now have a brand which truly reflects that.

“Our business has grown and evolved since we first opened our doors, and the new name reflects the direction of the business. The rebrand includes a new name, website, brand identity, and all visual communication.

The rebrand completes a huge year for the agency, which won competitive pitches including Autodesk, Criteo, Prezi, and Xero.

“We began representing local startups Clipp, CoinJar, Divvy, OpenAgent,and more,” Mr  Vujasinovic said. “We brought on great talent throughout 2014 including James Hutchinson (AFR), Kya de Rome (Hotwire), Damian Francis (AdNews), and Kasi Reynolds (Macquarie).

“We were also named the 2014 CommsCon Boutique Agency of the Year, and a finalist in the 2014 Holmes Report Asia-Pacific Tech Consultancy of the Year.”

www.slingstone.com

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