Carswell Gould has gone for gold and scooped a top regional PR award for its work with Southampton City College.
CG entered CIPR Wessex's PRide Awards earlier this year and was shortlisted in the media relations category. Last night CG's Creative Director, Ed Gould, and PR Account Executive, Laura Downton, attended the glitzy award ceremony at the De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel in Southampton to find out how they had got on.
The media relations category was the most hotly-contested award of the night, with five agencies battling it out to be crowned winner. In the end there could only be one and it was Carswell Gould that scooped the gong.
Laura said: "It was a great feeling when our name was read out - I couldn't believe it! The competition was incredibly tough and we were up against some fantastic campaigns so for ours to be crowned the best was brilliant. It's a testament to all the hard work put in by the team here and at City College."
Carswell Gould will now go on to the national awards, where it could take the title of best media relations campaign in the country.
CG's winning campaign was for its work with Southampton City College. Since November 2008 Carswell Gould has dramatically improved the college's media relations and coverage, achieving the college's objectives of raising awareness of its successes.
The judges said the following about CG's entry: “This is a classic example of how a well-planned and executed media relations campaign can transform the awareness of an organisation and its status. Southampton City College was successful, but nobody knew it. “By using experts in PR, the college began to realise that its many activities were of great interest to the community it serves. The programme exploited having a local MP, who was also a Government Minister, to get the Prime Minister involved and was also able to exploit the banking crisis to its advantage. “A higher media profile helped involve HRH The Princess Royal and, with awareness and celebrity, the college has also become 'cool'. Excellent results on a basic budget.”
There were 1,488 entries in the Wessex CIPR PRide Awards this year and it is the only awards scheme which showcases the best PR work being carried out across the UK regions and nations. The judging process was rigorous with a national panel of industry experts assessing the shortlisted entries and choosing the winners.
Photo courtesy of Postart.co.uk.
READ WHAT THE JUDGES HAD TO SAY ABOUT CG'S CITY COLLEGE CAMPAIGN ON THE CIPR WEBSITE. SIMPLY SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE TO 'BEST MEDIA RELATIONS' CATEGORY.
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