From promoting pizza to demonstrating purpose and a powerful sense of community, the very best campaigns and talent in the South West were celebrated on 22nd June at the DARE Awards. M-Shed hosted festivities on a balmy Bristol summer evening that was enjoyed by all.
Here, we share some of these award-winning campaigns created and delivered by our members and agencies based in the South West.
For the complete list of winners please take a look here.
Purpose Award
Wild Card & Evergreen Miracle-Gro
Georgie Upton, MD of Wild Card PR talks about their campaign, on behalf of Miracle-Gro, where the brief was to align Miracle-Gro with the positive benefits of gardening during Mental Health Awareness Week 2021 (the theme of which was nature).
“In response, we partnered with footballer and mental health campaigner, Wayne Bridge, to front a rallying cry for the nation to pledge to spend more time in the gardens. Once consumers made their pledge, they received a free copy of the ‘Miracle-Gro Wellbeing Journal’ - containing brilliant hints and tips for tending to your mental health whilst tending to your garden.
“To drive pledges and important conversations, Wayne talked to broadcast media about how gardening and being outdoors can have a positive impact on mental health. We also pitched the story to print and digital media, as well as engaging influencers.
“The results were incredible – over 5,000 pledges and sign-ups for the journal driven by 284 articles, including over five hours of airtime across 16 live broadcast interviews on Sky News, ITV London, talkSPORT and more.”
Event/Launch of the Year
MPC and the Hertfordshire Growth Board – the Hertfordshire Infrastructure and Development Board
PRCA member MPC talks about how their winning entry was focused on engaging with the development and construction sector to deliver positive growth across Hertfordshire:
“The Hertfordshire Infrastructure and Development Board was established by the Hertfordshire Growth Board to create a link between the local authorities and the development and construction sector, aiming to work in partnership to deliver sustainable economic growth and high quality placemaking.
“To further the Board’s engagement, the need for regular events where the groups could establish relationships was identified. MPC was selected by the Hertfordshire Growth Board to establish the Hertfordshire Infrastructure and Development Board. A membership-funded organisation that brings together constituent local authorities and the development and construction sector, the organisation kicked-off with a launch in November 2021.
“Since the success of the launch, the Board has seen two more events, hosted in February and June. Through bridging the gap between local authorities and developers, the Board enables meaningful discourse and strong relationships in the region, championing growth and an understanding of the goals of developers and local authorities.”
Integrated Campaign of the Year Award
Speed Communications - Rylan x i heart Wines. The perfect pairing.
i heart Wines challenged Speed to break into the UK’s top ten wine brands. Growth in brand awareness and saliency was critical to outpace competitors spending ATL.
Strategically, a simple, compelling and memorable campaign was needed. What better solution than a brand ambassador – someone who embodies the brand personality. Cue Rylan. He’s down-to-earth, funny, relatable, smart, caring, accessible and loads of fun.
Speed devised a creative platform to give the ambassador campaign a focus. Tapping into consumer sentiment, the agency identified that COVID had changed our definition of ‘fun’. It’s less about the occasion and more about those we share it with. Leveraging this insight, Speed built the campaign around being “open for fun”.
Speed identified key moments that i heart Wines could own with Rylan fronting the activations to grow brand awareness and recognition, these included:
Raise a Glass – Rylan’s take on tasting notes to launch the partnership
Come Wine with Me – a dinner party serving up lots of fun and hosted by Rylan
Pass the Prosecco – a fun and prosecco fuelled Christmas party with Rylan
These moments were supported through-the-line with on-pack promotions, TV ad voiceover, media interviews and social media content – all driven with a standout bank of rich assets including imagery, video and soundbites – developed by Speed. The consumer PR campaign was the key brand activation channel.
The results speak for themselves with 78 pieces of media coverage secured, a 20.5% growth in social media followers, new listings achieved with Morrisons and Asda, a +7% in brand growth, an all-time high in brand penetration of 7.5% (Kantar) plus #7 status in the UK’s top wine brands.
The Team Culture and Community Award
Clearly PR
Here’s a snippet from their winning entry on what they and the PRCA DARE judges feel makes them special:
“Doing good is embedded in everything that Clearly does each day. From homelessness to mental health, youth unemployment and child literacy – the causes we support are close to our hearts.
“We give 2% of total net income annually to sustainability and social impact initiatives. Additionally, 10% of each employee’s contracted hours provide pro bono support for community initiatives. Recent charities supported include Unseen, Mentoring Plus and NHS Charities Together.
“In November 2021, Clearly became a Certified B Corporation – only the 7th out of over 4,000 PR agencies in the UK to be accredited.
“However, none of the above would be possible if we didn’t have the people within Clearly who are so passionate about the community around them. We work hard to create an environment where they can thrive through plentiful benefits such as flexible working models, trained and dedicated mental health first aiders as well as competitive maternity and paternity policies.
“We are very proud of our people and achievements to date and can’t wait to see what the next year holds.”
The PRCA DARE awards are specifically run to identify and celebrate PR talent in the South West and other PRCA regions and nations .
Winners from each category can go forward to the Grand Prix DARE awards which will be held in London on 6th October 2022.