Excellence in Media Relations

Sponsored by

Back to full list

This category recognises all forms of media relations programmes. Entries can reflect any/all forms of media, such as:

  • Online
  • Digital
  • Print
  • Broadcast.

Entries should fully demonstrate the quality of your strategic thinking and how media relations activities were conducted to an exceptional standard to achieve quality and in-depth coverage within the target media space through the selected channels (e.g. print, online, blog, Twitter, Facebook, webcast, YouTube).

Judges will want you to put your campaign into context at the outset, to clarify the rationale behind your strategy and tactics. They need to know what your ambitions were and how media was used to drive them. Please make it clear if your work was part of an overall strategy involving other factors (e.g., policy change). Is it one programme within a longer-term strategy? If the campaign is part of a broader-reaching overall campaign, say so. Also, demonstrate you understand the pressures and working practices of media organisations and show that you flexed the offer to maximise outcomes for your clients (if appropriate).

Judges will want to know how you matched the key messages to your target audience. They will also want to see where your campaign resulted in a real-life behaviour change from a target audience, as a result of the media coverage (e.g. be that at an organisation/b2b level or public).

They will also be examining how you decided upon your measures for success, and then how you went on to measure activity and the impact your media relations programme had, paying special attention to outputs (e.g., conversions/analytics or feedback from the end user) and what outcomes your programme achieved. All online media must be evaluated and benchmarked effectively. Feedback from professional organisations, opinion leaders and the end user is vital. Please note that, while OTS is an important metric and demonstrates the extent to which the specific target audience was reached, OTS alone may not be scored as an outcome.

It is essential that you specify which (if any) coverage was paid for and the budget allocated for the campaign or project by band. You must also clearly identify where supporting evidence can be found in support of any/all claims you make within the entry.

You should state whether your campaign was created globally, regionally or locally and how it was measured – globally, regionally or locally – and who achieved the coverage (i.e. the project owner, network partner or affiliated agency).

Implementation – 15 marks (400 words)

  • Please describe how you implemented the project or programme
  • Please briefly outline why these specific tactics were selected
  • For a programme this should include describing what tactics were deployed to implement the strategy

Judges’ top tips

  • The judges need to know what you did or developed to judge this section – please keep descriptions clear and succinct
  • When awarding marks in this section the judges will reward:
    • a logical selection of tactical projects or outputs
    • creativity and innovation in the way you execute the tactics
    • clever selection and maximisation of channels
    • scientific acumen and robustness
    • the use of insights in finding creative ways to engage the defined audiences.

JUDGING CRITERIA AND ENTRY FORMAT

Executive Summary – 200 words. 0 (zero) marks

This will be used if your entry is selected as a finalist. Please state clearly why this event is award-worthy – what is unique, differentiating and innovative about it.

Main entry

Budget Band* Information, as below:

Band A under £10,000

Band B £10,001-£25,000

Band C £25,001-£50,000

Band D £50,001-£100,000

Band E £100,001-£200,000

Band F over £200,001.

*fee value of time spent

If your client has declined to allow this, you must state this within your submission.

  • Failure to provide the budget band seriously impacts the judge’s ability to assess the entry against other entries and may result in the entry being disqualified
  • The budget band provides important context for judging the innovation, delivery and impact of a piece of work.
  • Impressive work is not always dependent on budget size, so there is no right or wrong budget.

Situation Analysis, needs assessment and desired impact – 15 marks (300 words)

  • In this section you should show the judges how well you understood the situation at the start of the project, establishing a clear need for the initiative and the overall impact you intended to make
  • Use this section/analysis to clearly lay out benchmark data that you will refer to in your measurement of effectiveness later
  • Show the judges the best information, data and insights you have about uptake of health interventions, current practice, defining/segmenting audiences, identifying educational or information needs, which channels will best reach the audience, competitive environment, creative landscape etc before the start of your work.

Judges’ top tip

  • We work and operate in a world where there is a wealth of data and insights, so there is no excuse for projects and programmes that are planned without this data. The judges will reward the strength, robustness and variety of data and insights used to help to shape a holistic view of the situation and audiences.

Objectives – 15 marks (250 words)

Describe the objectives for the project or programme including outputs (i.e., what materials/platforms are produced), out-takes (i.e., post-event evaluation, surveys showing changes in knowledge/understanding, social media/website engagement, sharing and commenting), and outcomes (i.e., changes in patient behaviour or outcomes, clinical practice or health policy versus the benchmark stated in the situation analysis) and specifically how these will be measured

Strategy – 15 marks (250 words)

  • Please outline the rationale behind the specific approach undertaken
  • Refer to the data and insight in the situation analysis section
  • Share any strategic considerations that were given to ensure optimal inclusivity, representation and sustainability in this initiative
  • Explain why this was the right strategy and any points to emphasise bold or innovative strategy selection.

Judges’ top tips

The judges will:

  • Reward clarity of thought around strategies and how they are communicated – bullet points may be better than long prose
  • Assess how well the chosen strategy/ strategies might achieve objectives
  • Reward entries showing a clever or insightful way that you interpreted the data and insights from the situation analysis to set your strategy
  • Reward innovation in strategy
  • Recognise how different communications disciplines are blended as part of the strategic approach.

Implementation – 15 marks (400 words)

Please refer to the specific category for a description of what the judges are looking for.

Effectiveness Part One: Outputs and Outtakes vs Objectives – 10 marks (200 words)

  • To help the judges assess the strength of the evaluation, please describe how successful the project or programme was in terms of outputs and outtakes achieved versus the relevant measurements set in the Objectives section
  • You may include comments from third-party stakeholders in this section but ONLY if they clearly help to demonstrate the impact of the work and were a pre-planned part of your measurement approach

Effectiveness Part Two: Outcomes vs Objectives – 10 marks (200 words)

  • To help the judges assess the strength of the evaluation, please describe how successful the project or programme was in terms of the outcomes achieved versus the relevant measurements set in the Objectives section
  • You may include comments from third-party stakeholders in this section but ONLY if they clearly help to demonstrate the impact of the work and were a pre-planned part of your measurement approach.

Supporting Materials

Please only send information that helps the judges to see how you researched, planned, implemented and measured the programme within each specific category, e.g.:

  • Information illustrating how the strategy was brought to life is helpful but we don’t need a copy of every item
  • Information supporting the evaluation and measurement is the most relevant
  • ESSENTIAL: a summary sheet must be supplied detailing each piece of supporting material and clearly identifying where evidence can be found to support claims in the entry
  • PLUS: An approved visual image or video that supports the entry for use in print, results pages online and in the AV.

Don’t forget:

Please disclose if any other companies and/or organisations were involved in delivering this submission (research, creative, logistics, production, etc.). This will be a requirement when you submit your entry.

Timeframe eligibility

Work conducted during the two-year period between January 2023 and December 2024 will be eligible for submission. If the project, programme, or event was previously entered into the Communiqué Awards programme, any new entries must provide benchmark data to clearly demonstrate how effectiveness was evaluated and how it has developed over time between the two submissions. Submissions that fail to disclose this will be excluded from the judging process.