Slide divider Welcome to the

MEPRA brand image!

2014 Middle East PR Awards

#MEPRAwards

Deadline for submission; Thursday 9th October 2014

Awards Objectives

•  Celebrate achievement & best practice •  Highlight work of Middle East PR professionals •  Encourage the development & diversification of practice areas •  Stimulate and excite both PR profession and wider business community to the scope and

potential of what they can achieve through PR •  Enable MEPRA to sustain its mission of raising the Industry’s standards in the region •  Help attract and recognise talent

Total of 15 Awards Categories •  International review, bench mark & best practice

–  12 best practice categories –  Plus 3 team & individual categories

Awards Categories - Sectors & services •  Consumer  goods    

–  (eg.  FMCG  ,  inc.    household  products,  food  &  drink,  automo<ve,  sportswear,  fashion  &  clothing,  toiletry,  cosme<cs)  

•  Consumer  services  –  (eg.  Financial  services,  travel,  hospitality,  entertainment  &  leisure,  retail,  business  equipment  &  services,  commercial  

public  services)  

•  Business  to  business  

•  Healthcare  &  services  –  (eg.  private  healthcare  &  clinics,  consumer  health,  healthcare  equipment,  medical  &  dental  services,  OTC  etc)  

•  Government  communica8ons  –  Programmes  and  policies  conducted  on  behalf  of  public  bodies  (local  /  regional  /federal  government  departments  or  

authori<es)      •  Corporate  reputa8on  &  image    

–  Inc.  Crisis/issues  management  to  plan  and  /  or  handle  the  consequences  of  a  crisis  or  issue  that  may  affect  a  company’s  image  or  reputa<on  

   •  Internal  communica8ons  

–  Business  to  employee,  employee  engagement      •  Corporate  responsibility  &  environmental  PR  

–  Addressing  social  and  ethical  issues  and/or  addressing  a  green  or  environmental  issue  in  order  to  protect  or  improve  a  product  image  or  reputa<on  

Awards Categories - Technique •  Best  use  of  sponsorship  

–  Of  an  event  or  person  to  leverage  a  brand,  product  or  reputa<on  

•  Best  launch  /Live  event  /Stunt  –  Of  a  product  or  service  

•  Best  use  of  media  rela8ons  –  consumer  or  trade  –  Use  of  mass  media  to  posi<vely  profile  a  product  or  service  in  order  to  change  aNtudes  among  

targeted  media  audiences  and  meet  client  /  project  ini<a<ves  

•  Best  use  of  social  media  /  digital  PR    –  Websites,  microsites  or  intranet  sites,  search  engines,  mobile  devices  and  applica<ons  and  other  

digital  PR  techniques  to  fully  execute  or  support  a  PR  campaign  –  Generated  content,  including  blogs,  social  networking  sites,  viral  and  applica<ons    

•  Best  integrated  campaign  –  Led  by  PR  

Awards Categories – People & Agency •  In-­‐House  Team  of  the  Year      •  Agency  of  year        •  The  “Dave  Robinson”  Awards  for  Outstanding  Young  Communicator  of  the  Year    –  under  

30  by  01  October  2014            Not  open  to  entries  x  2    •  Overall  Campaign  of  the  Year  

•  Chairman’s  Award  –  Contribu<on  to  the  PR  profession  in  the  Middle  East      

Entry Process STEP  1  MEPRA  members  -­‐  LOG  IN  to  your  account  and  proceed  to  the  'Submit  an  Award'  sec<on  from  the  main  website  menu.  Non-­‐members  -­‐  Create  a  Free  User  Account.    An  ac<va<on  link  will  be  sent  to  your  email  address.  Once  you  have  ac<vated  your  account,  proceed  to  the  'Submit  an  Awards'  sec<on  from  the  main  website  menu.    STEP  2  Purchase  your  Awards  Credits  following  the  online  payment  process  as  directed.  1  Award  Credit  =  1  Award  Entry!    STEP  3  Once  you  have  paid  for  your  Awards  Credits  or  your  Credits  have  been  allocated  to  your  account,  select  the  'Submit  an  

Award'  bu]on      You  will  now  access  the  Online  Awards  Entry  Submission  form  where  you  can  select  the  relevant  category  and  a]ach  your  

submission  (word/PDF/PPT)    You  will  also  be  able  to  upload  up  to  3  suppor8ng  documents.  For  files  over  50MB,  please  email  us  on  admin@mepra.org.    Once  your  entry  has  successfully  been  submi]ed,  you  will  be  able  to  submit  an  new  one.  

   

Both  entries  and  suppor8ng  documents  MUST  be  submi]ed  by  Thursday  9th  October  2014  at  midnight.      

Judging Process •  Entry Validation – MEPRA GM

•  1st Round / Short listing

Scoring out of 100 (stated as a %) Ø  Meeting entry requirements and identification of problem or issue – maximum of 10 points Ø  Strategy – maximum of 20 points Ø  Research - maximum of 20 points Ø  Planning – maximum of 10 points Ø  Implementation – maximum of 20 points Ø  Results & evaluation – maximum of 20 points

•  2nd Round/ Winners Selection – Finalists announced on Sunday 2nd November!

The 2013 MEPRA Awards Judges included: •  Brian Lott, Executive Director - Group Communications, Mubadala •  Justin Kent, Managing Director, Fabric •  Huw Gilbert, Senior Director - Corporate Affairs, PEPSICO •  James Mullan, Managing Director, Insight Middle East

Judging Criteria's – Agency of the Year

   

1.  Evidence  of  opera8onal  effec8veness    -­‐  max  25  points        2.  Evidence  of  strong  client  rela8onships/servicing  –  max  25  points      3. Evidence of staff development – max 25 points 4. What else makes them great? – max 25 points

Judging Criteria's – Young Communicator of the Year

1. Does the submission meet entry requirements/quality standards? Score out of 10 2. Evidence of professional knowledge / competency - Score out of 20 3. Understands clients' business objectives etc.. - Score out of 20 4. Team player Evidence - Score out of 20 5. Goes over and beyond call of duty - Score out of 10 6. Achievements - Score out of 10

What Makes a Winning Entry… Tell the story – what makes this entry award winning, what challenge did you face? What it a challenge or a standard launch? Who were the audiences, are these clearly defined? Did

the solution address the problem?

Judges are looking for: •  Strategy •  Research •  Planning & break through thinking •  Execution excellence - Method deployed •  Results, measurement & evaluation – effective against the original objectives?

–  Budget (can be stated as a ball park) –  Word count, how you tell the story, clear & concise, is it right for the category? Is this the

best work (quality v quantity) has the entry been compiled with integrity and ethical in its submission?

Key dates

Awards entries open on Thursday 19th June Awards submission deadline: Thursday 9th October at midnight UAE time (including ALL

supporting materials) Awards Gala Event:

Wednesday 26th November Venue to be confirmed

A few tips & tricks from the Judges!

•  Presentation of entry (ease of reading, clarity, no typos) •  Answers to be clearly set against the five areas of judging •  Entries should be for campaigns that are above and beyond everyday work •  Take the entry seriously and give it time •  Results to reflect ROI but not ad value •  Explain the campaign in a way where we don't have to ask questions, ie needs to stand on its

own 2 feet •  Make sure the entry is in the correct category •  If in doubt, ask questions before you submit! •  Don't be afraid to interest, surprise and/or amuse the judges •  You're pitching to the judges - treat it like a pitch •  Tell a story that engages •  Where pictures and well-made videos can illuminate your entry, let them do so

Thank you & good luck!