My 'Inside Guide to how to win the 2005 PR Awards' is based on my experience this year. Normally, you would have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for this kind of advice but, luckily, Media readers get it at no extra charge!
There are a number of rules, but don't be intimidated. Rules are meant to be broken.
Rule 1: Don't do ordinary, everyday work and expect to get an award for it. This year, approximately a third of the entries submitted were perfectly adequate and deserved to be paid for by corporations and agencies, but would definitely not be able to even limp past the 'honourable mention' finishing line.
No matter how cleverly packaged and no matter how good your award entry writers are, I'm sorry, a spokesperson media tour is a media tour is a media tour. Be happy you got paid for the work, give yourself a bonus, host a lunch for your team, but don't bother entering.
Rule 2: Read the entry rules. A number of potential winners were docked five points each for missing signed client validation.
Rule 3: Have pity on the judges. If your work is outstanding, it should stand out. There is room to write lively entries that can delight the judges who read zillions of entries. Not to say that style over substance will get you any points, but it was amazing how many entries began: 'The Excellent Double Happiness Soup Company was in third place in the highly competitive soup category in 2003, and then in 2004, the company writing this award entry came on the scene and strategies were developed and then executed and then newspapers tripped over themselves to write stories about the company and they even got on CNBC and the brand and the CEO became famous and at the time this entry was written sales haven't quite gone up yet, but they are expected to soon'. You can all do better than that.
Rule 4: Strive to do amazing work everyday. Start trying to win awards the moment your boss gives you the brief, or when you are sitting in your client's lobby. The winning moments are in the writing and execution of the plan. The greatness of any campaign can be accurately measured in inverse proportion to the number of hours it takes to write it up. Corollary: committees write lousy entries. Get your best brains together and have them all share their best ideas with one empowered writer.
As a judge, I didn't feel like I was in a courtroom - more like Donald Trump in The Apprentice, saying to the entrants: "You! Up to the suite, and you, down to the street." Here's hoping that this guide helps your 2005 entries to catch the right elevator.