Why should businesses enter industry awards? Last week, one of our clients, O-I Glass, won two of its most prestigious industry awards, based on submissions crafted for the judges by 360 Integrated PR.
It got us thinking about why entering and, above all, winning industry awards provide such great value for money for companies, as part of an integrated marketing and communications strategy.
On the face of it, they are quite costly. The client needs to budget for:
- the entrance fee, usually £100 a time or more
- buy extravagantly-priced tickets for the prize dinner, which can be up to £300 a head – it soon mounts up if your client wants to reward staff or take customers or other influencers
- the time it takes for the agency to prepare everything
- their own time providing information, statistics, images, getting customer approvals and samples if necessary
- photography for the entries and subsequent PR
All in all, awards are not something to be undertaken lightly. So, why should businesses do it?
Why enter Industry Awards?
Staff recognition
Industry awards provide a very visible way of recognising the efforts of the specific staff who have worked on a particular project. If the team is invited to attend the ceremony, so much the better, but even if not, entering their project into an award communicates that you recognise the expertise and skills with which they have completed the task.
Driving employee engagement
Internal recognition of this project should also be used to spur other employees on. The entry demonstrates what the company values; smart employees say ‘We could do that’. In addition, internal presentation of the awards helps you share best practice throughout the company: ‘this project won an independently judged award because the team did it this way.’
Customer recognition
If the award involves a project you have completed for a customer, their approval is obviously needed to proceed with an entry. This is a great way to enrich your relationship with the client. Putting your joint activity forward for an award, shows customers you value your relationship with them and believe that working together, you achieve great things.
Networking / Influencer marketing
Use the dinner wisely. Put your best people forward to attend. They can use the event to reinforce their contacts in the industry – such dinners attract buyers and influencers to whom your team can chat in a more relaxed setting than a formal meeting. Indeed, you may be able to grab a few warm words with a decision maker who previously has had their door shut against you. If you win, they see you as a success.
You can also invite people to your table who you want to do biz or simply discuss new ideas with, whether they are customers or business partners.
Brand enhancement / endorsement
And of course, there is the external reputational benefit which comes from the independent endorsement of your activities.
If you are measuring your PR outcomes, there might be plenty of positive social media comments on your brand that night. It should generate good trade media coverage. You can put ‘award-winning’ on your news stories, your boilerplate, your stationery, your website and everything else. What better positive review could there be on your website than independent validation by your peers and influencers of the way you do business?
Conclusion
These are just of few of the myriad reasons why trade awards benefit the entrants. The breadth of the opportunity means it will appeal to many of your stakeholders. So give it a go.
In our next blog, we’ll provide some tips on how to maximise your chances of winning the prize.