COMMUNITY PR WINS IN 2017

It wasn’t large city agencies, McDonalds, or Spark that took out the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) Supreme Awards this year.
 
One was solo practitioner Chelsea Halliwell from Christchurch and the other was agency Campbell Squared based in the region of Tauranga. The awards were held Thursday May 25th at the Great Hall in Christchurch, as part of PRINZ conference entitled ‘Seismic Shifts’.

Both winning campaigns demonstrated the real impact public relations can have on social change. Both agencies started with humble home-based beginnings and community values entrenched.

One of the largest Treaty settlements to date was spurred by Campbell Squared Communications of Tauranga. They developed a programme and ran a campaign that used video and livestreaming to turn thousands of disengaged whanau members into supporters who voted ‘yes’. At the official signing, the client said the agency taught them to move beyond their cultural constraints and embrace technology.

In what some might call a ‘David Vs. Goliath’ campaign, Chelsea Halliwell, solo practitioner, also received the Supreme Award for ‘Nothing but the facts – how Redcliffs won its school back’. This campaign was to reverse the Ministry of Education’s decision to close Redcliffs School post-earthquake. Its effective lobbying and garnering of immense community support resulted in the desired change. Redcliffs School remains.

PRINZ Awards Chief Judge, Lisa Finucane, FPRINZ, said that while presenting two winners is unusual and was last done in 2012, the outcomes of both campaigns indicated a real social shift and it was impossible to separate the two.

“These were two excellent campaigns and certainly demonstrate the way ethical public relations can be used to engage communities and decision makers. They both demonstrate a clear two-way flow of information, reaching people and groups that may have been missed in the past, and helped achieve an outcome with real benefits to stakeholders,” she said.

The PRINZ Awards are now in their 43rd year, recognising excellence in New Zealand’s public relations and communications industry, promoting continuous improvement, and celebrating best practice. This year’s awards attracted a record 98 entries from around the country.
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The Awards are judged by Fellows and senior practitioners of the Institute with the assistance of international colleagues. ​