The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), the world’s largest professional PR body marked its 4th annual PRCA MENA Awards recently. Celebrating the best of teams, campaigns and individuals in the PR and communications industry, the PRCA MENA Awards 2020 was held at W Dubai – The Palm on Wednesday, 5th February.
The event saw leading practitioners and campaigners from the industry from across the Middle East and North Africa region presenting their quality of work which was a testament to the event being a huge success.
Francis Ingham MPRCA, Director General, PRCA, said: “The PR industry in the Middle East and North Africa is in fantastic shape. Without exception, the quality of work showcased at last night’s PRCA awards was world-beating. We congratulate all of the winners for raising the bar even higher.”
The PRCA MENA Awards 2020 was judged by the biggest names of the world from the PR, communications and journalism industry. A total of 17 highly commended and winners were announced at the awards night for their excellence of work in different categories, amongst which the big wins of the evening were Consultancies of the year and PR leader of the year. The Small Consultancy of the year was won by Brazen while Hill+Knowlton strategies won the Large Consultancy of the Year award. The night’s most celebrated accolade, the PR Leader of the Year award was won by Loretta Ahmed of Houbara Communications.
Here is the list of winners and highly commended teams and individuals in each category:
The Big Wins:
Small Consultancy of the Year – Brazen
Small Consultancy of the Year – BrazenHighly Commended: Atteline
Large Consultancy of the Year – Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Highly Commended: Weber Shandwick MENA
PR Leader of the Year – Loretta Ahmed – Houbara Communications
Highly Commended: Matt Slater and Gregg Fray – Seven Media
Best Integrated Campaign
Winner: Jotun Paints – Master Painter
Highly commended: Houbara Communications and markettiers – Volkswagen Middle East – A Year on the Road campaign
Best PR Campaign: B2B
Winner: ASDA’A BCW – Network International IPO on London Stock Exchange
Highly Commended: FTI Consulting – CFA Institute
Best PR Campaign: B2C
Winner: Edelman – #RSATravelPhotoFails
Highly Commended: Weber Shandwick MENA – What Coffee are you? / McDonalds Kuwait
Best PR Campaign: Media Relations
Winner: Seven Media – Special Olympics World Games
Highly Commended: Memac Ogilvy – Expo 2020 Dubai, Global Optimism Outlook Report
Best PR Campaign: Influencer Relations
Winner: Q Communications – DHL Express, Mo Salah: The Social Human Network
Highly Commended: L’oreal #STEMINIST – BPG Orange
Best PR Campaign: Digital
Winner: Weber Shandwick MENA – How to break the internet in Saudi Arabia / Netflix
Highly Commended: Golin MENA – Jotun Paints – Jotashield
Best PR Campaign: Crisis Communications
Winner: Hill+Knowlton Strategies – Best of BAKU
Highly Commended: Edelman – AlSoudah Season
Best PR Campaign: Game Changer
Winner: M&C Saatchi Public Relations – MOBILY – #EVERYONESKINGDOM
Highly Commended: APCO Worldwide – Pada
Results on a Budget
Winner: Atteline – STEAMathalon, future-proofing the next generation
Highly Commended: Cicero & Bernay Public Relations – Sikka Art Fair 2019
Regional PR Campaign of the Year
Winner: Seven Media – Special Olympics World Games
Highly Commended: ASDA’A BCW – ‘A Call for Reform’ – The 11th Annual ASDA’ BCW Arab Youth Survey
Strategic Communications Campaign
Winner: Cicero & Bernay Public Relations – Azizi Developments
Strategic Communications Campaign Winner: Cicero & Bernay Public Relations Highly Commended: Toh PR – From Market Leader to Global Player – Rebrand of Cluttons to Savills
Social Impact
Winner: BPG Orange – L’oreal #STEMINIST
Highly Commended: Audi Middle East, Houbara Communications, markettiers and Avant Garde – The Audi Innovation Award
In-House Team of the Year
Winner: Discovery
Highly Commended: APCO – UAEREP
Rising Star of the Year
Winner: Hadeel Mansour – markettiers
Highly Commended: Sanjana Soman – Hill+Knowlton Strategies