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🚨Contest Alert🚨: Be our Valentine and come to the 2019 ACE Awards Gala!
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CPRS Toronto is looking for its Valentine this year and we want to get everyone in the ACE Awards spirit!

One lucky person will win 2 FREE tickets to the 2019 ACE Awards Gala on May 23, 2019. All you have to do is show @CPRSToronto a little Twitter love.

CPRS Toronto’s 2019 ACE Awards Gala will be held at The Carlu for the second year running. The Gala is a professional celebration par excellence. Professional communicators have the opportunity to relax with their friends and clients, enjoy a delicious meal and take an opportunity to review another successful year.

To enter the contest, hop on your Twitter account and head to @CPRSToronto. Find our pinned contest tweet, retweet it, follow @CPRSToronto and tag a friend.
The contest is open until 11:59 p.m. on February 14, 2019, at which point entries will not be accepted and a winner will be chosen.

We’re excited to choose our winner!

 

 

 

CONTEST RULES

1. CONTEST PERIOD: The ACE Awards Gala Valentine Contest (the “Contest”) begins at noon February 13 and ends at 11:59 pm on February 14, 2019 (the “Contest Closing Date”). No purchase necessary.

2. ELIGIBILITY: This Contest is open to all any entrant who complies with the following directives, entering the contest through Twitter.com:
– Shares the original contest Tweet
– Tags a second User
– Follows @CPRSToronto on Twitter

3. HOW TO ENTER: Entrants must comply with the entry requirements included in the original tweet by the Contest Closing Date. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received by the Contest Closing Date. By entering this Contest, entrants agree to be bound by these Contest Rules and by the decisions of CPRS Torotno, which shall be final on all matters relating to this Contest.

4. PRIZES: There is one (1) prize available to be won consisting of 2 tickets to the 2019 ACE Awards Gala (approximate value: $250). Prize must be accepted as awarded and is not transferrable or exchangeable for cash. CPRS Toronto reserves the right to substitute a Prize, in whole or in part, with a prize of at least equal value in the event of the unavailability, for whatever reason, of the advertised Prize.

5. RANDOM DRAW: A random draw will be held at on February 15, 2019 (the “Draw Date”) from among all eligible entries received as of the Contest Closing Date. The winner will be notified by Twitter at the email address used for their entry. If a selected entrant (i) cannot be reached within twelve (12) hours of the first attempt of contact or declines the Prize, the selected entrant will be disqualified and another entrant will be randomly selected from the remaining eligible entries.

6. PRIZE PICKUP: Prize details will be provided by CPRS Toronto closer to the date of the Gala.

7. GENERAL RULES: All entrants release and forever discharge CPRS Toronto (the “Releasees”) and their officers, directors, employees and volunteers from all claims, demands, damages, actions and causes of action arising or to arise by reason of his/her participation in the Contest and/or the administration of the Contest, including, without limitation, the selection and awarding of the Prizes. The Releasees shall in no way bear any liability whatsoever regarding the Prize. In no event shall the Releasees be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or punitive damages arising out of or in connection with this Contest and/or the Prize, however arising, including negligence.

8. APPLICABLE LAWS: This Contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial and municipal law.

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THE ACE AWARDS IS FAST APPROACHING!
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2016 was a doozy! But a lot of hard work was accomplished, so why not reflect on your past achievements and celebrate with an Ace Award!  Display your hard work and strategic success with your peers – a room of industry pros and innovators!

The annual ACE Awards recognize communications excellence in the public relations industry. It’s not too late to apply, though the deadline is fast approaching.

Get started on your entry today and be sure to make that early bird deadline on February 3. Also, don’t forget to mark May 2nd in your busy agendas for this year’s gala!

More information on eligibility, submission requirements and campaign entry categories is available on the CPRS Toronto website.

Important Dates and Deadlines:

2017 Key Dates

  • February 03, 2017 – Early Bird Submission Deadline
  • February 24, 2017 – Full Submission Deadline
  • February 27, 2017 – Leadership Award Submission Deadline
  • May 2, 2017 – ACE Awards Gala

Enter at www.cprstoronto.com!

Questions? e-mail ace@cprstoronto.com

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2016 CPRS ACE Award PR Campaign of the Year: Edelman for Ontario Association of Optometrists
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2016 CPRS ACE Award Creative Campaign of the Year: Narrative PR for Scotiabank
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2016 CPRS ACE Award Best in Show Contender: Narrative PR for Bacardi
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2016 CPRS ACE Award Best in Show Contender: APEX PR for Walmart Canada
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2016 CPRS ACE Award Best in Show Contender: Veritas for Stella Artois
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What truly makes a gold submission?
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ACE Awards Judge, Lauren More, answers that question and shares her insights on the qualities of a gold winning submission

Taking the leap to judging the CPRS Toronto Ace Awards was a natural next step for Lauren More, VP Communications for Ford of Canada. Her six years of judging allowed her to see some of the freshest and most creative campaigns across industries. From helping run the CPRS Toronto mentoring program to ACE Awards judging, Lauren sees volunteering as her way of supporting the communications field.

Lauren shares her insight into creating an award-winning submission with this year’s crop of ACE award applicants:

The most popular categories

While ACE award judges typically judge on a variety of different categories, there are some categories that receive far more entries and are more competitive to place.

“It’s very competitive because it’s kind of the meat and potatoes of a lot of what we do as communicators,” said Lauren. “But the other area that has certainly just expanded exponentially is the social media category.”

The social media category, in particular, has some of the most creative submissions she’s seen.

The most standout campaigns

Lauren notes that often the most memorable and effective campaigns are the ones where “maybe it’s not the sexiest product or the sexiest point of view or the sexiest issue to grab awareness for”. Yet with a creative approach, these campaigns gained a ton of media attention.

While there are some topics that are naturally going to be of more interest to the media, the campaigns she’s enjoyed over the years are the ones where the brand really has to work at it to find something that would be meaningful to their audience.

The challenges to creativity

While it’s increasingly challenging, to come up with new ideas and new approaches, Lauren concedes sometimes there are periods where budgets have been a lot tighter.

“You have to do a lot more with a lot less,” she said, “And you’re still expected to deliver the same type of results – so I think that’s really pushed the level of creativity.”

The ability to sit back

It comes to no surprise that most communicators rarely have time to slow their everyday pace. Lauren explained the ACE Awards provide that perfect evening to do just that with your team and reflect back on your best work.

“We tend to in our jobs and our field to run pretty fast and run pretty hard.” she said, “And I think it’s really worthwhile to stop and take a breath now and then. To acknowledge the work and commitment we put in.”

There are certain things that separate excellence in our field. Lauren believes it’s important as a profession to both recognize and celebrate that.

The extra “oomph”

Key to winning best in show or taking home gold in any given category, Lauren emphasizes the consistency throughout the RACE formula steps. Some of the best submissions, in her opinion took the following measures:

  • The research connects well with the analysis
  • The analysis connects well to the communications tactics
  • A solid evaluation of the results

If you research well you understand what you’re trying to achieve with a communications program. Those winning gold and best in show have that extra dose of creativity, she said.

Lauren also notes past campaigns resonated with people – their key audience – and they told a story, a really good story and “they have that little extra oomph to them.”

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Written by: Jessica Chong, Account Coordinator, High Road Communicatons

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Taking home the top CPRS Toronto ACE Award
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“And the 2015 Public Relations Campaign of the Year goes to Weber Shandwick and McDonald’s Canada McCafé Retail Launch.”

On May 20, 2015, the Weber Shandwick team jumped out of their seats and congratulated one another as their McDonald’s client walked on stage to accept the most prestigious ACE award of the night.

The Work Behind Winning

When asked to reflect on the agency’s big achievement and what it was like to compete in the ACE Awards, Jessica Greasley, account director from Weber Shandwick, stepped up to the opportunity.

In September 2014, Weber Shandwick devised a communications plan for McCafé’s first ever grocery launch. The essence of the communication plan focused on driving awareness of the retail launch to both consumers and the business sector.

Weber Shandwick demonstrated how the brand was innovative and appealed to a younger demographic through their campaign’s creative strategies and tactics. The global agency also took risks to try something new with Songza and the McDonald’s Canada internal team embraced this opportunity to engage their younger audience on a new digital platform. Greasley also explained how the agency’s partnership with the McDonald’s team also fueled the campaign’s success.

The ACE Awards Submission

The submission was comprehensive.

“All of the components in the submission emphasized how the campaign’s strategies tied directly back to the company’s business objectives.”

Greasley also noted the submission’s careful attention to distinguishing how their results matched their initial objectives and goals, which was instrumental to ensuring the campaign stood out. She even identified how showcasing the large scope of the campaign combined with the business and consumer phases and the planning and timing layout were key aspects of the submission.

In terms of advice to agencies developing their submission for the 2016 ACE Awards Greasley said, “Provide a good understanding of the insights that led to the approach. Having clear targets, and how you measured against it will make help the judges understand why it’s award-worthy.”

The Best In Show Presentation

With only 15 minutes to present in front of the judges, the team selected critical parts of the campaign to prove why it was deserving of the top award.

Their presentation communicated why the McCafé Retail launch should receive the prestigious award by:

  • Demonstrating a strong understanding of the company’s audience and brand image
  • Highlighting the agency’s thought process and initial research that was conducted to tailor the campaign’s objectives
  • Showcasing innovative strategies such as the Songza partnership and proving why it was chosen to effectively reach McCafé’s younger audience
  • Explaining the media relations strategy behind the campaign and timing it with International Coffee Day, which engaged consumers and garnered an overwhelming and successful amount of media coverage

The Importance of Celebrating the Public Relations and Communications Industry

After finding out the campaign surpassed Weber Shandwick’s targets (and stretch targets!) the team was confident that it was a strong contender to compete within the ACE Awards. “It was a great honour for the company and client,” said Greasly. Especially since McDonald’s has had a long standing partnership with the agency. Greasly also mentioned “it was all hands on deck”. Everyone from the agency contributed to the campaign and award.

Greasley informed me the agency is currently assembling their application for the ACE awards again this year, “As an industry, it’s definitely important to submit and recognize the great work that’s being done by communications professionals. Wishing all this year’s submissions the best of luck!”

To learn more about the campaign watch this video

Jessica Greasley LinkedIn

Follow Weber Shandwick @WSCanada

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Written by: Alessandra Manieri, Post-Graduate Student, Humber College

 

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Judging the ACE Awards, a researcher’s perspective
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Friday February 26 is the deadline to submit to this year’s ACE Awards and returning judge, Lisa Covens, vice president of communications and public affairs at Leger, discussed her marking style and approach to judging this year’s campaigns.

Before stepping up as a judge, Lisa would attend the ACE Awards to support the clients who used Leger and the research they conducted for the award winning campaigns. When the opportunity came up to be one of the esteemed ACE judges, Lisa took it and started doing something she had never done before.

Lisa shared with us her strategy to marking submissions and to help prepare this year’s hopeful campaigns. Here are some highlights from her interview:

On her judging approach

“My focus will be on the RACE formula.” Research and evaluation jump at her the most.

On what makes a campaign stand out

“Today, campaigns are now so integrated – videos and visuals – which allow people to be very inclusive in their submission. Not only is the winning campaign sharp, but there’s something special about them. It is supported with research, includes creativity, success was measured and explained and overall well-executed.”

On the importance of submitting to the ACE Awards

As a returning judge for the third year in a row, Lisa listed why it is important to submit to recognitions awards such as CPRS Toronto’s ACE Awards:

  • Keeps public relations professionals on top of their game throughout the year
  • This isn’t done in market research so this a an opportunity worth taking advantage of
  • Provides a good reflection on the campaign – when summarizing a submission it makes you think of the campaign from beginning to end
  • Outline and learn from the issues encountered
  • And of course, recognition is always a good thing

On one piece advice for this year’s submissions

“It’s a shame when we mark a submission and it’s so creative and clear but misses a part of the requirements. Doing that will take you out of the running for the gold.”

TIP: Ask someone, who was not part of the campaign, to review the guideline and checklist. Ensure all the components are included because anything can be overlooked and the missing section will be marked with a zero.

On what she is looking forward too

“One aspect of the ACE Awards I really enjoy is the Best In Show judging day. That day, candidates are on top on their game. You get to witness great presenters and great speakers. I take away so much and I even receive insight on how to be a better presenter. It is such an inspiring night.”

One last thing: “Keep up the great work!”

 

Follow Lisa Covens on Twitter: @lisacovens

 

Submission deadline is this Friday February 26. Submit your campaigns here.

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Written by Charzie Abendanio, Humber College BPR Student and CPRS Toronto’s Student Steering Committee President

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