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How to “ace” your ACE awards submission: Five things you need to know
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By Miranda Germani

Whether you’re wanting to add another trophy to your shelf, or just testing the waters and are new to entering awards, there are five not-so-secret things that you must know to put together a stellar ACE Awards submission.

In the interactive and informative “Enhance Your CPRS Toronto ACE Award Submission” webinar held on January 16, host and ACE Awards Judging Co-chair, Dave Scholz shared the must-know tips to ensure your submission stands out from the crowd. For now, the focus is on the first stage submission – the executive summary and rationale. Click here for more information on ACE Entry Guidelines.

Must-know #1 – Know your deadlines. Sounds simple, but that’s the first hurdle to pass. The entry deadline is January 23, 2013 (i.e. next week, so get your skates on!).

Must-know #2 – Use RACE. A simple acronym, but it can make a world of difference to your submission. RACE stands for Research, Analysis, Communication, Evaluation and all of these aspects are important to your submission. Think about RACE all the way through your submission.

Must-know #3 – Be clear on your evaluation. Don’t assume the judges know what you’ve achieved – you must spell it out and tie your goals to the outcome.

Must-know #4 – Get acquainted with the new Best Digital Communications Campaign of the Year category. If you’ve done a fabulous digital campaign that successfully engaged your audiences and inspired online conversation and/or media coverage, we want to hear about it! This is your opportunity to shine.

NOTE: Digital components to other campaigns must still be included in those separate submissions.

Must-know #5 – The judges will keep your submission to themselves. All submissions are confidential. Nothing will be shared publicly. If CPRS Toronto ever wants to share something publicly, we’ll be in touch in advance.

Bonus must-know #6 – Having details such as budget, or at least a budget range, really helps the judges consider your submission in context.

Hopefully that helps pull back the curtain on what the judging team needs from you so that you can get one step closer to receiving an ACE Award in April. For more information about the ACE Awards, please visit the CPRS Toronto Website or contact ace@cprstoronto.com.

If you missed Wednesday’s webinar, you can WATCH HERE

Tweeting about ACE? Use hashtag #CPRSACE

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Enhance your ACE Award submission!
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logos_colour_low_res-01Back by popular demand, CPRS Toronto invites you to join us on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 12 p.m. for an informative, free webinar on enhancing your ACE Awards submission, brought to you by CNW Group – the exclusive professional development sponsor for CPRS Toronto.

Dave Scholz, Executive Vice President at Leger Marketing and CPRS Toronto’s ACE Awards Judging Co-Chair, will pull back the curtain on the ACE Awards and share what the judging team will be looking for in a winning submission. The webinar will also provide insight in to changes made to the digital category.

To register for the webinar, visit:

http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=564540&s=1&k=EF7CD45C16009CBD8A6618A8C4A085E6

For more information about the ACE Awards, please visit the CPRS Toronto Website or contact ace@cprstoronto.com.

If you are unable to join us on Wednesday the webinar will be available in archive following the live event.

Tweeting about ACE? Use hashtag #CPRSACE!

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Case study: Broad Reach Communications award for media relations over $50K
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By Liza Butcher

On April 26, 2012, the Canadian Public Relations Society Toronto (CPRS Toronto) congratulated the PR industry’s elite at the annual Achieving Communications Excellence (ACE) Awards gala.

The gala celebrated all of the winning campaigns, including Broad Reach Communications’ “Creating Eminence for Deloitte Canada by Leveraging its 2011 Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions” campaign, which won a prestigious ACE Award in the Best Use of Media Relations over $50K category.

I had the pleasure of talking with Andrea Lekushoff, President of Broad Reach, about the success of this campaign and the widespread eminence Broad Reach created for it.

Can you tell me about your winning campaign? What was the objective and why was it so successful?

In late 2010, Deloitte Canada (Deloitte) asked Broad Reach to develop and implement an English-language media relations campaign to secure widespread national, regional and trade/industry media coverage for its 2011 Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions report. We were also asked to generate a second wave of media coverage over a two-week period, during which TMT Predictions events were held across the country in St. John’s, Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Edmonton.

The overarching goal of this campaign was to showcase the knowledge and expertise of Deloitte TMT leaders across the country by generating widespread media coverage for TMT Predictions among target audiences in national, regional and online stories. In doing so, Broad Reach ensured that all aspects of the communications plan positioned Deloitte’s TMT Predictions and spokespeople as the leaders in global and Canadian TMT Predictions.

The launch of this media relations campaign exceeded all goals, objectives and client expectations. An unprecedented volume and quality of media coverage was generated: over 128.5 million audience impressions were generated in 210 on-message stories, 95 per cent of which appeared in top-tier media. It wasn’t easy to improve on last year’s campaign, which was very successful at 92 million impressions, but we committed to delivering even better results this year. And we did.

In addition, at least five top-tier media stories were generated in each region (with most regions receiving between two to six times as many stories). All stories mentioned Deloitte in a very positive tone; 92 per cent of stories focused exclusively on TMT Predictions; the term TMT Predictions was included in 80 per cent of stories; the report’s co-author, Duncan Stewart, was featured in 60 per cent of stories; all 10 regional spokespeople participated in high-profile media interviews; and 26 media outlets attended road show events across the country.

How did winning an award contribute to the agency’s brand?

This campaign was among Broad Reach’s most successful media relations campaigns to date. A prestigious ACE Award positions us as a leading Toronto PR agency that produces outstanding work and delivers exceptional results. It is also rewarding to have some of our best work recognized by our peers.

What inspired you to submit this campaign for an award?

We knew that this campaign was among our most successful and, as a result, we wanted to honour the team that worked on it by submitting it for an award. We were also fortunate enough to win a CPRS National Award of Excellence and IABC/Toronto OVATION Award for this same campaign.

What were the challenges associated with submitting the campaign?

The only challenge was that it was time consuming, which is to be expected. However, the Broad Reach team rose to the occasion and it paid off in the end.

What were you sure to include in your binder?

We included a wide range of materials including: the research and rationale for our recommended approach; a series of quantifiable goals and objectives; our strategy, a list of target audiences; a description of the campaign theme; our media relations tactic; a wide range of media materials; spokesperson briefing documents; an MRP (Media Relations Rating Points) report of all media coverage generated; a high-level results report; and clips of both TV and radio coverage.

How did it feel to receive your award at the gala?

I’m thrilled that our team has won yet another prestigious PR award for Deloitte’s TMT Predictions. This award is a testament to our unique business model of only working with seasoned senior practitioners. It also demonstrates that when talented and experienced practitioners have the opportunity to work in a flexible and family-friendly work environment, they can produce outstanding results together.

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Where is my ACE Submission?
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By Nicole Laoutaris

You spent hours perfecting your entry for the CPRS 2012 ACE Awards and you made darn sure you got your submission in before the deadline, but what the heck happened to it?

If you’ve ever been riddled with such wonder about where your submission goes after you hit the send button, then read on to assuage your curiosity!

The journey of your ACE submission starts and ends with the judging panel. This panel – a group of more than 20 experienced communications professionals, many of them accredited – engages in a methodical process for both the executive summary and full submission stages.

Stage 1: The Executive Summary Submission

This stage is really an initial screening and allows the judges to narrow down the sheer number of entries before the next, more cumbersome step of reviewing the “big binder” submissions. After you submit your executive summary, it is divided at random to be assessed by two independent judges. For this portion of the process, the judges have a few days to complete the evaluation.

Your final score is then determined by the average of those two evaluations. Once all the numbers are in, those who have met a threshold score of 70 per cent move on to the next round. There is no limit to the number of submissions that can be put through to the next stage.

Stage 2: The Full Submission – “The Big Binder”

The full submission stage is the time and place for you to provide all of the shining evidence of the success of your campaigns for the judges’ consideration. These submission are larger, longer and far more detailed; this is the Big Kahuna.

Imagine this: one room with piles upon piles of huge binders containing budgets, media clippings, photos, research summaries and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears – figuratively, of course.

How many days must it take to evaluate these submissions? 10 days? eight days? It can’t be less than five days, right? Surprisingly, the full submission judging takes place in only a single day.

The judging panel meet all together and then are divided into teams with submissions divided equally amongst them. Everyone randomly selects binders for their team to tackle. At least two judges evaluate each binder and, once again, the average score between them determines the final success level.

Stage 3: Best in Show

Once the full submission scores are compiled, the four highest rated campaigns are judged yet again for two coveted prizes: Best Creative Campaign and Best Overall Campaign. Only the full submission scores are taken into account for Best in Show.

If your submission has risen above the rest, then you will be invited to present your work in person before the judges. This is your opportunity to compete against the other stand-out entries of the year by delivering one last pitch to highlight your campaign’s excellence for the judging panel.

That’s all, folks! Now that you know what goes on behind those judging doors, you can appreciate the daunting task the panel faces each year. Be sure to check out Preparing Your Ace Submission and Your ACE Submission: Round Two! for tips and tricks to make your submission stand out.

And what’s the best way to celebrate all of this hard work? By attending this year’s gala on Thursday, April 26, 2012! Be sure to save the date.

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