In 2022, the European Excellence Awards will be held for the 16th consecutive year. The best projects and campaigns in PR and Communication are honoured in 60 categories.
If you have any questions about the categories or the submission process, the awards team will be happy to help.
Accomplishments of the Year
01. Agency of the Year (Small and Mid-Sized)
Agility, quick turnaround and on-the-fly creativity - hallmarks of excellent PR agencies - are now in more demand than ever, and winners in this category excel in reading and capturing the zeitgeist, even against a backdrop of fast-paced change. This category is open to any PR agency generating fees of less than €10m annually.
02. Agency of the Year (Large)
In a time of unprecedented uncertainty, PR agencies are ideally placed to help their clients win hearts and minds with campaigns that articulate and manifest purpose and values to both internal and external audiences. This category is open to any PR agency generating fees of more than €10m annually.
03. Innovation of the Year
Progress requires innovation. Even though the technical tools of communications seem to have infinite possibilities, it is the creative and innovative thinkers who ultimately drive new developments. This category honours innovative concepts, ideas and approaches leading PR and communications to the next level.
04. Purpose Driven Communications
Today’s companies are expected to stand up for something, while survey after survey shows that millennials prefer to donate their time, attention and loyalty to socially conscious brands. This category rewards communication with a social message that have truly connected brands, audience and society.
05. Boldest Campaign
It is always safer to tread previously trodden paths, however, in most cases it is the unusual and unconventional campaigns that stick in our mind. Steps off the safe route are risky as they can quickly backfire but these steps can also lead to unexpected successes and sometimes to lively discussions. In this category, the European Excellence Awards honour the campaign that most courageously moved away from the typical corporate-industry path of communication and struck out on a new direction.
06. Small Budget Campaign
Necessity is the mother of invention, and digital excellence often happens on a shoestring. This category gives those working with tighter budgets the chance to shine without being pitted against the much bigger budgets of digital giants. This category honours the best campaign with a maximum budget of 10,000 Euro per year.
Industries and Institutions
07. Transport & Logistics
The transport and logistics industry is an essential part of our everyday life. This category rewards best-practices of communications that helps transport and logistics businesses reach their goals.
08. Automotive
As consumer interests and values move more and more towards purpose driven marketing and the latest technological trends, automotive organisations are under pressure to step their marketing campaigns up a gear. The most innovative and groundbreaking communications campaigns and projects in the automotive sector will be recognised in this category.
09. Technology, Telecommunications & Consumer Electronics
The businesses and organisations driving Europe’s digital economy deliver innovation that empowers us all to work and live better. The very best campaigns and projects in tech, telecommunications, and consumer electronics organisations are rewarded in this category.
10. Chemicals & Industrials
The chemical and industrial sector helps shape the modern world – though never without controversy far away. The chemical industry is undergoing huge changes worldwide and it is PR’s job to strengthen its position by winning over stakeholders and gaining the social license to operate. The best campaigns and projects in the chemicals and industrials field will be rewarded in this category.
11. Health & Pharma
New product types, emerging markets, environmental pressures and greater public scrutiny are just some of the trends shaping the Health and Pharma industries. This category honors the campaign that successfully meets these challenges and convinces through its innovation and creativity.
12. Finance
Investor relations, annual reports, financial media: money makes the world go round. However, communicators working in the finance industry have to tread extremely carefully when developing their communications strategies, not least because the aftershocks of the pandemic are still being felt. The greatest communications campaigns and projects from the finance industry will be recognised in this category.
13. Retail
Whether online or in store, consumer spending is the lifeblood of the retail industry. This category celebrates outstanding PR campaigns that promote consumer goods and/or services to customers through multiple channels and that build or strengthen a retail company’s brand.
14. Sports & Lifestyle
More than just fun and games, the sport and lifestyle industry is a multi-billion dollar behemoth that covers everything from major football teams to inspirational tales of human endeavour, heathy lifestyle retail to the latest wearable health-monitoring tech. The greatest communications campaigns or projects from the sport and lifestyle industry will be recognised in this category.
15. Entertainment & Culture
At its best, entertainment and culture are mirrors of our shared aspirations and values. It is also a major contributor the national GDP, a phenomenally powerful economy in its own right – from television and films, to orchestras and theatre, comedy and dance. The best campaigns or projects initiated by entertainment and culture organisations will be rewarded in this category.
16. Science & Education
The all-important search for innovation, which disrupts industries, changes the world and benefits humankind, begins right here. And with Europe facing a shortfall in science-knowledgeable people, and with the education sector facing increasing cuts and other challenges, it has never been more urgent to communicate the best of these twin sectors. This category rewards the best of communications from the science and education industries.
17. Travel & Tourism
Communicating the value of geographical locations may be as simple as promoting the very best and most unique aspects of a culture, or as complex as trying to draw visitors back to a country with a tarnished reputation or landscape damaged by weather or political unrest. The greatest communications campaigns and projects from the travel and tourism industry will be recognised in this category.
18. Food & Beverage
The food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector in Europe in terms of turnover and employment. Representing some of our strongest traditions and pleasure, it is an indelible part of our social, economic and cultural fabric. But it also faces challenges, from unfair trading practices, health and safety issues and more. The best campaigns or projects initiated in the field of food and beverage will be rewarded in this category.
19. Energy
Few sectors have seen as much impassioned debate as the energy sector. Today, climate change is on everybody’s agenda and poses a significant challenge for the sector, but so do new technologies, monopolies, mergers and more. How has the industry dealt with the fundamental changes in its PR activities? The greatest communications campaigns or projects from the energy industry will be recognised in this category.
20. Sustainability & Environment
With renewed focus on the harmful effects of human impact on ecology and the environment, the rise of the climate change activist and millennials’ active preference for organisations that have a clearly defined social responsibility programme, this category rewards excellent communications from the sustainability and environmental industries.
21. Government Agencies & Parties
In the current climate of political polarisation, disinformation and a crisis of trust in public intuitions organisations and corporations alike, it has never been more vital that government agencies and parties communicate to engage with voters, communities, and individuals. The best campaigns or projects initiated by political parties and governmental agencies will be rewarded in this category.
22. NGOs & Associations
NGOs and associations have the challenging task of combining and proactively promoting, supporting, and defending the interests of various stakeholders. Whether campaigning on behalf of endangered species or trade groups, NGOs and associations communications demands tireless commitment. This category rewards the best of communications from non-governmental organisations and associations.
Communications
23. Digital Event
For now, the migration of events to online – whether conferences, launches, cultural events or marketing experiences – is the new normal, presenting many organisations with a steep learning curve when it comes to adapting their events to online, or even creating new ones to respond to the changing demands of socially-distanced audiences.
24. Event & Experiential Marketing
Sophisticated technological tools mean that events and experiential marketing can be more immersive than ever before. Whether offline or online, events and experiences are becoming more sophisticated, and appeal to diverse array of brands and industries. The most memorable will be highlighted in this category.
25. Multi-Channel Communications
Sending the right message, at the right time, via the right channel: an integrated use of communication channels creates a robust 360 -degree relationship with stakeholders, and the award in this category will be given to a campaign or a project that uses its diverse tools for coherent and cohesive communication with different segments of the public.
26. Storytelling
In an era of information overflow, it has become vital for brands to engage stakeholders through honest and authentic stories, as well as to encourage employees to live and breathe the corporate narrative. That is the challenge for communicators – and this category recognises campaigns or projects that use storytelling in all its facets.
27. Content Marketing
With recent trends in content marketing including artificial intelligence-driven insights, more interactive content thanks to the internet of things, and ever-closer alignment with strategy, this category recognises award-worthy content that clicks with bloggers, brand ambassadors and other influencers and inspires them to spread the word.
28. Influencer Communications
Influencers are those individuals inside and outside the organisation that move the dial: they set the agenda and bring other audiences along with them. Establishing the ROI of influencer relations is notoriously tricky; however, those projects that clearly demonstrate a strategic and effective use of digital media and communication will triumph in this category.
29. Disruptive Communications
Communications that stand apart from the status quo in your field or industry, and/or that revolutionise your approach to communications, are celebrated in this category.
30. Change Communications
Change – whether new additions to the team, evolving business directions or social disruption – can easily overwhelm organisations. Which is why resistance to change is deeply embedded. Successful change communication inspires, motivates and reassures: the best will succeed in this category.
31. Brand Relationship
Trusted brand relationships are the bedrock of strategic success; authenticity, innovation and added benefit are the tried and trusted watchwords behind building and strengthening relationships year after year. However, with audiences increasingly wanting to see purpose as a key brand differentiator, this category celebrates new strategies that go beyond the well-trodden paths and explore new territory.
32. B2B Communications
From website to SEO and content, social media and pay per click, integration of on and offline – the tools for B2B Communication are as varied as those in B2C. Examples that show clear progress in achieving strategic B2B goals are rewarded in this category.
33. Launch
Integrated communications is critical for a successful product launch in your business. It involves the consistent communications of information about a product, using channels, sources and programmes that deliver effective and timely messages to consumers. The best examples are celebrated in this category.
34. Internal Communications
The glue that binds an organisation together, the new channel that employees rely on, the voice of a corporate identity… Internal communication builds relationships, delivers return on investment and shapes the conversations happening about the organisation. The best examples are highlighted in this category.
35. Employer Branding & Recruiting
Employer branding is about how the individuals who work for an organisation view and help shape its identity as a place of work – it is a highly sensitive and constantly evolving process . Communication is also an integral part of any recruitment drive, and this category celebrates the best in these vitally important areas.
36. Issues & Reputation Management
Making sure that the organisation is on target with its ambitions in the public image is a never-ending challenge. Remaining aware, sensitive and responsive to issues which might affect your organisation’s reputation is a vital part of this practice.
37. Data Driven & Automated Communications
Data is new oil, enabling communications to have impact on scale, driving meassurement and analysis and enabling messages to be targeted and personalised like never before. This category is open to a company or agency (and their client), that has creatively and successfully used data throughout all stages of a campaign or project.
38. Public Affairs
From lobbying to external relations, trade deals to laws and rights, modern public affairs is an integral part of the process of keeping an organisation aligned with societal values, and is an absolutely vital tool to help organisations navigate the stringent regulatory landscape. This category celebrates the champions of the field.
39. Corporate Social Responsibility
The necessity of communicating an organisation’s corporate social responsibility initiatives has never been so urgent; socially-conscious organisations that prove purpose and value are highly-desirable to millennial workforces, and increasingly act as a key differentiator in crowded markets. Stand-out examples of corporate social responsibility communications will be highlighted in this category.
40. Sustainability Communications
Sustainable ways of life have become a core aspect of PR and communication in recent years. It is no longer just certain companies that are taking up the issue and putting sustainability at the forefront of their communications. This category honors those campaigns and projects that are particularly effective in promoting climate protection goals and bringing about sustainable change.
Corporate Media and Tools
41. Digital Publishing (Blog, Podcast, Magazine, App)
Snackable, colourful, creative: Digital Publishing opens up a range of new, more direct and personalised channels of communication with audiences. Whatever the service they deliver, they must also convey key elements of the organisation, bringing the experience of the brand to a heightened and more direct level.
42. External Publication
The calling card of a company, the ambassador of an organisation, the embodiment of the corporation’s external stakeholder relations – external publication must walk a fine line between convincing authentic storytelling and legal, regulatory, business facts. The ones that succeed this difficult balancing act will be victorious in this category.
43. Annual Report & CSR Report
Annual and Corporate Social Responsibility reports showcase the year’s organisational, business and social achievements in a way that inspires stakeholders, elevates brand messaging and strengthens market positioning. They should also be a unique combination of meticulous data and compelling storytelling.
44. Internal Channel (Intranet, Digital Workplace & App)
Regardless of the size of an organisation, an internal platform for real-time exchange of opinions, news and messages is vital. Please note: when applying for this project, please provide login details for the site/app so that the jury can access it, or a functioning online version that the jury can use.
45. Website & Microsite
A corporate website is the first and most lasting impression stakeholders will have of your organisation and brand. Comprehensive, clear and conveying the purpose, vision and culture of the organisation, only the most innovative and communicative websites will be rewarded in this category.
46. Social Media
Social media: where messages are most direct, where diverse voices are amplified and where authenticity reigns. It is also a hotbed of fake news, disinformation and white noise. The best examples of corporate social media will successfully navigate these risks and rewards and will shine in this category.
47. Film & Video
Bringing a world of emotion and excitement to corporate messaging, the corporate film/video translates the values, purpose and culture of an organisation into visual storytelling of cinematic sophistication. Examples that manage this with both conviction and innovation will be successful in this category.
48. Video Series
Building loyalty through video storytelling over several episodes offers organisations an opportunity to create content that grows audiences, tells stories in depth, and build up real momentum.