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Campaigns
Bang for the Buck
PR efforts that achieve the stated objectives on a small budget. Please include a project budget with all expenditures including staff time, in-kind, and/or donated services. Entries in this category MAY NOT be entered in any other division.
Organizational or Branding
Any campaign to promote or distinguish your organization or company in the eye of the public, a specific audience, or prospective clients. This could include internal communications or external branding efforts. This category also recognizes a company’s efforts to effectively reinvent a brand.
Community Relations
This category comprises campaigns whose primary focus is promoting a social cause, but which may also include promotion of your product and/or services and the advancement of your reputation as a corporate citizen.
Special Events
Marketing and production of events that range in length from one to five days.
Campaigns – Social Media
Social media campaigns driving leads, sales, and/or brand engagement.
Sustainability/Corporate Social Responsibility
A sustainability or corporate social responsibility campaign.
Integrated Communications
Exhibits both modern and traditional marketing strategies to optimize the communication of a consistent message conveying a company’s brand to stakeholders.
Student
Must be developed by an individual or team of students. Can be submitted by a teacher or advisor.
Crisis Communications
Communications surrounding any crisis, from product recalls to executive malfeasance to social media gaffes are eligible in this category.
Media Event
Media events are those events, from press conferences to media tours, which are built around in-person interaction between your company and the press. Entries should exhibit creativity in planning and implementing the event, drawing the media to it, and engaging them at the event.
Public Affairs, Education, & Government Relations
Any campaign to promote a political issue, grassroots campaign, candidate for office, K-12 and higher ed public education.
Tactics
Tactics – Social Media
These are individual social media tactics used in larger campaigns that connect people and allow them to be integrated into a product or company. Social media tactics leverage platforms ranging from Facebook to Twitter, from Snapchat to Instagram, from online forums and message boards to video and virtual reality.
Magazines
A traditional print or digitally-published collection in magazine format developed for internal or external distribution.
Media Relations
Tactics, programs, and events driven entirely by media relations. Submit press releases, media advisories, pitch letters, requests for coverage, etc., along with the one-page summary that includes measurable objectives and results.
Media Kits
News releases, photographs, and other background information compiled for an organization, product, or issue.
Videos – Broadcast/Web Commerical
Commercials and other video up to 60 seconds used for broadcast, web, or both.
Videos – Long-Form Productions
Any purpose video longer than 60 seconds.
Websites
Use of a website as part of a public relations program. Include screen grabs or copies of key pages to support your one-page summary. Additionally, include the website URL for external sites. Websites for external audiences or intranet websites for internal audiences are both acceptable.
Writing – Blog or Feature
This category may include web-based journals, or blogs, that communicated either a corporate, public service, or industry position. The one-page summary should include the rationale for blogging strategy, target audiences, and statistics, or other means of quantifiable measurement. Feature articles, hard news, columns, or opinions that have been written by a practitioner, and submitted and published through his/her efforts are also accepted in this category. For both styles, submit a link to the text of writing, as well as links to documentation of publication.
Writing – News Releases
Must include links to proof of production.
Writing – Op/Ed
Must include links to proof of publication.
Graphic Design
A piece of work that was solely dedicated to graphic design which could include a logo, advertisement, printed piece for distribution, or other works.
Multimedia – Streaming or Podcast
Programs streamed or downloaded from the web as part of a campaign.
Publication – Internal or External
Any publication produced for stakeholders inside your organization, outside your organization, or for a mixed group of recipients (ie: annual report) is eligible for entry in this category. Please include a link to the publication in your final submission.
Research/Evaluation
All successful public relations activities start with good research. This project category asks you to take the research component you have done for a campaign or project and present it as a stand-alone project.
Scoring Criteria
Each entry is judged on a 100-point scale as listed below. Your submission must address the six following criteria:
Objectives (10 points): What was the project intended to accomplish? List the measurable objectives and the target audience(s).
Method (10 points): What tools and strategies were implemented to achieve your objectives? Why were they selected?
Results (20 points): Demonstrate your entry’s success compared to the measurable objectives described. Was the project a good return on your organization’s investment?
Creativity (25 points): Is the program or piece eye-catching? What unique or creative approaches did you employ to achieve the objectives? What limitations, if any, had to be overcome?
Quality (25 points): How well do the elements support the concept? Is it well organized? Is the production done well? What about your project made it of the highest quality? Address specifics that differentiate your project.
Budget (10 points): What was the budget to complete the project? If budget is proprietary, provide additional details regarding whether the project stayed within the budget, came in under budget, the percentage breakdown of where time or budget was spent, etc. If work was done under the banner of a retainer, please discuss whether the project stayed within the retainer bounds, include the percentage breakdown of where time was spent, etc. Entries that do not include some detailing of budget breakdown (dollar figures not required) will receive 0 points in this scoring section. All budgets are kept confidential.