Two of last year's judges in the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa's (PRISA) PRISM Awards have offered useful advice to companies preparing their submissions.
"Stick to the brief!" says Mixael de Kock APR who has served as a judge for some years. "Last year's entrants really put a lot of effort into compiling their submissions, which is encouraging. Entrants need to follow each of the rules laid down by PRISA.
"Maximise the communication tools at your disposal in the preparation of your submissions. Consider how you can use visual tools such as graphs, sketches and photographs in your documentation. This is also a clever approach as there is a word limit in the executive summary. The use of different colours can also make a particular entry stand out and is visually appealing."
Victor Sibeko of Transnet Pension Fund Administrators will be judging again this year and says: "Entrants need to quantify their campaign objectives so that they can be measured. Without specific, measurable, realistic objectives, the success of a public relations plan cannot be assessed.
"Your 1200 word motivation is important - it highlights your ability to write."
Judges this year include:
Anthea Johnston APR - Anthea Johnston & Associates
Samantha Louis APR - Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
Louise Marsland - BizCommunity
Happy Ntshingila - ABSA
Victor Sibeko - Transnet Pension Fund AdministratorsNow in its ninth year, the PRISA PRISM Awards recognises and rewards excellence in public relations and communication management.
The deadline for entries is 27 January 2006.
The Gold Award winning entry will be submitted to the IPRA Golden World Awards (International Public Relations Association) and this case study will also be published in the Financial Mail's AdReview in March.
For more information contact Susan Richardson on +27-11-326-1262 or e-mail her at . More details on the Awards are available on the PRISA website http://www.prisa.co.za.