Hashtags and blue birds have been flying through the mind of Managing Director, Barbara Pesel this week, as she’s in the midst of judging the Golden Target Awards (GTAs) by the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA).
As Judging Coordinator of the digital and social media category, Barbara is thrilled to join the judging process of the awards after being a successful entrant for the last several years.
PRIA describes the category as programs that excel in integration across digital and social, and can include website, mobile, content creation, community management, and other digital and social engagement touch points.
Barbara said, “it’s great to go ‘behind the scenes’ this time and help honour my peers for their exceptional work over the last year.
“At Pesel & Carr, we believe digital communication and social media engagement should no longer be afterthoughts in a public relations campaign. Instead, we should be thinking of digital as part of the foundations.”
Following a recent social media study by Sensis, this idea seems obvious.
According to the report, a huge 79% of Australians access the internet every day and own an average of three internet-enabled devices. That roughly equates to 69 million devices, or more than 400 times the number of words in the English dictionary.
Yes, Australians are using the internet and social media more and more each day. It’s important to note, however, that the average time spent on social networking sites is decreasing.
Somewhat unsurprising when you consider that we live in a world in which messages consist of only 140 characters and videos tell stories in a mere six seconds.
Consumers absorb so much online content that it takes something really special to grab, and more importantly keep, their attention.
“Although companies know that digital is where they need to go, they don’t always understand the importance of strategy and creating quality content,” Barbara said.
Joining Barbara in the judging chairs on this category are General Manager of Porter Novelli Melbourne, Arj Ganeshalingam, and Digital, Social Media and Public Relations Consultant at Hughes Public Relations and Communication Counsel, Belinda Scott.
Winners are judged on the criteria of; the issue – how a campaign was motivated by a particular need, strategy – how the objectives and target audience drive all tactics, execution – clever and insightful implementation, innovation – how the campaign stands out from the crowd, and results and evaluation – measuring the campaign’s successful completion of goals.
In its 39th year, the GTAs continue to recognise excellence in the public relations industry and have now extended to 29 categories including technology product, consumer marketing, community relations, startup and international campaigns.
