Two distinctions for NATIONAL at the CPRS Awards of Excellence

NATIONAL is proud to announce that two projects submitted by our colleagues have caught the attention of the selection committee and were rewarded at the latest Canadian Public Relations Society Awards of Excellence ceremony, which took place in Whistler, British Columbia on June 5: TELUS’s Social Purpose Influencer Campaign and Breakfast Club of Canada's Back-to-School Campaign.

These awards reflect the excellence and quality of our work and the applications submitted and demonstrate our commitment to observe the highest standards in public relations.

A special mention also for Misty Meeks, Vice-President at our Toronto office, who participated in a panel discussion about the impacts of artificial intelligence on public relations during the event.

TELUS’s Social Purpose Influencer Campaign

NATIONAL received the Silver award in the Best Influencer Campaign category for our work with TELUS. The team launched a robust, always-on influencer program to raise TELUS’s profile as a global leader in social capitalism and increase awareness of the company’s social purpose. The program included curating 24 campaigns, working with 100 different creators across Canada on approximately 300 pieces of content throughout the year. The influencer campaigns, which were evaluated using a proprietary measurement scorecard, exceeded the targets by achieving 9.84% engagement rate. In addition, the team launched a brand lift study to evaluate the effect of the content on brand perception, before and after exposure. The study revealed that the influencer program had a positive impact on audiences’ overall perception of TELUS, including an increase of 24 percentage point in the share of people who agree that TELUS is using its technology and people to address Canadian social issues.

Congratulations to the team consisting of Bhavika Kateja, Jaclyn Wingfield, Nicole Herback, Emma Clarkin, Samantha Krupa-Carbone, Meaghan Beech, and Misty Meeks (Toronto), Sébastien Boudreau (Montreal), Sydney Boll, Bridgette Slater, and Mark Seland (Calgary).

Breakfast Club of Canada's Back-to-School Campaign

NATIONAL received the Bronze award in the Best Use of Media Relations – Medium Budget category for our work with the Breakfast Club of Canada. The team put together a public relations strategy for the Club’s back-to-school campaign focusing on the uncertainty around the continuation of the breakfast programs due to inflation. NATIONAL’s plan propelled the news across the country by adopting a hyperlocal media strategy. Spokespersons of the Breakfast Club gave close to 60 interviews, including 50 within 10 days. In total, 192 stories were published on this topic. The Club noticed a significant increase in individual donations online following the launch the media campaign and other promotional activities. This allowed the Club to exceed its target of raising $300,000 in donations and put the organization on track to maintain the existing breakfast programs.

Congratulations to the team comprised of Eric Aach (Montreal), Carolyn Gagnon and Alyssa Imamudin (Toronto), Leah Thomson (Calgary), and Carter Hutton (Halifax).