By Claire James, Client Services Director/Senior AD at Skout
There were days when I would attend award ceremonies almost certain that the company I worked for would walk away with a plethora of awards. Back in the 90s (yes I am showing my age) three big agencies ruled the roost in the Manchester PR scene and awards nights were a parade of the same people going up on stage to collect yet another gong for a campaign that had demonstrated, often, questionable results and certainly no real measure of ROI for the client.
Last week the Skout team had the honor of attending the PR Moment Northern Awards at Manchester Hall – my first awards night for many years after moving out of the ‘pr scene’. It was strange to see how little had changed in terms of the overall themes – the same three or four companies walking away with around 60-70% of the awards. However, what had changed significantly was the attitude towards being shortlisted.
It’s a privilege to have been shortlisted for the work that we have done for our clients and as a company in the past year. The awards that we entered were based on real results for our clients, a true reflection on how hard the team work to deliver excellent results in the tough and often challenging world of B2B PR. The business has had an amazing 12 months, going from strength to strength at a time when other businesses have struggled post pandemic. Joining some of the many PR professionals in the North region at this event was a great way to celebrate just how far the business has come during that time AND meant that we could actually get together face to face in a world where Teams and Zoom calls have become the norm.
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Although we didn’t walk away with any silverware at the end of the night, we left with an immense sense of pride in the work that we do, the results that we deliver and the strength of the team that we have created. Would it have been made better by an award sitting on a shelf in the corner of the boardroom? In the moment, undoubtedly but in the long term awards don’t keep clients happy, they don’t help your newest member of the team sell in their first feature and they don’t capture the endless hours that have gone into creating the best possible programmes to deliver the results that a client doesn’t even realise they needed.
So PR Moment, it was a fantastic night. Will we be back again next year? Hell yes. Do we want to win? It would be great. Are we bitter that we didn’t? Not at all because our story of success is not told in how many awards we win but in how many clients we delight and how many new staff we inspire.
