1. Slide divider
Welcome to the
MEPRA brand image!
2014 Middle East PR Awards
#MEPRAwards
Deadline for submission; Thursday 9th October 2014

2. Awards Objectives
• Celebrate achievement & best practice
• Highlight work of Middle East PR professionals
• Encourage the development & diversification of practice areas
• Stimulate and excite both PR profession and wider business community to the scope and
potential of what they can achieve through PR
• Enable MEPRA to sustain its mission of raising the Industry’s standards in the region
• Help attract and recognise talent
Total of 15 Awards Categories
• International review, bench mark & best practice
– 12 best practice categories
– Plus 3 team & individual categories

3. Awards Categories - Sectors & services
• Consumer
goods
– (eg.
FMCG
,
inc.
household
products,
food
&
drink,
automo<ve,
sportswear,
fashion
&
clothing,
toiletry,
cosme<cs)
• Consumer
services
– (eg.
Financial
services,
travel,
hospitality,
entertainment
&
leisure,
retail,
business
equipment
&
services,
commercial
public
services)
• Business
to
business
• Healthcare
&
services
– (eg.
private
healthcare
&
clinics,
consumer
health,
healthcare
equipment,
medical
&
dental
services,
OTC
etc)
• Government
communica8ons
– Programmes
and
policies
conducted
on
behalf
of
public
bodies
(local
/
regional
/federal
government
departments
or
authori<es)
• Corporate
reputa8on
&
image
– Inc.
Crisis/issues
management
to
plan
and
/
or
handle
the
consequences
of
a
crisis
or
issue
that
may
affect
a
company’s
image
or
reputa<on
• Internal
communica8ons
– Business
to
employee,
employee
engagement
• Corporate
responsibility
&
environmental
PR
– Addressing
social
and
ethical
issues
and/or
addressing
a
green
or
environmental
issue
in
order
to
protect
or
improve
a
product
image
or
reputa<on

4. Awards Categories - Technique
• Best
use
of
sponsorship
– Of
an
event
or
person
to
leverage
a
brand,
product
or
reputa<on
• Best
launch
/Live
event
/Stunt
– Of
a
product
or
service
• Best
use
of
media
rela8ons
–
consumer
or
trade
– Use
of
mass
media
to
posi<vely
profile
a
product
or
service
in
order
to
change
aNtudes
among
targeted
media
audiences
and
meet
client
/
project
ini<a<ves
• Best
use
of
social
media
/
digital
PR
– Websites,
microsites
or
intranet
sites,
search
engines,
mobile
devices
and
applica<ons
and
other
digital
PR
techniques
to
fully
execute
or
support
a
PR
campaign
– Generated
content,
including
blogs,
social
networking
sites,
viral
and
applica<ons
• Best
integrated
campaign
– Led
by
PR

5. Awards Categories – People & Agency
• In-­‐House
Team
of
the
Year
• Agency
of
year
• The
“Dave
Robinson”
Awards
for
Outstanding
Young
Communicator
of
the
Year
–
under
30
by
01
October
2014
Not
open
to
entries
x
2
• Overall
Campaign
of
the
Year
• Chairman’s
Award
–
Contribu<on
to
the
PR
profession
in
the
Middle
East

6. Entry Process
STEP
1
MEPRA
members
-­‐
LOG
IN
to
your
account
and
proceed
to
the
'Submit
an
Award'
sec<on
from
the
main
website
menu.
Non-­‐members
-­‐
Create
a
Free
User
Account.
An
ac<va<on
link
will
be
sent
to
your
email
address.
Once
you
have
ac<vated
your
account,
proceed
to
the
'Submit
an
Awards'
sec<on
from
the
main
website
menu.
STEP
2
Purchase
your
Awards
Credits
following
the
online
payment
process
as
directed.
1
Award
Credit
=
1
Award
Entry!
STEP
3
Once
you
have
paid
for
your
Awards
Credits
or
your
Credits
have
been
allocated
to
your
account,
select
the
'Submit
an
Award'
bu]on
You
will
now
access
the
Online
Awards
Entry
Submission
form
where
you
can
select
the
relevant
category
and
a]ach
your
submission
(word/PDF/PPT)
You
will
also
be
able
to
upload
up
to
3
suppor8ng
documents.
For
files
over
50MB,
please
email
us
on
admin@mepra.org.
Once
your
entry
has
successfully
been
submi]ed,
you
will
be
able
to
submit
an
new
one.
Both
entries
and
suppor8ng
documents
MUST
be
submi]ed
by
Thursday
9th
October
2014
at
midnight.

7. Judging Process
• Entry Validation – MEPRA GM
• 1st Round / Short listing
Scoring out of 100 (stated as a %)
Ø Meeting entry requirements and identification of problem or issue – maximum of 10 points
Ø Strategy – maximum of 20 points
Ø Research - maximum of 20 points
Ø Planning – maximum of 10 points
Ø Implementation – maximum of 20 points
Ø Results & evaluation – maximum of 20 points
• 2nd Round/ Winners Selection – Finalists announced on Sunday 2nd November!
The 2013 MEPRA Awards Judges included:
• Brian Lott, Executive Director - Group Communications, Mubadala
• Justin Kent, Managing Director, Fabric
• Huw Gilbert, Senior Director - Corporate Affairs, PEPSICO
• James Mullan, Managing Director, Insight Middle East

8. Judging Criteria's – Agency of the Year
1.
Evidence
of
opera8onal
effec8veness
-­‐
max
25
points
2.
Evidence
of
strong
client
rela8onships/servicing
–
max
25
points
3. Evidence of staff development – max 25 points
4. What else makes them great? – max 25 points

9. Judging Criteria's – Young
Communicator of the Year
1. Does the submission meet entry requirements/quality standards? Score out of 10
2. Evidence of professional knowledge / competency - Score out of 20
3. Understands clients' business objectives etc.. - Score out of 20
4. Team player Evidence - Score out of 20
5. Goes over and beyond call of duty - Score out of 10
6. Achievements - Score out of 10

10. What Makes a Winning Entry…
Tell the story – what makes this entry award winning, what challenge did you face? What it
a challenge or a standard launch? Who were the audiences, are these clearly defined? Did
the solution address the problem?
Judges are looking for:
• Strategy
• Research
• Planning & break through thinking
• Execution excellence - Method deployed
• Results, measurement & evaluation – effective against the original objectives?
– Budget (can be stated as a ball park)
– Word count, how you tell the story, clear & concise, is it right for the category? Is this the
best work (quality v quantity) has the entry been compiled with integrity and ethical in its
submission?

11. Key dates
Awards entries open on Thursday 19th June
Awards submission deadline: Thursday 9th October at midnight UAE time (including ALL
supporting materials)
Awards Gala Event:
Wednesday 26th November
Venue to be confirmed

12. A few tips & tricks from the Judges!
• Presentation of entry (ease of reading, clarity, no typos)
• Answers to be clearly set against the five areas of judging
• Entries should be for campaigns that are above and beyond everyday work
• Take the entry seriously and give it time
• Results to reflect ROI but not ad value
• Explain the campaign in a way where we don't have to ask questions, ie needs to stand on its
own 2 feet
• Make sure the entry is in the correct category
• If in doubt, ask questions before you submit!
• Don't be afraid to interest, surprise and/or amuse the judges
• You're pitching to the judges - treat it like a pitch
• Tell a story that engages
• Where pictures and well-made videos can illuminate your entry, let them do so

13. Thank you & good luck!