Rebecca Cronjé, account director at Atmosphere Communications, agrees, "Preliminary judging is based on this summary - so it's important to get it right."
Both should know, as they are recipients of the award.
The entry summary opens with a 100 word statement motivating why the campaign is worthy of an award. Cronjé recommends that entrants compile this after having all the facts (tactics, research, outcomes and client feedback) in place. "Don't write too much and get to the core idea in two to three sentences."
"An award-winning entry starts with practising the fundamentals of good public relations but it certainly does not end there," stresses Bridget von Holdt, convenor of the Awards. "A well-written entry, which has well-defined, measurable objectives, is well-researched, soundly executed and then evaluated against the objectives, forms the basis of a good campaign. To win an award however, companies need to have excelled in their campaign and delivered exceptional results."
With less than six weeks until the deadline for submission of entries, Kaiser and Cronjé strongly recommend that entrants start working on their submissions now. "Give yourself enough time to draft the entry and edit it - several times," suggests Cronjé. "Follow the guidelines, spellcheck your entry over and over again - then ask someone else to check it too."
For entrants to the 2012 Apex awards, who missed the Apex workshops, further help is available online on the Apex section of the ACA website: www.acasa.co.za. Closing date for entries is noon on 20 January 2012.
