Communication Campaign of the Year

Description

This award is open to any organisation that has developed (or co-developed with another organisation) an internal or external campaign to successfully push environmental / social issues within the financial realm into the spotlight, or which have developed and implemented effective purpose marketing which has created real transformation, especially in the field of behaviour change.

Judges do not expect perfection in all aspects of the activities undertaken by the organisation running the communication campaign: they know that embedding sustainability into all activities is a challenging process! But the communication campaign cannot be an isolated example of promoting sustainability within the activities of the financial institution: the judges expect a company to also show evidence that it takes appropriate account of social and environmental issues in wider aspects of its business.

Campaign objectives may include promoting awareness, direct fundraising, inspiring action for a cause or any other purpose-driven objective. Outcomes should relate to the campaign’s target demographic and (where relevant) the client organisation’s own staff and operations. Judges will look for metrics such as shifts in capital flows away from unsustainable activities and towards ones aligned to a sustainable economy.  A wide range of activities could qualify for this category.  Examples might include communications campaigns to alert pension fund members to the assets in their portfolio; or to protect customers through an increased awareness of fraud; or to engage with Independent Financial Advisors on the sustainable options available for savings and pensions.

Judges will consider the methods used to communicate and engage with the target audience(s), and the integration of the campaign message with the organisation’s core activity. In particular, they will be interested in any use of innovative techniques and approaches.

When it comes to behaviour change campaigns, the judges will be looking for evidence of verifiable reductions in the undesirable behaviours targeted / increase in desired behaviours; the degree to which the campaign has helped to ‘normalise’ them; and any other secondary positive impacts that may have arisen from the intervention.

The campaign needs to have been running between 2022 and 2024.  It does not need to remain active.

Criteria

Judges will be looking for evidence of progress on the following points (weighting percentages in brackets):

  • A clear strategy with definable objectives, based on audience insights. Creative and novel approaches to communicating its message and engaging its target audience will be rewarded (20%)

  • Campaign execution: how effectively the campaign reached its key audiences (25%)

  • Impact: whether the campaign positively influenced behaviour change resulting in quantifiable impacts (35%)

  • Legacy: how the campaign ensured ongoing change both within the organisation and the wider community, laying the ground for any subsequent related work (20%)

Any confidential data will be treated as such and only shared with the judging panel, all of whom will have signed NDAs.