Female staff members of Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), the publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, have won double awards at the 2023 SABRE African Public Relations Awards, held in Lusaka, Zambia. The awards were presented on the sideline of the annual Conference of the African Public Relations Association (APRA). The winners obtained a trophy and Certificate of Excellence for Employee Communication and West-African Categories, with a gender inclusivity campaign titled “Nigerian Ladies in PR”.
The winning campaign showcased how female interns and staff in the organisation were trained and tasked with advocacies that promote inter-ethnic relations, national unity, good governance, and gender equality. The award was in recognition of exceptional performance in Branding Reputation and Engagement.
Supported by the MacArthur Foundation and Kogi State Government, the Nigerian ladies in PR campaign included public speaking, press releases, article writing, social media engagement, and book publishing. The State Security Service (SSS) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) also won Certificates of Excellence for their campaigns, which were also carried out by Image Merchants Promotion Limited.
The SSS campaign was recognised under the Public Sector/Government Category for tackling lingering fuel scarcity that threatened the Ember Months through stakeholder engagement and effective communication. The NITDA campaign was recognised under Public Affairs/Government Relations Category for deploying mainstream and social media as a technology regulatory agency in countering misconceptions by educating the public on the benefits of its Code of Practice for Social Media and Online Platforms.
The SABRE Awards considered campaigns that demonstrated the highest levels of creativity, integrity, and effectiveness. A jury of industry leaders evaluated the 2023 African SABRE Awards.
Paul Holmes, chairman of the jury, commended African agencies and clients for performing extraordinarily well in the SABRE competition, saying, “The quality of work from across the continent has never been higher. Robust data and smart cultural insights are informing the planning process, big bold creative ideas are driving the execution, and real business-related metrics are showing how successful these campaigns are.”
Yushau A. Shuaib, of IMPR, expressed excitement about the feat of the young Nigerian female communicators in proving their mettle in the field of public relations. “While we acknowledge the contributions of our clients in believing in us, we wish to remain the most gender-friendly communication outfit that promotes excellence in service delivery,” Shuaib added.
Nigerian delegates at the African PR Conference celebrated the PRNigeria ladies for making the country proud. Other PR firms from Lagos-based also won various categories of the SABRE awards, including CMC Connect, Chain Reactions Africa, LSF PR, Integrated Indigo Limited, Chenist Communications, and BHM.
Leading PR firms mostly from South and East Africa also bagged multiple awards. They include APO Group, BCW, Hill+Knowlton East Africa Limited, Razor PR/M&C Saatchi Group, Ogilvy South Africa, P&L Consulting Limited, Edelman Africa, MSL, WE Communications, and Retroviral PR of South-Africa. The winning organisations and brands whose campaigns were promoted by PR firms in Africa include Lagos State Government, Ford South Africa, Mastercard Foundation, Jack Ma Foundation, Kenya Airways, NISSAN, Hollard Insurance Ghana, Vodacom, MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile, IBM, Microsoft, HP, Canon, Multichoice, Johnnie Walker, Warner Brothers, and BetKing Nigeria, Honeywell Group Limited, Nestle, Floor Mill Nigeria, Shoprite, KFC, Nigerian Breweries, Kenya Breweries, East African Breweries, Coca Cola, and Phoenix Beverage.
In conclusion, it is a great achievement for IMPR and the female staff members who put in their best to execute award-winning campaigns. This accomplishment serves as a giant leap towards recognising gender inclusivity and equality in public relations.
