PRINZ Supreme Award Winner – Waipā District Council
Waipā District Council was awarded Supreme Winner for their entry ‘What’s next Waipā?’ at the 2022 annual PRINZ Awards gala dinner held in Auckland on Friday, 20 May 2022.
The ‘What’s next Waipā?’ ‘campaign flipped a routine legislative consultative process on its head and embarked on 17 months of targeted, innovative community relations work, inspiring Waipā residents to share their needs and wants for their district and engage in the development of Council’s 2021-2031 Long Term Plan. The campaign also won Gold in the Community Relations and Engagement category.
PRINZ Awards Chief Judges, Denise Mackay FPRINZ, APR and Andrew Pirie, FPRINZ said this was a creative two-way communication programme that resulted in record engagement for Waipā.
“When tasked with managing public consultation on a council’s long-term plan, many communications practitioners would be tempted to just “go through the motions” with a conventional approach. The judges were impressed at the innovative yet highly disciplined way the Waipā District Council team sought to address a well-known national issue – getting the community engaged in local government planning.
Supported by a strategy that put listening ahead of speaking and implemented through a range of inventive communications and engagement techniques (Councillor Speed Dating anyone?) implemented in a COVID-19 environment, the team delivered results not only for the Council, but importantly, for the Waipā community”.
The judges were impressed by the depth of planning involved to reach hard-to-engage community segments, as well as the detailed focus on results – even down to measuring the numbers of ice creams and sausages the community consumed as indicators of engagement!
“The project easily exceeded the Council’s expectations on engagement and participation. Perhaps the most significant outcome is how this work has become an exemplar for other councils across the motu to consider when it comes to enhancing community buy-in.”
Winners of the PR Consultancy of the Year categories and the new PR In-house team of the Year categories were also announced at the Gala Dinner. Wanaka based agency Scope Media won PR Consultancy of the Year in the small to medium category. Senate SHJ, based in Auckland and Wellington, was named PR Consultancy of the Year in the medium to large category.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand was awarded Communicators PR In-house Team of the Year.
The Public Relations Institute would like to thank everyone involved in judging the 2022 PRINZ Awards for their considered assessment of the entries as well as sponsors BusinessDesk, Communicators, Isentia and Robert Walters.
The PRINZ Awards recognize excellence in the New Zealand’s public relations and communications industry, promoting continuous improvement, and celebrating best practice. This year’s awards attracted 86 entries. Entries were assessed in a rigorous three-stage judging model involving more than eighty Life Members, Fellows and senior practitioners of the Institute with the assistance of international colleagues.
2022 PRINZ Awards results:
Supreme Award
Winner: Waipā District Council, – What’s next Waipā?
Corporate and Business Public Relations
Silver: Acumen New Zealand – A true digital celebration of the best in New Zealand’s technology sector – Microsoft Partner Awards 2021
Silver: Acumen New Zealand and Mitre 10 – Mitre 10 Pot Recycle
Consumer or Customer Relations
Silver: Acumen NZ and Mitre 10 – Mitre 10 Pot Recycle
Silver: Priority Communications – In Timaru, we recycle topless
Bronze: Palmerston North City Council – Summer Water Use: How Palmy turned off the tap on water restrictions
Community Relations and Engagement
Gold: Waipā District Council, – What’s next Waipā?
Silver: Palmerston North City Council – When Nature Calls, but there’s also a pandemic
Financial Communications and Investor Relations
Silver: Financial Markets Authority Te Mana Tātai Hokohoko – The FMA and online investing – “Live and Let DIY”
Government Relations and Public Affairs
Gold: Convergence Communications – An Unsafe Proposal – making the case to retain regional air traffic services
Silver: Palmerston North City Council – Nature calls, and so did a pandemic – How Palmy conducted its biggest consultation ever, in the midst of national lockdowns
Bronze: Ministry for the Environment – Emissions Reduction Plan Public Consultation
Internal Communications
Silver: SkyCity Entertainment Group – Collective immunity protects the community
Bronze: Priority Communications – Building Stronger Futures
Issues, Crisis or Reputation Management
Silver: EMA – Helping Business Get Through
Silver: Fire and Emergency New Zealand – Waiharara fire – keeping a community safe and engaged over a long-duration emergency
Robert Walters Marketing Communication
Gold: Harvey Cameron – 90% for Canterbury – a campaign to vaccinate a region
Silver: Acumen NZ – How Stake took RKLB to the moon!
Silver: Great Scott – Seeing ourselves – a very Pacific COVID response
Bronze: DARKHORSE New Zealand – La Dolce Vita with Malfy Gin
Bronze: Mango Communications Aotearoa and McDonald’s New Zealand – Ordered From Here
Experiential and Activation
Silver: Mango Communications Aotearoa and McDonald’s New Zealand – Ordered from here at Fieldays
Best Use of Media Relations
Gold: Development West Coast – Okārito GorseBusters
Silver: Fire and Emergency New Zealand – Fire gets real, fast! Seven Sharp Live House Fire Burn
Isentia Best Use of Digital and Social Media
Silver: Ministry for the Environment – Emissions Reduction Plan Public Consultation
Silver: Acumen New Zealand – A true digital celebration of the best in New Zealand’s technology sector – Microsoft Partner Awards 2021
Bronze: New Plymouth District Council – Hello NP
Most Innovative Campaign
Silver: Acumen New Zealand – How Stake took RKLB to the moon!
Isentia and PRINZ Prize for Excellence in Research, Measurement and Evaluation
Winner: Fire gets real, fast! Seven Sharp Live House Fire Burn – Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Sally Logan-Milne Young Practitioner of the Year
Winner: Emma Ward
Special Mention: Annabelle Wrigley
Special Mention: Brooke Hurndell
Communicators PR In-house Team of the Year
Winner: Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Special Mention: Development West Coast
BusinessDesk PR Consultancy of the Year
Winner – Small to Medium: Scope Media
Winner – Medium to Large: Senate SHJ
