Gold in your hands: how to really make awards work for you (as both a winner and an organiser)
Awards are one of the most powerful PR tools in existence. Whether you’re the one holding the trophy or managing the event behind the scenes, they are the ultimate lever for targeted press coverage. At manley, we use that leverage every day to capitalise on opportunities. And we’re happy to share that expertise. You’ll discover the key lessons we’ve learnt along the way below, illustrated by six real-life stories.
How an award filled 20 vacancies in one fell swoop and secured the ultimate recognition
In 2008, I set up a PR department at a communications agency. And then my very, very first PR client rang. A family-run business in Kemps that had just made a groundbreaking innovation and, as a result, had been taken over by a Swiss multinational. Could we help them gain some exposure?
They needed to fill 20 logistics vacancies as quickly as possible to scale up their operations. And as a proud leading scientist, the founder wanted recognition for what they had achieved.
Our strategy? To register them for the Open Business Day, so that interested people from the local area would drop by. The application forms were prominently displayed at the information stand. And we entered them for the innovation award linked to the event.
The strategy worked perfectly: our client won the award, presented by the then Minister Patricia Ceyssens. Our pitches to VRT resulted in an in-depth news report – a brilliant clip that I still regularly show during presentations. And the vacancies? They were filled in one fell swoop.
People like to work for winners. Use the credibility of an independent award to attract top talent to your company. An award is the ultimate proof that your company is growing and making an impact.
How an award can ensure investors are queuing up for you
In 2014, I founded the PR agency manley. The start-up neoScores, the ‘iTunes of sheet music’, was our first client. At the time, the cream of the South Korean tech world was organising a competition in Seoul to select the world’s best start-ups. The awards ceremony was on our radar, but it wasn’t until CEO Bart Vanderroost was there in person that he realised the true scale of this massive event.
The relief was immense when neoScores clinched second place. We rushed to draft a press release. But with a crystal-clear angle: we linked the victory to a call to action aimed at investors, with a view to the imminent funding round.
A day later, the news was all over the Belgian media: De Standaard, L’Echo, and dozens of others. Bart’s phone was ringing off the hook. Just one day later, neoScores had already secured all its investors.
Winning an award is fantastic, but by the evening of the ceremony, that trophy is already history. The real gain lies in what you do with that momentum after the win. That’s the difference between celebrating and capitalising on it.
How to use an award to firmly establish your personal brand for the long term.
Dewi Van de Vyver, then CEO of Flow Pilots, had just learnt that she had been nominated for the Data News ICT Woman of the Year award. She asked manley to help her with the communications around this.
Never go unprepared to an awards ceremony. We’d learnt that lesson the hard way in Seoul. So we advised her not to wait until the actual ceremony under any circumstances. We focused entirely on Dewi’s personal entrepreneurial story and on what she stands for as a leader. The award was to serve as the ultimate confirmation of the vision she embodies every day.
A rock-solid press release, an up-to-date biography and professional photographs were all ready for the moment of truth. This meant Dewi could head into the awards night completely stress-free and full of confidence.
Dewi won. And today she is one of the most influential voices in the Belgian tech world. She has been given a regular column in De Tijd and is having a growing impact on the debate surrounding women in tech.
Prepare your communications as if you were the winner, with a story that’s bigger than the prize itself. The trophy opens the door. Your personal vision determines your positioning.
How to use your own organisation’s authority to launch a successful awards scheme.
(Photo: Franky Verdickt)
As a PR partner, we had the privilege of helping Start it @KBC grow into Belgium’s largest accelerator. A fantastic journey in which we provided strategic support to the organisation and offered PR advice to hundreds of start-ups and scale-ups from the community as they took their first steps into the market.
Together with founder Lode Uytterschaut, we created an award with a twist, entirely in keeping with the rebellious, innovative style of the country’s largest start-up community. The winners were chosen by the community itself, via a transparent voting process. As Start it @KBC had by then become a fixture in the ecosystem, the award was taken seriously by the press right from the very first edition.
Setting up your own award is an excellent way to establish thought leadership. Ensure that winning delivers real value and aligns seamlessly with your organisation’s DNA. The more authority you have to begin with, the quicker your award will gain traction with the media.
How to launch an award when nobody knows you yet.
Launching an awards ceremony from scratch is possible even if your company is still in its infancy. The Talent Business Awards – the premier accolade for the Belgian recruitment sector – prove just that.
Conversion Partners launched this initiative as a young organisation, and they kicked things off straight away with a grand awards gala. Thanks to the credibility of the founder, a seasoned HR professional, a great many recruitment agencies submitted their applications. What’s more, he assembled an impressive, independent jury, with a keynote speech by trend watcher Tom Palmaerts and a presentation by Evy Gruyaert.
We took a strategic three-step approach to the press. First, we positioned the company in the market with a press release to the trade and business press, in which we also announced the awards show later that year. We proactively secured exclusive coverage on Trends/Kanaal Z and ZigZagHR for the eventual winner. The climax was the press release announcing the winners, which we shared under embargo so that journalists had plenty of time to prepare their articles.
Express Medical was crowned Talent Business of the Year that year. The awards ceremony immediately became the start of a wonderful annual tradition — and a solid foundation for Conversion Partners’ reputation within the sector.
Credibility isn’t built solely on years of experience. You also build it by surrounding yourself with the right people, an independent jury and a communication strategy that builds trust step by step. An award can be a flying start for your reputation. As long as the foundations are solid.
How authenticity turned a crisis into an award show that left us with a lump in our throats.
(Photo: Wim Demessemaekers)
We’ll round off with the awards show for which we at manley were shortlisted for a BORA Award – the Oscars of the PR world.
Every year, We’re Smart World brings together top chefs for the awards ceremony honouring the world’s best vegetable-focused restaurants. In 2024, the Spanish city of Valencia was the setting. Ten days before the gala, devastating floods struck, claiming hundreds of lives. You’ll no doubt remember the images. A celebration seemed unthinkable.
In close consultation with the client and the city, we decided to go ahead, but in a different way. We transformed the event into a charity fundraiser. The chefs and We’re Smart World became the face of solidarity.
Our media relations took centre stage: a bespoke press release for each country, to maximise relevance. The Belgian media ran headlines declaring Restaurant Vrijmoed the fourth-best vegetable restaurant in the world. Not just “Spanish restaurant wins.”
The result: 508 press cuttings, reaching 320 million people across more than 15 countries. And a lump in the throat.
Empathy, flexibility and social relevance carry more weight than any tightly planned script. Dare to act in response to current events. Put the human connection at the heart of it all.
YOUR STRATEGIC CHECKLIST FOR AWARDS
IF YOU’VE BEEN NOMINATED OR ARE IN THE RUNNING
✔ Be proactive. Write your press release, gather visual material and prepare quotes before the awards ceremony. Speed is crucial.
✔ Coordinate with the organiser. This saves you time and ensures your messaging is aligned with the official communications.
✔ Ask the jury why you won. Those words of praise are the ultimate fuel for your future marketing and positioning.
WHEN YOU ARE THE ORGANISER
✔ Offer real value. Ensure that winning tangibly benefits the winner’s business or reputation.
✔ One clear overall winner. The media have limited space. Everyone remembers the Oscar for Best Film. Almost no one remembers the runner-up.
✔ Ensure the award aligns with your reputation. Are you an established player? Use the award to cement your authority. Are you a challenger? Then use the event to definitively stake your claim in the market. Both strategies work, as long as the approach matches where you stand today.
Got your eye on an award, or planning to launch one yourself?
Don’t let the momentum slip away. We’ll help you get the most PR value out of it – before, during and long after the ceremony.
Saartje Dietvorst
Manley is a strategic PR and storytelling agency, founded by Saartje Dietvorst. We help organisations gain the recognition they deserve through the media, ensuring their impact resonates as widely as possible with the public and government bodies. Since 2014, we’ve been identifying the most compelling stories within companies and presenting them with razor-sharp precision. Based in Antwerp, we work across Europe. Because in a world full of AI-generated content, it’s the authentic stories that matter.
Find out more at www.manley.eu
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