Double happiness for young PR execs

The Council of Public Relations Firms of Hong Kong has announced the winners of this year’s ‘Double Happiness’ awards.The competition, which was open to all in-house PR professionals in Hong Kong and their agencies, attracted a wide range of entries from agencies and their private sector clients.The winners of the CPRFHK 2013 ‘Double Happiness’ awards were:Corporate Industry Leader: Greg Brutus, AT&T and Helen Cheung, McDonald’sBrand Marketing Industry Leader: Jennifer Lam, Hong Kong LandBrand PR Manager: Flora Chan, P&GBest Use of Digital PR: Valerie Kurniawan, FlextronicsAs the business of communications continues to change and evolve at a rapid pace, the most successful in-house marketers are those who have a true ‘extension of the team’ approach to their PR firms.“The ‘Double Happiness’ awards recognize that the best public relations work occurs when there is a solid partnership between agencies and their clients,” said Rachel Catanach, chairman of the CPRFHK.[gallery ids="29795,29796,29797,29798,29799,29800,29801"]“This year we revisited the criteria to truly reflect the changing communications landscape. Emphasis was placed on facilitating integration amongst agency teams alongside robust briefing, creativity, strategic direction and measurement. It’s these factors that contribute to not only a successful partnership, but also successful business.”The judging panel included Jeremy Walker, managing director of Golin Harris, Alastair Hetherington, CEO Asia of RLM Finsbury and Marlene Guernsey, associate partner of RLM Finsbury.Alastair Hetherington commented said it was inspiring to see the number of entries we received this year and the firm commitment that in-house practitioners are making to their agencies, to their mutual advantage.“The winning industry leaders all stood out for their ability to understand the importance of strong, trusting relationships with not only their PR agency, but all agencies, as integration becomes ever-more important.”Flora Chan, PR manager at P&G, took out the award for Brand PR Manager.“Having trust in the professional advice your agency gives you is of upmost importance – it’s what you hire them for. In this super digital ‘always on’ world, decisions need to be made quickly. I trust the Ketchum team to assist me in making those decisions and also to support me as and when I need them. We work together to make sure our messages, strategic direction and measurement are robust, aligned and linked back to business performance.’The ‘Double Happiness ‘awards provide a platform to identify those professionals who demonstrate best practice agency management. Building on the success of the 2012 awards, the CPRFHK added an additional ‘Digital’ category, reflecting the industry skill set requirements.