ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, the region’s leading public relations consultancy, has won ten awards at the 11th Annual International Business Awards 2014, including the prestigious Public Relations Agency of the Year in the Middle East and Africa, for the fourth year.
The agency was awarded a record three gold, five silver and two bronze ‘Stevies’ (as the awards are most commonly known) for PR campaigns with its clients, including Emaar Properties, Ford Middle East and Art Dubai.
The International Business Awards are the world’s premier business awards programme. All individuals and organisations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – are eligible to submit nominations. The 2014 International Business Awards received 3,500 entries from more than 60 nations and territories.
Stevie award winners were selected by more than 250 executives worldwide who participated in the judging process from May through early August. Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word for “crowned,” the awards will be presented to winners at a gala awards banquet in Paris on 10 October.
“I dedicate this record-breaking success of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller at the International Business Awards to our clients. It is also of course testament to our colleagues all across the Middle East who devised and executed compelling and evidence-based communications campaigns on behalf of our clients. I am extremely proud of our people and our work,” said Sunil John, CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller.
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, which has a team of 160 professionals in 11 fully-owned offices across the Middle East and North Africa, won the gold Stevie for PR Campaign of the Year – Public Service for its work on its annual Arab Youth Survey. The 2014 survey, which polled 3,500 young Arabs between the ages of 18 and 24 years old in 16 Arab countries, provided the most comprehensive insights into the hopes, fears and aspirations of young people across the Arab world to date.
The agency was also awarded a gold Stevie in the PR Campaign of the Year – Events & Observances category and a bronze honour in the PR Campaign of the Year – Arts & Entertainment category for its work with Emaar Properties during the inaugural Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience 2013. The campaign, designed to help establish Dubai as the fashion capital of the Middle East, brought together established and emerging talent from across the world for the region’s definitive fashion event.
The agency’s work in regionalising Ford Middle East’s global CSR campaign, Warriors in Pink, was honoured with two awards, a silver Stevie for PR Campaign of the Year – Community Relations and bronze for PR Campaign of the Year – Public Service.
Other ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller honours included two silver awards – PR Campaign of the Year – Social Media Focused and Marketing Consumer Services – for its work with Nestlé Middle East on the KIT KAT Comedy Break Show; a silver honour in the PR Campaign of the Year – Events & Observances category for the Government Summit 2014, which brought together leading public sector stakeholders from across the region to discuss best government practices; and a silver Stevie for PR Campaign of the Year – Arts & Entertainment for Art Dubai.
“We congratulate all of the Stevie winners in this year’s International Business Awards,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards. “The quality of entries we receive improves every year. This year’s judges were rewarded with the opportunity to review more than 3,500 entries of business achievement and innovation from around the world. We look forward to celebrating the winners’ achievements in Paris on 10 October.”
