NAF, Meta win Golden World Awards 2023 as IPRA recognizes Nigeria’s IMPR, AT3
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and Meta have emerged winners of the 2023 Golden World Awards (GWA) instituted by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) for outstanding PR campaigns.
Two PR agencies from Nigeria, Image Merchants Promotion (IMPR) Limited and AT3 Resources, were also recognized for championing the campaigns of NAF and Meta, the owner of Facebook.
The NAF and IMPR won the Crisis Management Category for providing enablement for independent media reports and third-party news narratives on counter-insurgency operations which boosted citizens’ confidence and troops’ morale.
Meta and AT3 Resources won Technology Category with #NoFalseNewsZone crusade in Nigeria and Ghana, a multi-pronged campaign that encouraged people to think critically about the messages seen online before forwarding them to others.
IMPR, publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential, earlier bagged the African SABRE Awards organized by PRovoke Media, in partnership with African Public Relations Association (APRA) and GWA. It was also declared the Most Creative PR Agency in 2020.
Speaking on the latest prize, the Managing Director, Mr. Yushau Shuaib expressed excitement that PR firms in Nigeria are now acknowledged on the global stage beyond regional recognition.
“I am delighted that more Nigerian agencies have grown beyond being local champions and are competing with the very best in the world. We should continue to strive in ensuring that PR campaigns demonstrate the highest levels of professionalism, creativity, integrity and impact,” he said.
In assessing the entries, the GWA jury of experts from Austria, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, United States and United Kingdom met for the first time since the pandemic at London’s Institute of Directors.
IPRA’s Secretary General, Philip Sheppard announced a total of 70 winners for 2023, noting that a number of entries focused on emerging issues such as cryptocurrency, influencer management, and virtual reality.
“This year, we had entries covering multiple subjects and there was a notable demonstration of creativity from all around the world. We learnt of stories such as prejudice in Peru, solitary bees in Croatia, and tackling fake news in Ukraine,” Sheppard said.
The prestigious Grand Prix has been chosen but the judges sworn to secrecy. Along with the Global Contribution Award for PR with an objective of meeting one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Grand Prix will be announced at the GWA Gala on 20 October in Barcelona, Spain.
