Awards Intelligence - Anyone use them?

Hi there,

I was looking into the whole host of UK Business Awards to enter my company into but the trouble is I have no idea how to go about it or what to write in an application.

I have come across this company

http://www.awardsintelligence.co.uk/

and wanted to know if anyone uses them or any similar companies to handle all their award applications on their behalf.

Do any of you PR peeps out there know of them and can anything be gained from winning these business awards that are available.

Any advice on this matter would be really appreciated guys and gals. Thanks in advance.

 

[[email protected]]

Beware. If you want to enter for a Queens Award for Industry you can apply yourself and the help you need is available through your County's Lord Lieutenancy office. It is likely that a deputy Lieutenant will advise you in completion of the form. There is no cost for this service and you will be helped by people who understand the system.

If anyone uses this company for nomination for a National personal Award (OBE,MBE etc) they are treading on dangerous ground. If it is discovered that you know of your nomination or have asked someone to nominate you it will be discarded. If the award is successfull and it is found out afterwards the award could be retracted with all the unsuing bad publicity. Again, the Lieutenancy will help with nominations if the nominee is unaware of his or her nominations. Again this service is FREE and carried out by people who really do understand the system. The Cabinet Office does not supoport this organisation and it is likely that any awards that have the hallmark of an outside consultancy be rejected.

 

[Cleaver]

It is true that using agencies for Honours is completely wrong and thoroughly disapproved of by the organisers. However business awards organisers have a very different view. You will notice another agency called Boost Marketing is regularly appearing on awards websites with the full endorsement of the organisers. They are even mentioned under the “need help with your entry?” section on the left here (visit Construction News Awards website - sorry couldn't post URL)

 

[Awards Intelligence]

In response to the previous questions and comments regarding Queen's honours nominations and business awards, readers may find clarification of Awards Intelligence services helpful:

Queen's Honours Nominations

All truly deserving members of the public should be nominated for an honour. People who are in the public eye or those in line for an honour as a natural progression of their professional role may well be highly deserving but there are so many people out there who are doing great things for their local community, their profession or for society as a whole.

Making a nomination for a Queen's honour is an open and accessible process available to everyone. However many people ask for help because they simply do not have the time to commit to collating the appropriate information and support for such an important nomination. Indeed, the individuals who come to Awards Intelligence to help them put together a nomination often do so to have the pressure of writing for such a prestigious award taken off their shoulders.

The nominations that our writers undertake involve finding out as much detail as possible about the nominee through speaking to their friends/family/peers etc and through their own in-depth research. The resulting nomination therefore contains as much clear and obtainable information about that nominee as is possible. We help the nominator to put forward a comprehensive picture of the nominee which truly reflects their achievements and ultimately provides a high level of unbiased detail and evidence for the Honours and Appointments Secretariat to consider. We do not judge who is deserving of an honour or nominate people ourselves, we simply provide a service that ensures a clear and accurate picture of that individual is produced in line with the publicised nomination criteria, ready for the relevant committee to consider/investigate further as they see fit.

Individuals who choose to instruct writers to help them should not be penalised in any way for providing a clear and detailed nomination. There are thousands of professionally written nominations constructed by PR departments every year and many public sector organisations fulfil a quota of nominations per year for their industry. In this respect it is irrelevant who has written the nomination, and as the Cabinet Office have said - each nomination is judged purely on the merit of the nominee. It is therefore extremely important to make sure that the nominee's achievements are clear and accurate, whether you write a nomination yourself, or you instruct someone to help you do so.

Business Awards

Underestimating the power of winning awards may allow allow your business competitors to get the upper hand. Awards Intelligence helps individuals and organisations to achieve business success by recommending and managing their bespoke business awards plans. This helps people to demonstrate the great things they are doing for their customers and their industry, and to grow their business year on year through a budgeted and implemented plan.

We have been delighted to help so many businesses to grow throughout this difficult economic climate - directly as a result of the recognition they have achieved through their award-winning accomplishments.

We enjoy great relationships with hundreds of businesses from household names to independent organisations and entrepreneurs and come highly recommended by business advisors such as The Entrepreneurs Circle. A selection of corporate customer testimonials can also be viewed on our website.

Awards intelligence also appears on the websites of many award providers, such as the Federation of Small Businesses and the highly prestigious National Business Awards.

 

[ethical PR]

Hi there,

I was looking into the whole host of UK Business Awards to enter my company into but the trouble is I have no idea how to go about it or what to write in an application.

I have come across this company

http://www.awardsintelligence.co.uk/

and wanted to know if anyone uses them or any similar companies to handle all their award applications on their behalf.

Do any of you PR peeps out there know of them and can anything be gained from winning these business awards that are available.

Any advice on this matter would be really appreciated guys and gals. Thanks in advance.

Hi Michelle

If you are looking to enter awards as part of your overall marketing and PR strategy, it can pay dividends depending on the awards you enter, your target audience and how you promote your involvement.

Winning a prestigous award is something you can promote through your own communications and through the Award organisation. Some you need to pay to enter, some are free.

You can use an Awards Company such as you have linked to, a PR agency with experience in this area or do it yourself if you feel you have the skills. If you want to do it yourself normally you can download an application and enter online. Do leave enough time do to put together your application and supporting materials.

I haven't used an external agency, as I work in PR so we put together our own entries. If you are using an external agency, do find out their experience of entering awards in your sector and their success rate.

Good luck.

Helen

 

[cjd]

Hmm, well I find myself in total disagreement with the above.

If you look at my signature, you'll see that I'm a bit of an awards tart. I write all the applications myself and wouldn't dream of outsourcing the task.

But before you think about writing an award, you need to have a really good look at your business and ask yourself objectively why you should win anything at all. Judges see all sorts of marketing rubbish written but in my experience what they actually need is real, objective evidence of success. I always include our sales, net profit and net asset figures since start up whether they ask or not.

They also want to see - again objectively, not in waffle or jargon, why you're different and better than all your competitors. That's not easy because, almost by definition, almost all businesses are the same or worse. Unless you're doing something really different, don't bother - spend the time working out how you can be.

Judges like a good story, so tell yours and be personal - they see virtually nothing but PR spin, so a personally written application makes it real for them.

But do put your business under the microscope before writing anything.

 

[S-Marketing]

Come on peeps, look at the date. Michelle was banned for good a long time ago, hence why she appears now as a guest.

 

[thelegalstop]

Wow, that is a really old thread. I came here because I was interested in these company awards, but it seems it is just an advertisement

 

[cjd]

Bloody zombies...