Congratulations to the winners of PR Daily’s 2017 Media Relations Awards.

After much deliberation, we’ve named the crown jewels of the industry. One of our winners advocated for local political causes with the help of news conferences and speaking engagements to create real change. Another partnered with the first full-time female NFL official to share its brand’s message on a multiplatform press tour.

Influencer and expert partnerships garnered major media attention for many of our winners. An interactive event drove brand awareness for another. All of our winners proved that creative tactics and measurable goals lead to big success.

Read on to learn more about the winners and honorable mention recipients for PR Daily’s 2017 Media Relations Awards with this Special Edition of PRDaily.com:

Categories

Brand Messaging or Positioning

WINNER
Elevating Bank of America’s Leadership Through Exploration of Modern Homebuying Trends
Bank of America with Burson-Marsteller

Honorable Mentions

  • VSC Delivers as Zume Bakes Pizza on the Way, VSC with Zume Pizza
  • Nanit: The Biggest Baby Monitor Launch of All Time, VSC with Nanit
  • Trend Micro 2017 Security Predictions Report, HCK2 Partners with Trend Micro Incorporated
  • Neurala Announces $14M in Funding, Bospar with Neurala
  • Unhungry India—A Beginning, Adfactors PR with Godrej Appliances
  • Dream Big with Ola, Adfactors PR with Ola

Cause Advocacy Campaign

WINNER
Away from Blame: Cigna’s Initiative to Fight the U.S. Opioid Epidemic
Cigna

Honorable Mentions

  • Investing Capital to Create Change: State Street’s SHE Gender Diversity ETF Campaign, State Street Corporation
  • Yes on I-732: Accelerating a National Conversation on Climate Action, GreatWork Strategic Communications with Carbon Washington
  • When Laureates and Leaders United for Children, Adfactors PR Pvt Ltd. with Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation
  • Down’s Syndrome Art Winning Hearts, Adfactors PR with Om Creations Trust
  • Care Counts™ Laundry Program, Ketchum with Whirlpool

Crisis or Reputation Management

WINNER
Customer Service Crisis Response
Blue Cross Blue Sheild of North Carolina

Honorable Mention

  • Communication Efforts in Support of Hurricane Matthew, Florida Power & Light Company

Executive Visibility

WINNER
AmFamJack: The Social CEO
American Family Insurance

Honorable Mention

  • Executive Visibility for PeerStreet’s CEO, Vested for PeerStreet

Global Media Relations

WINNER
Global Fishing Watch Launch
Oceana

Honorable Mention

  • Establishing Puerto Rico as a Global Destination, Puerto Rico Tourism Company, led by Hill+Knowlton

Governmental or Public Affairs Media Relations

WINNER
Yes on 792
Candor

Honorable Mention

  • Elephants Can Fly, Adfactors PR with Government of Jharkhand

Innovation in Media Relations

WINNER
Defining Cognitive Creativity with IBM Watson
IBM

Honorable Mentions

  • T.R.I.P. Album + Beer Launch, Adam Ritchie Brand Direction with The Lights Out + Aeronaut Brewing Co.
  • For The First Time Ever, TV Doctors Save Real Lives!, Cigna
  • Investopedia Anxiety Index, Vested for Investopedia
  • Driving Rural Prosperity Through Trringo, Adfactors PR with Mahindra & Mahindra
  • Introducing a World Beyond Wallets, Adfactors PR with ItzCash Card Ltd.
  • Thomas’ Bagels Celebrates the Convergence of National Bagel Day and National Pizza Day by Creating the Ultimate Mashup, Vault Communications with Thomas' Bagels

Integrated Marketing Communications

WINNER
Get More from Your Budget with Cash Back
Bank of America with Burson-Marsteller

Honorable Mentions

  • The Long Lines of Summer—TSA PreCheck to the Rescue, RH Strategic with MorphoTrust USA
  • Norton Children's Hospital: New Name. Same Great Care, Norton Healthcare
  • Elephants Can Fly, Adfactors PR with Government of Jharkhand
  • Do The Difficult, Adfactors PR with ICICI Lombard

Media Relations Video

WINNER
Kingsford's Take Back Opening Day
Kingsford with Current

Honorable Mention

  • UCLA Health Kidney Voucher Program, MediaSource with UCLA Health

Pitch

WINNER
The 2016 Aflac Open Enrollment Survey
Aflac with Hill + Knowlton Strategies

Honorable Mention

  • How We Turned Halloween Into a Big Treat for Plan B One-Step, Rx Mosaic with Teva Women's Health/Plan B One-Step

Press Event or Media Tour

WINNER
Activia “It Starts Inside” Media Tour with Sarah Thomas
Hill+Knowlton Strategies with Dannon Activia

Honorable Mentions

  • Camp Ignite, City of Mississauga, the City of Mississauga with Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services
  • Drink Amazing, Current Marketing with Brita
  • Quenching the Public’s Thirst for an Unconventional Business Book, Stanton with The Boston Beer Company
  • Lenovo Tech World Rocks The Masonic in San Francisco, Text100 with Lenovo
  • iHeartRadio Music Awards, iHeartMedia
  • Reimagine LOVE Park: Saint-Gobain’s Presenting Sponsorship of LOVE Park’s Welcome Center, Brownstein Group/Saint-Gobain North America

Product or Service Launch

WINNER
Investing Capital to Create Change: State Street’s SHE Gender Diversity ETF Campaign
State Street Corporation

Honorable Mentions

  • Kérastase Hair Coach Powered by Withings, L'Oréal USA
  • Outback Steakhouse Goes BIG with the Loaded Bloomin’ Onion, Hunter Public Relations on behalf of Outback Steakhouse
  • Wedding Registry, Domino's Pizza
  • TD Cash 2.0 Launch, TD Bank
  • Beloved Geek Tool IFTTT Goes Pro and Rebrands Its Core Product, Coderella with IFTTT
  • Sara Lee Artesano Bread Launch: National Grilled Cheese Month Campaign, Vault
  • Communications with Sara Lee Bread

Social Influencer Campaign

WINNER
Glad to Give
Current’s Akela Influencer Marketing Practice with The Glad Products Company

Honorable Mention

  • Huawei Fit, High Road with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Social Media Campaign

WINNER
Accu-Chek U.S. Social Media Takeover
Roche Diagnostics

Stunt or Special Event

WINNER
The Red Door to Rio
Canadian Tire Corporation

Honorable Mentions

  • Amy Craton: Success Worth Celebrating, Southern New Hampshire University
  • Binge Watching to Victory: How to Break a World Record and Launch CyberLink’s PowerDVD to Mainstream Audiences, Diffusion PR with CyberLink
  • When Laureates and Leaders United for Children, Adfactors Pvt Ltd. with Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation
  • Rocks for a Reason, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
  • Wines of Chablis' Escape Room Game, Sopexa USA with Wines of Chablis
  • Las Vegas Hosts Final 2016 Presidential Debate, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority

Thought Leadership Campaign

WINNER
A Systematic Approach to Rapid Response and News Hijacking
March Communications with Mimecast

Honorable Mentions

  • Centennial Project Thought Leadership Campaign, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
  • Transforming Invoiceware's Industry Expertise into Engaging Education for Prospects and Stakeholders, AR|PR with Invoiceware by Sovos
  • Recall and Response: Reuters Syndication for Fusion Worldwide, HOLLYWOOD PUBLIC RELATIONS
  • Voicing the Unique Healthcare Needs of the African-American Community, Ascension
  • Shaping Education and Learning: Jessie Woolley-Wilson’s Thought Leadership Journey, RH Strategic for DreamBox Learning
  • Raising the Profile of a Main Street Economic Thought Leader, The Harbinger Group, on behalf of The Federal Savings Bank
  • Centennial Project Thought Leadership Campaign, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Use of Celebrity or Personality

WINNER
Creating a More Pet Friendly Australia with Mars Petcare and Dr. Chris Brown
Palin Communications with Mars Petcare

Honorable Mentions

  • Genius 3D Mammography Exam—Breast Cancer Awareness 2016, Vault Communications with Hologic, Inc.
  • Kingsford's Take Back Opening Day, Current with Kingsford
  • Glad to Waste Less, The Glad Products Company
  • Get More from Your Budget with Cash Back, Burson-Marsteller with Bank of America

Grand Prize

Grand Prize: Media Relations Campaign of the Year ($Under $50,000)

GRAND PRIZE
Reword
InsideOut Public Relations

Honorable Mentions

  • The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Neural Bridging Breakthrough, MediaSource with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
  • Conversica Series B Funding Announcement, Bospar with Conversica
  • Pioneering CX In the Call Center, PAN Communications with Cogito

Grand Prize: Media Relations Campaign of the Year (Over $50,000)

GRAND PRIZE
Care Counts™ Laundry Program
Whirlpool

Honorable Mentions

  • Investing Capital to Create Change: State Street’s SHE Gender Diversity ETF Campaign, State Street Corporation
  • Ebates Online Cash Back Shopping Media Campaign, Bospar with Ebates
  • Color, Way of Love ART+, Nippon Paint, Nippon Paint
  • New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau 2016 Public Relations, DEVENEY with New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau
  • The 2016 Aflac Open Enrollment Survey, Aflac & Hill+Knowlton Strategies
  • Dream BIG with Ola, Adfactors PR with Ola

Grand Prize: Media Relations Campaign of the Year (Under $10,000)

GRAND PRIZE
Using Infrared Technology to Capture Poachers
World Wildlife Fund

Honorable Mention

  • Introducing a World Beyond Wallets, Adfactors PR with ItzCash Card Ltd.