Mango scores coveted Grand Prix for Team Heroine ‘Correct the Internet’ at the 2023 Pressie Awards; Special PR most awarded agency of the night with three Gold and 10 Silver
(Pictured L-R: Kate Heatley, Rebecca Sowden, Jo Martin, Sean Brown)
Tonight, the PR, experiential and social industry of Aotearoa gathered to recognise and acknowledge outstanding campaigns from the past 12 months at the 2023 Pressie Awards. Following a two-month entry period and two rounds of judging by 51 industry experts, the Commercial Communications Council awarded 20 Silver Pressies, 12 Gold Awards and the Grand Prix.
The coveted Grand Prix was awarded to Mango for Team Heroine ‘Correct the Internet’, which won a Gold in Best Integrated Campaign and a Gold in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
This is the second time Mango has won the Grand Prix, having also taken home the coveted award in 2020.
Correct the Internet, a global movement designed to highlight and correct the inconsistency of searchable facts that disadvantages sportswomen, was a campaign that ultimately achieved what it set out to do – make sportswomen more visible.
Rebecca Sowden, founder of international sports marketing consultancy Team Heroine and former Football Fern, has been a driving force behind Correct the Internet and says she is “delighted” with the campaign’s win: “The Mango and DDB team pulled off an amazing campaign that tackles an important societal issue of gender bias and gender discrimination.
“They worked tirelessly on Correct the Internet, so it was fantastic to see their smarts and efforts recognised at the 2023 Pressies.”
Says Sean Brown, managing director at Mango Communications: “We’re proud to celebrate the changing perceptions of women in sport through a truly integrated, social-first campaign that primarily used PR and social media to lead the way. Taking home the Grand Prix is a testament to the Mango and DDB ethos that creativity is the most powerful force in business.”
It was a huge night for Special PR with the agency scoring three Golds and 10 Silvers. Special PR’s ’The Silent Night’ for Wellington City Mission won a Gold in Best Creative PR Campaign and a Gold in Non-Profit, whilst its Better Packaging Company ‘Plastic piles of sh!t’ scored Gold in Best Use of Media Relations. The agency scored Silvers for various campaigns including Wellington City Mission ’The Silent Night’, Jaguar Land Rover ‘Jaguar Design Drives’, Kiwibank ‘The most inclusive workplace wardrobe’, Trade Me ‘Break-Up Starter Packs’, Better Packaging Company ‘Plastic piles of sh!t’, Tourism New Zealand ‘The Beautiful Game’ and Trade Me ‘Everyday Runway’.
Other Gold winners of the night included:
• The Monkeys for ASB ‘Bagels – Created by Benee. Backed by Science.’ in Best Corporate PR
• Yarn for Hell Pizza ‘AfterLife Pay’ in Best Use of Social Media
• Pead for Cystic Fibrosis New Zealand ‘How humanising Cystic Fibrosis secured critical Pharmac funding’ in Non-Profit
• Fuse / OMD for Kiwibank ‘Kiwibank Business for Better…Is Better’ in Best Media Partnership
The Young Practitioner of the Year Award went to Reilly Hodson, senior account manager at Acumen.
Says Katharine Broughton, convenor of judges for the 2023 Pressie Awards: “It’s always inspiring to see so many fantastic entries. The calibre of entries this year was world class with some exceptional campaigns that demonstrated the strengthen of our industry in building brands and championing change. Congratulations to all winners!”
The 2023 Pressie Awards were presented by the Comms Council and were made possible through sponsorship from Meta, NZME, Stuff, Telum Media and The Spinoff.
The Comms Council extends congratulations to all finalists and winners of the 2023 Pressie Awards.
The complete list of winners is available at https://commscouncil.nz/pressie
