Hosted by media personalities Ashraf Garda and Leanne Maras, the biggest winners of the night included Atmosphere Communications, Tribeca Public Relations, FleishmanHillard South Africa, Ogilvy PR and M&C Saatchi Abel.

Marimba drums, protea arrangements and hostesses dressed in elegant Vukani Fashions all set the scene. Cliff Central and Jozi Maboneng Radio broadcasted live from the event, while the who’s who of the industry mingled.

Garda began the evening reminiscing about his first time hosting the event in 2006, when there were just 30 entrants. This year 220 campaigns were submitted, with about 400 industry professionals present for the event. “Tonight allows PR professionals the chance to benchmark their campaigns against the best of the best,” Garda said.

The judges’ advice to all future applicants was to make their entries count. They said winning entries had thorough research backing them, told a story and were well written.

The Best Small Public Relations Consultancy Award went to Plato Communications, Best Mid-Sized Public Relations Consultancy to Atmosphere Communications and the Best Large Public Relations Consultancy was awarded to an ecstatic FleishmanHillard South Africa.

The Pan African Campaign of the Year was also awarded to FleishmanHillard South Africa while the much anticipated South African the Campaign of the Year Award went to Atmosphere Communications for their Sanlam Rebrand and One Rand Man campaign. This campaign will now be entered into the world awards, IPRA, in September at the PRISM Awards own cost.

The Best Up-and-Coming Public Relations Professional PRISM was awarded to Plato Communication’s Candice Mullins, while Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town’s Pippa Holland was recognised as the Best Public Relations Professional.

For more information on the PRISMs, visit www.prisa.co.za. Alternatively connect with them on Twitter.