The consultancy, together with King James Partners, received the ultimate accolade at the PRISM Awards Ceremony held at The Maslow Hotel in Sandton on Sunday, 19 April 2015. Recognising excellence in public relations campaigns, 44 awards were presented in 37 categories to public relations consultancies, practitioners and corporates.

About the Sanlam One Rand Man Campaign

Sanlam has always been seen as a large, traditional and old school corporation. In May 2014, a new refreshed and iconic Sanlam brand was launched in which they introduced Wealthsmiths™. The Group was tasked with developing an integrated campaign that would bring the refreshed brand to life in a relevant and engaging way - that's how 'One Rand Man' was born.

National Savings Month provided the opportunity to give meaning to Wealthsmiths™ among consumers by showing them that every Rand matters. The One Rand Man (ORM) was a unique social experiment where an ordinary South African got to learn more about his money by living entirely on R1 coins for the month of July. Weekly webisodes covered his story every step of the way, and Sanlam experts weighed in on his trials and tribulations.

From day one, media requests flooded in, resulting in a tidal wave of editorial coverage across all media - which eventually generated seven times more than the expected campaign budget. Within four weeks it delivered over 74 million media impressions, R13-million in earned media exposure and 900 000 video views. In fact, it was ranked numbers one, two, three and four on YouTube SA.

As the ‘One Rand Man’ became bigger, so too did the conversation around saving. South Africans started expressing concerns about their spending habits and lack of savings.

Commenting on the campaign, chief judge Marilyn Watson said: "Atmosphere Communications showed excellent understanding of the client’s opportunities, challenges and target audiences. The campaign was truly innovative with great insights - which drove the campaign to great results."

The extensive use of social media, digital and other platforms in the winning campaign was one of the key trends emerging from this year’s entries.

"There’s no ‘marketing mix’ anymore - it’s a ‘marketing melting pot’ and the melting pot is the ‘big idea’," commented Katherine Madley, head of strategy and performance at Alexander Forbes and one of the Campaign of the Year judges. "What stood out for me in the Campaign of the Year finalists’ entries was the collaboration between the experts with an idea - and running and amplifying that idea."

Yegs Ramiah, CEO of the Sanlam Brand commented: "In just a few short months, Sanlam has been transformed. The One Rand Man campaign worked hard to further position the fresh, modern feel of the brand and make it accessible. The campaign created a unique platform for us to empower people to stop and think about the way they spend and save in a highly engaging and relevant way. It rekindled the connection with the Sanlam brand among consumers. We are exceptionally pleased with the results."

FleishmanHillard’s Prosper Campaign voted Pan African Campaign of the Year

FleishmanHillard South Africa emerged victorious in the new Pan African Campaign of the Year category for its Barclay’s ‘Prosper’ campaign. In 2014, the global public relations consultancy was tasked to develop a communication programme that supported the launch of Barclay’s first ever Pan African campaign, Prosper, in 11 African markets.

By looking at macro-economic views on prosperity, FleishmanHillard realised that prosper could mean a variety of different things to different people. There seemed to be a lack in research of what it meant for Africans, individually, to prosper. This is where they saw great opportunity.

FleishmanHillard decided to create a bespoke view of what it means to prosper - not only from a Pan African perspective, but also what it means to prosper in each of the 11 African markets that Barclays operates in.

The launch of the campaign, Prosper, was announced in April 2014 along with the launch of the Barclays Africa Prosper survey, an online survey to assess how the word ‘prosper’ is interpreted in different markets and demographics. This was the largest online bespoke survey conducted in Africa, with around 7000 respondents in 11 countries completing the survey. On Tuesday, 28 October 2014, FleishmanHillard launched the 2014 Barclays Africa Prosper Report in support of Barclays’ Prosper campaign. Six media launches were held simultaneously which attracted up to 54 journalists.

The Barclays Africa Prosper Report addressed critical issues of financial behaviour and prosperity that have either been missed or poorly measured previously. What started out as a communication campaign to support the launch of the Barclays’ Prosper campaign, transcended into far more. It captured the hopes, dreams and ambitions of Africa’s growing youthful middle-class demographic who holds the key to accelerated economic growth and transformation in Africa.

"From a research perspective what FleishmanHillard achieved for the Barclays Africa Prosper Survey was astounding. In a very short time we gathered a wealth of information across borders on the African continent. This is definitely a piece of work to consider for research executions in Africa," said Elna Smit, co-founder and director of Columinate.

"Now in its 18th year, the PRISM Awards have truly come of age and are more sought-after than ever. With a host of incredible sponsors, this year’s event was a celebration of everything African," commented Bridget von Holdt, convenor of the PRISM Awards.

For a full list of winners, visit the PRISM Awards website . Alternatively, follow them on Twitter and use the #prisms2015 hashtag to join the conversation.