“With only 10 awards made this year, we are honoured to have received three,” said Russell and Associates principal, Charmane Russell. “Having ‘pushed the envelope’ on all three of the winning projects, we feel thoroughly vindicated in having done so.”

The Gold Quill Awards programme recognises business communication excellence globally, and Gold Quills are widely acknowledged as one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. All entries are evaluated against the IABC’s standard of excellence, and the feedback from this year’s evaluators indicated that the standard of work in this year’s awards was among the best seen in recent years.

The Gold Quills were awarded for Russell and Associates’ work on:

The 2014 platinum wage negotiations
 
In anticipation of a large-scale strike in the South African platinum mining sector, Russell and Associates proposed to the primary platinum producers that the industry collaborate in developing and communicating industry and company positions. Our communications goal was to support the successful conclusion of the wage negotiations process by facilitating a receptive climate and context for communications.

Our solution was the creation of a communications portal: www.platinumwagenegotiations.co.za. The portal became the repository for background information, news and a “counter” showing the losses incurred by the companies on the one hand, and by employees on the other. The counter became so successful that it was the “go to” update for broadcast and print media covering the strike.

The initiative continued throughout the duration of the strike and has resulted in our ongoing collaboration in various issues faced by the platinum producers.

The launch of the Gibela Rail Consortium
Russell and Associates was appointed as Gibela’s communications agency in April 2014, and tasked with conceptualising and overseeing a novel and memorable launch for Gibela. They had three months to plan and execute the launch, including developing a website and all other marketing collateral. Held in downtown Johannesburg on Thursday, 31 July 2014, guests were guided through the ‘Gibela journey’, using a combination of videos, dramatisation, poetry and music to create excitement about the future change in South African rail transport .

They harnessed their strengths during the process – writing, developing scripts, creating a strong visual identity for Gibela and building a responsive corporate website.

Harmony Gold’s 2014 annual integrated report

Together with Harmony Gold, Russell and Associates produced an online integrated report for the company’s 2014 financial year. The move from printed to web-based reporting was determined by the needs of their shareholders as well as costs. The final product was an easy-to-read, conversational report, with key case studies and pull-out information. The report resonated with its target audience.

Said Russell: “We were fortunate to be given the opportunity to work on projects that call for new and creative ways of communicating – the sort of challenge on which we thrive. We have also been fortunate to have clients who encourage us to think very differently about conventional forms of communication and for this we would like to thank our clients. We look forward to progressing the work we do in the coming year.”

For more information on Russell and Associates, visit www.rair.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook.