Dafydd Phillips, editor-in-chief of Communication Director magazine, spoke to media update’s Adam Wakefield about the Award’s global flavour and what is unique about the African edition.

What is the central concept of the Excellence Awards, with the tagline “5 continents competing simultaneously” especially intriguing? What does that mean?

The Excellence Awards have been celebrating the achievements of communication professionals for the past 10 years and have been a leading player in Europe since 2007. The Awards are hosted by Communication Director, an internationally-focused magazine for corporate communications, PR, and public affairs.

As these sectors have witnessed a rapid global development in recent years, the Excellence Awards in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and North America were launched in 2015, bringing the celebration to a global level. Each region has its own expert jury who carefully selects the nominees and the winners for each of the specialised categories. The winners of the Excellence Awards are celebrated during a festive award show and dinner.

What does a campaign or agency need to be to be worthy of an African Excellence Award?

In order to reward the best in PR communications, the Excellence Awards jury evaluates the innovation, implementation, strategy, and impact of the projects submitted. The judges are looking for creativity and for results, of course.

Why are the award winners announced in advance of the awards ceremony or dinner?

In our European and Asia-Pacific awards, the juries come together on the day of the ceremony to decide the winners – something that takes a great deal of organising. In our African, Latin American, and North American awards, our juries vote online, days ahead of the ceremony. This enables us to keep the event flexible as we rollout and grow the awards in these regions.

What is unique about the African Excellence Awards compared to its peer awards in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin-America, and North America?

The unique aspect is the global competition. The awards take place in five regions, sharing similar categories and the same rules of participation. The judges all come from a senior professional background and we make sure to only invite top tier companies, organisations, and agencies. The African Excellence Awards look at not only communication campaigns and projects in Africa, but also globally implemented projects that are steered from the African continent.

How is the judging jury selected?

Our esteemed communications specialists have been carefully selected as jury members for the African Excellence Awards to ensure a fair and balanced evaluation of all applications. The jury members’ range of expertise covers a wide scope, from the perspective of both in-house and agency communication departments. Many of our European judges recommended their colleagues in Africa, and we also invited new judges from organisations that won awards last year.

How did Quadriga get involved with the Excellence Awards and what are Quadriga’s responsibilities?

Quadriga supports event organisers with the organisation and realisation of numerous national and international award events. Renowned and competent expert panels, the transparent and objective evaluation of submissions, as well as the appreciative honouring of those behind the best cases are an integral part of our work.

For more information, visit af-pr.excellence-awards.com.

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Burson-Marsteller Africa claimed a gong at this year’s awards. Read more in our article, Burson-Marsteller reflects on the award-winning campaign to curb bullying.

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