The Webby Awards Recognize Crenshaw Communications Clients

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) recognized multiple Crenshaw Communications clients as part of the 27th Annual Webby Awards. HappyKids and Agora were among the official Webby Honorees announced last week.

HappyKids was recognized in the “Video – Entertainment” category. Powered by Future Today, HappyKids is a free and safe app designed to educate and entertain millions of kids across multiple platforms every day.

Agora was recognized for its work with HTC’s VIVE Sync VPR app. The submission, “HTC’s VIVE Sync VR app bridges the gap between the physical and virtual world with Agora’s real-time streaming” was named to the “Metaverse, Immersive & Virtual – Best Realtime Experience” category.

The Webby Awards celebrates digital projects across various categories, including Advertising, Media, & PR, Video, and Podcasts. New categories were added in 2023, including Metaverse, Immersive & Virtual.

Webby Winners are selected by IADAS and by the online voting public. Voting for the 27th Annual Webby Awards remains open until Thursday, April 20.

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Agency VP Honored with Top Women in Communications Award

PR Tips On Industry Awards For B2B Tech Companies

As high-growth tech companies expand their public relations efforts, they often want the recognition that comes with industry accolades. But for the uninitiated, the vast awards ecosystem within different industries can be a mysterious black box. To help PR/marketing execs succeed in earning awards, here are a few fundamentals and insider tips to know. Let’s use a variation on journalism’s 5Ws to share insights.

Why should I enter for awards?

Like analyst reviews, industry award wins can serve as evidence of the worth of a tech solution or growth record for an organization. Product awards confer invaluable third-party endorsements because they feature a real-world case study of the solution’s use in the field. When a company shows how a known brand like Home Depot or Mercedes has achieved business objectives using a software solution, for example, it gains instant credibility.

B2B buyers looking for the best SaaS solution, for example, will review all collateral and communications, including analyst reviews, online explainer videos, customer reviews, case studies, white papers, etc. Awards wins can be another credible weapon to keep a company’s product or solution in the highest consideration set. Industry award wins are proof points for investors, new business, and even talent acquisition.

Which awards should I enter?

Awards do not stop at product solutions. A B2B tech company should submit for in categories wherever their excellence lies. In this current environment of competition for tech talent acquisition, many clients are prioritizing entering for recognition of their company culture as in AdAge Best Places to Work. Those looking to attract more diverse talent (and who isn’t?) can show an inclusive and progressive environment through awards in the DEI and women in technology spaces. Tech providers can demonstrate their excellent customer success by earning awards for client service. Our clients Chili Piper and Innovid planted their flags as Inc. Magazine’s Best WorkPlaces 2021 – earning visibility for job seekers who can now afford to be selective about where to grow their careers.

Who should I enter?

Individual awards are great morale builders, and they can showcase a company’s diversity and inclusion. Individual recognition for thought leadership is also an excellent way to build visibility for executives looking for a higher profile. Most award programs have individual categories like the CEO of the Year or Rising Star for earlier career superstars. At Crenshaw, we enjoy helping our amazing female adtech executive clients win recognition in awards like Cynopsis Top Women in Media, Advertising Week Future is Female, Campaign US Female Frontier Awards. Awards like these help showcase a company’s dedication to change the gender imbalance in the technology industries. Our client LiveIntent’s CMO Kerel Cooper took home Tech Diversity Advocate of the Year in the Campaign Tech Awards 2021 – which supported his personal brand as well as the company’s forward-thinking reputation.

Where should I look to find the good award targets? 

First there’s the matter of geography. A U.S. company should obviously enter awards from inside the country only – except some programs are global, so the decision hinges on whether client work is strong enough to compete around the world. Awards produced by U.S. based pubs Digiday and AdExchanger are actually global . By the same token, U.K. based pubs like The Drum and Campaign are also open to companies and campaigns around the world. Entrants should definitely read the fine print in the rules/guidelines before entering . Sometimes, a program is looking strictly for companies operating in certain regions. There is also the question of which award programs are tier 1 and which are less legitimate money-generators. At Crenshaw, we tend to favor the awards produced by relevant tech media outlets like those mentioned above – since there’s a built-in media opportunity. An award program not associated with a media outlet could still be worthwhile; but beware of awards that seem to have a thousand categories and a stout entry fee. The ones where everybody wins don’t hold much legitimate PR value.

How do go about entering awards?

Industry awards take real time and effort. Submission forms range from 450 to 1500 words. If you have a PR agency, definitely get them to do it! The key to all tech industry product awards is a fully realized case study narrative — and here’s the tough part – approved for use by the client. Some Customer Success/Sales departments are better than others at convincing clients to allow their brand name to be used in award case studies and in the media. Framed correctly, a tech vendor can persuade a brand client of the PR benefits of prestigious award recognition. The right category can make a difference. If you enter a category such as ‘most innovative use of technology’, a brand takes top billing and looks like a leader while the tech solution can also bask in the glow. For info on what makes up a great case study, see my earlier post.

When should I enter awards?

At Crenshaw, our conferences and awards department flags award opportunities as they come up, based on submission deadlines. Media outlets like the Drum and Digiday have published award calendars similar to ed-cals for their numerous programs that run through the year. Over a period of a couple of years, an aggressive B2B company can rack up enough wins to populate an awards page on their website, or a crawl across the bottom of its home page, dazzling business buyers with a litany of laurels trumpeting their solution or services, workplace culture, or individual executives.

For info on how to write a winning award submission, see this earlier post. Now let’s get that trophy case filled with hardware!

Crenshaw Nominated For 2021 SABRE Award

The Crenshaw  team is delighted to have received a nomination for the 2021 SABRE Awards North America. The  SABRE Awards recognize Superior Achievement in Branding Reputation and Engagement from among more than 2,000 entries. 

This year, we have been nominated in the Business-To-Business Marketing category for our work on behalf of the National Cybersecurity Alliance “#BeCyberSmart” campaign. The NCSA program highlights the importance of digital security hygiene with a month-long promotion in October. In 2020 Cybersecurity Awareness Month focused in part on the importance of securing connected devices used at home and at work, given the surge in work from home for many people. The campaign generated 55+ media placements with more than 400 million media impressions in CNBC, USA Today, Politico, Washington Post and Digital Trends.

SABRE winners will be announced May 11 during a virtual awards ceremony. Good luck to all who are nominated!    

Crenshaw Clients Nominated for Campaign US Female Frontier Awards

Our clients are trailblazers! Campaign US announced the honorees for the third annual Female Frontier awards, celebrating female leaders and rising stars breaking boundaries in a historically male-dominated industry. Congrats to Jessica Hogue, GM of measurement and analytics, Innovid, Stephanie Geno, SVP of marketing, Innovid, and Rathi Murthy, chief technology officer, Verizon Media! All have been named as finalists. 

Nominees have been selected by a panel of industry leaders from top agencies and brands, based on their leadership and demonstrated ability to make positive change. Winners will be announced on March 4. Good luck to all!

Crenshaw Communications Wins 2020 PRSA-NY Big Apple

Crenshaw Communications Wins 2020 PRSA-NY Big Apple

Campaign for leading event success platform Bizzabo is honored

New York, NY, October 5, 2020 — Crenshaw Communications, a New York-based public relations agency specializing in B2B technology PR, has earned a top award from the Public Relations Society of America New York (PRSA-NY) in the B2B PR category for its outstanding campaign on behalf of Event Success Platform, Bizzabo. Winners were announced on September 30 during a virtual awards ceremony.

Crenshaw won in the category of Marketing Business-to-Business for Bizzabo’s “EMPOWERing Gender Diversity in Events.” The campaign highlighted the lack of gender diversity among speakers at events for key industries and culminated with a full-day conference on International Women’s Day showcasing business women in C-level positions.

“Bizzabo is a fantastic partner, and we’re honored to be recognized for such a worthwhile program,” commented Dorothy Crenshaw, founder and CEO of Crenshaw Communications. “It’s gratifying that PRSA-NY draws attention to the best work in PR, and it inspires us to continue to reach for excellence.”

The Big Apples are the gold standard for PR practitioners in the New York metro area and celebrate the best work of PR agencies, companies, governmental bodies, and not-for-profit organizations during the prior year.

To learn more, visit crenshawcommunciations.com

About Crenshaw Communications

Crenshaw Communications is a New York PR and content agency specializing in public relations for high-growth technology companies. Whether the goal is to launch a new product, drive web traffic, or create a leadership brand position, Crenshaw extends PR tools and tactics beyond the limits of the traditional to create both earned coverage and word-of-mouth in order to build brands.

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