Thanks to the unpredictable nature of the English weather the Skout team’s bank holiday plans were disrupted by dark skies and heavy rain. Whilst bemoaning our northern roots, other areas of the UK were treated to some basking sunshine, oh, and some bizarre world record attempts.
In Penzance, thousands of people gathered wearing pirate fancy dress to try and break the Guinness World Record for the most number of pirates in one place. A count (who actually has time to do this?) confirmed that they were 14,154 pirates, 77 short of a new world record – shame. There was similar heartache at a family fun day in Hertfordshire as ‘Burper King’ Paul Hunn failed to beat his previous record for the world’s largest belch of 109.9 decibels.
As a B2B PR agency we regularly research, write and submit winning award entries for our clients. While none of them involve us having to wear fancy dress (sadly) or belching (fortunately), given the multitude of business accolades that are available we are often asked ‘how much is an award really worth?’
Entering business awards can be a time-consuming and (potentially) expensive process. Unlike the Oscars no organiser will accept an award on your behalf if you unwilling to purchase a table to attend the awards ceremony. It’s important then to choose awards containing categories that are appropriate to your business and ones where you actually have a chance of winning.
Before submitting your award entry, picture yourself as a member of the judging panel. Is your new technology, product or service truly innovative? Can you really display tangible and credible evidence that you have saved your customers time and money? Do you have written and approved testimonials to support this? Be wary of making any outlandish claims that you are unable to substantiate. Most credible awards require businesses to provide further supporting information in the event that they are shortlisted.
Get it right though and winning awards can help to differentiate your business from your competitors, inject fresh impetus into your marketing campaigns and impress even the most sceptical of customers. Awards can also help to generate welcome publicity to raise your business’s profile and boost morale amongst your employees.
Don’t be like ‘Burper King’ Paul Hunn and just enter awards for the sake of it. If you want to make some proper ‘noise’ for your business, it’s worth taking the time to research which awards are really worth applying for and which ones you should give a miss. The taste of success will be so much sweeter if you do.
