PM Society 2008 Advertising Awards

A fantastic time was had by all at the PM Society's 2008 Advertising Awards which took place on Friday 30th January 2009 at London's prestigious Grosvenor House. This year's event was as well attended as ever with the Great Room filled to capacity and the event seeing the GP and Hospital Campaign awards encompassing multiple mailings.

Awards Chairman Neil Smith was thrilled with the success and smooth running of the event, commenting: "As Awards Chairman for the ninth year, I believe this year's event was up there amongst the best. Certainly I cannot recall one that ran as smoothly, with every facet of the day going to plan - even previously untried ingredients like the security wrist-banding at the outset!  I was delighted that the PM Society's new slogan 'Promoting Pharmaceutical Marketing Excellence' was made real, both by some outstanding work being honoured and by the quality of the event itself."

It was an early start with the guests arriving for 10.45 am to view an exhibition of all the submitted entries in the Ballroom. It didn't take long before the room was buzzing with the sounds of networking as all the guests took the opportunity to catch up with colleagues.

As a toastmaster called everyone to the Great Room for lunch there was an air of anticipation as to what lay ahead. During the welcome line, each guest was given a PriMe USB memory stick so they could view at first hand the new elements of the extensive training programme PriMe runs in partnership with red kite consulting. Reviewing the 'who's - who' of the day – the ever important delegate book, handed to them by the PM Society Executive Committee Members, guests then moved into the main part of the Great Room to locate their tables, serenaded by the beautiful sounds of a harpist.

After the first course PM Society chairman Steve Clark took the opportunity to welcome everyone on behalf of the Society and to introduce Carole Cochrane, Chief Executive of The Princess Royal Trust for Carers - the PM Society's newly adopted charity.

Carole reminded us of the wonderful work that carers provide and played a short film about a young boy who cares daily for his sick mother. She mentioned that one in eight of us will be a carer at some time in our lives and that these people need to have some kind of a break and be reassured that there is help and support out there if needed. Following a collection from all the tables, the charity was thrilled to receive the magnificent sum of £10.302.37, collected through generous donations during the lunch.

Carole commented: "I would like to take this opportunity to give special thanks to the PM Society for organising such a successful fundraising lunch at the Grosvenor House Hotel. It raised a staggering amount for our charity. There are six million carers in the UK who provide support to their loved-ones who are sick, disabled or frail. They often face a life of isolation, stress and poverty. The proceeds raised from this event will help us to support many more carers through our network of carers' centres and websites.
 
"We are delighted to be the PM Society's chosen charity for 2009/10 and look forward to continuing to work with them."
 
The charity also provided a prize draw for a weekend break for two to Calcot Manor, a highly acclaimed country house and spa in the Cotswolds. The lucky prizewinner was Jing Wang from The Pharmaceutical Journal.
 
Before being introduced to our Awards host for the afternoon we were treated to the unique act that is Signature. The dynamic duo, one Muslim and one Sikh, got the nation laughing and dancing with their unusual 'Bollywood meets Michael Jackson' performances when they were runners up in the 2008 ITV show Britains Got Talent. Their fun and energy received a fantastic response from the audience (with their infectious moves being mimicked by many later on in the day)! 

Then our host emerged to a rousing reception. The very funny and much publicised comedian Michael McIntyre took to the stage with a tirade of hilarious, industry-focussed jokes before going into the rest of his witty observational act. Michael is the comedian of the moment with numerous guest appearances on Radio and TV, having appeared on such programmes as Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For you, Mock The Week, Big Fat Quiz, Graham Norton and was even invited to perform at the 2008 Royal Variety Show.

Michael then went on to host the much anticipated awards with a key representative from each sponsor company presenting the winners with their awards. Photos were then taken of all the winners and sponsors in each category with trophies proudly on display.

The support of our sponsors makes this whole event possible and we are delighted when we receive positive feedback.

Philip Chin, Managing Director of Langland commented, "As one of the sponsors of the PM Society Advertising Awards, Langland was thrilled with the number of awards we won at this year's show - 10 recognitions out of 13 entries, including two winners, four high commendations and four commendations. We were particularly pleased with our Nexavar entry which won Best Hospital Direct Mailing for Bayer Schering and understand that it polled the highest score ever in this category.  We can now add the PM Society Award to the other two Golds that have already been awarded for this work, namely a New York Festival Global and the Rx Club of New York Gold Award."

Another big winner on the day was GSW / Junction 11 and their original campaign on gout awareness for Ipsen UK. Junction 11 Creative Director Richard Rayment was thrilled with the result and commented, "We view any award as a third-party endorsement. It was particularly pleasing to win both the peer-judged Hospital Ad Award and its Target-Audience judged counterpart – essentially a vote of confidence from two independent sources. The three accolades we won were also important for the agency because the gout awareness campaign was a big team effort in which everyone played an important part."

After the presentations the congratulations and celebrations continued as guests made their way back to the Ballroom for more drinks, networking and some rather unusual dancing and head banging from some, to the band 'The High Barnets'. For others there was the 'Quiet Room' where the harpist continued to play, while those with a stronger constitution headed for the Red Bar.

Yet another excellent, well run and successful event, which was due, in large part, to the hard work and dedication of our Awards Chair Neil Smith and Society Secretary Vivien Bennett. Full details of all categories, winners and their creative work are reproduced in full here.

The PM Society looks forward to welcoming you to further functions on its calendar during 2009 at one, or more, of its educational, training, networking or social events.  Details of all forthcoming activities are available by clicking onto the PM society website: www.pmsociety.org.uk.

 

Held on: 30/01/2009