Meet The Drum PR Awards judges: L'Oréal, Discovery Network, Dentsu Aegis Network, Aura PR
The Drum has launched its very first PR Awards. To remind the world at large of the importance that PR plays in helping drive business success.
Meet The Drum PR Awards judges: L'Oreal, Dentsu Aegis Network, Discovery Networks, Aura PR
The inaugural year's judging panel includes L'Oréal, Dentsu Aegis Network, Unilever, GSK, Diageo, Microsoft, Sony, Aura PR, WE Red Bridge, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Discovery Networks.
Meet the following five members of the judging panel.
L'Oreal UK
Rema Gouyez-Benalla
head of digital content and engagement
Gouyez-Benallal has been leading the UK digital content and engagement strategies for the L'Oréal Group, for the past year and a half. After spending three years in Toronto building the social an digital awareness of Benefit Cosmetics Canada, shde has spent the past three years taking on several roles in content, first with skincare brand, Kiehl's and now at group level for business.
I'm thrilled to be a part of The Drum judging panel for the first annual PR awards. I think this will really highlight and showcase best in class examples of communications marketing in the UK. I hope to see examples where communications has integrated in to wider marketing plans to drive brand or product awareness as well as brand love.
Dentsu Aegis Network
Ken Hein
chief communications officer US
Hein, U.S. chief communications officer, Dentsu Aegis Network, is an award-winning executive with extensive media relations, content marketing and events expertise. He leads external and internal communications for the fastest growing agency network. Prior to joining the Dentsu Aegis Network, he successfully elevated gyro from an independent start-up to the Advertising Age Business-to-Business Agency of the Year and the 2018 ANA B2B Agency of the Year.
As a PR practitioner, I can appreciate the amount of passion for an idea, and behind-the-scenes sorcery, it takes to make it come to life. To be able to help shine a light on the best-of-the-best is an honor…To stand out, creativity, execution and results are all keys to excellence, but ultimately it always comes down to one basic thought. The thought being: 'well that was a good idea!'
Discovery Networks Asia Pacific
Charmaine Huet
marketing and communications, director, Southeast Asia
Huet oversees all marketing and communications activities for Discovery's portfolio of 15 brands in Southeast Asia. She sets the strategy and direction for corporate and internal communications, and provides support and counsel to the regional teams and senior executives.
I'm excited to judge the awards to see how PR professionals are effectively conveying their message today, in a highly competitive space where everyone is clamouring not just for visibility but also engagement. I would be looking for entries that leap out at me with a story that is cleverly told – whether in words, images, sounds or even the absence of all these – to achieve its desired purpose.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Nancy Maffucci
senior communications planner
Maffucci spent most of her career in public relations and marketing at big agencies like Wunderman (now Wunderman Thompson), Burson-Marsteller and Cohn and Wolfe (now Burson Cohn and Wolfe), representing some of the world's best known brands, including MasterCard, Colgate, Hasbro, General Motors and many others. After completing her MBA in 2017, she became a Lecturer at Mercy College, teaching graduate level courses in marketing and communications. Today, Maffucci manages internal communications for the data and statistics function at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
I am honored to join The Drum in its effort to shine a light on the critical role Public Relations (PR) still plays in the marketing mix. In a world where the lines between marketing, reputation building, sales and branding have all but been erased, The Drum PR Awards help remind organizations that PR is at the heart of building, enhancing and maintaining a reputation that remains relevant and genuine with key constituents for the long haul. While technology and data analytics have propelled its reach, PR's magic is its ability to tell and sustain a compelling story.
Aura PR
Laura Sutherland
founder and director
Sutherland is the founder and director at Aura, which she founded 10 years ago. She is a chartered practitioner with over 18 years' experience in integrated public relations and communication. As well as that, she is a fellow of the CIPR and a member of the PRCA, currently Chairman of the CIPR Fellows' Forum. Her work spans tech, entrepreneurship and corporate, heavily focussing on data, analytics and developing strategies through insight.
I'd like to see good use of data and insight to inform strategies and really effective measurement and evaluation, looking at more than outputs and outcomes. We need to see a positive impact. Stand-out entries will demonstrate strategic thinking, impact-focused activity and how it made a difference.
The Drum PR Awards are open for entry, make sure you download your entry pack now before the early bird entry deadline on May 9.
Sponsor of the awards are Winmo.