Greggs, Virgin and McDonald's: complete winners list of The Drum's inaugural PR Awards
It was a big night for brands like Greggs, Virgin and McDonald’s at The Drum’s inaugural PR Awards, which took place at The Marriot Grosvenor Square Hotel, London.

Greggs, Virgin and McDonald's: complete winners list of The Drum's inaugural PR Awards
Gregg’s took home the coveted Grand Prix award, as well as Most Effective Use of Content for its Vegan Sausage Roll launch. Tagged as ‘The Next Generation of Sausage Roll’, the campaign sparked the vegan debate for several days, achieving extensive UK press coverage.
Overwhelmingly loved by the jury, it was a brilliant idea which delivered real business results that to a unanimous vote for Grand Prix by the judging panel.
Rebecca Blinston-Jones, judge and managing director at MWWPR said: "We’ve come to love Greggs’ tongue in cheek approach to comms and the launch of the vegan sausage roll was one of my favourite campaigns of the year.
"But this wasn’t just a stunt to make the most of Veganuary. It was described by some as a ‘masterclass in PR’ particularly how it used Piers Morgan’s attack to generate a whole new batch of publicity. And whilst some thought it was just a one-off product, the commercial success of the Vegan sausage roll has lead to Greggs working on vegan versions of all their best selling products."
Taking home the Chair Award and Travel and Tourism accolade is Virgin Holidays and Virgin Atlantic for its Pride Flight, marking fifty years of Pride and ten years of Virgin's commitment to inclusivity by flying an inaugural ‘pride flight’ between London and New York staffed entirely by LGBT+ pilots and cabin crew.
Chair of the judging panel and global head of brand communication at Diageo, Michelle Laviour awarded Virgin’s PR team for the purpose-led campaign which “delivered remarkable coverage, drove commercial return and brought the brand’s commitment to diversity and inclusion to life in a truly stunning way.”
Dividing the nation for capital gain is a popular trope right now, and if you’re going to do it you might as well go all out. Last year, McDonald’s UK decided to tamper with a well-loved, time-honoured classic and on the launch of the Big Mac Bacon, they asked the nation to pick a side, #StillaBigMac or #NotaBigMac. This campaign produced McDonald’s most successful Big Mac sales ever and took home the award for FMCG.
The jury said the Marmite strategy worked, but what impressed them was how McDonald’s planned the tease, launch and activation strategy to keep the conversation going over an eight week plus period vs. one and done. “It was good quality content, great use of influencers and a clear understanding of audience.”
The following is a complete list of winners:
Grand Prix and Most Effective Use of Content
Greggs, Splendid Communications Ltd & Red Havas
Chair’s Award and Travel and Tourism
One Green Bean London
For Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays
Diversity and Inclusion Company of the Year
Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW)
PR and Communications Agency of the Year
Manifest London
PR and Communications In-house Team of the Year
uSwitch
Rising Star
Sandy Downs
Teamspirit
Finance and Professional Services
W
For MoneySuperMarket
Not for Profit, Most Effective Use of Creativity and Most Effective Use of Technology
Golin
For Tiny Tickers
Fashion, Health and Beauty
FleishmanHillard Fishburn
For Samsung
Technology
Huge
For Hooha
Music and Entertainment
Fever PR
For NOW TV
Energy
Headland
For Cory Riverside Energy
Corporate PR
Hope&Glory
For LinkedIn
B2B
W
For Jaguar Land Rover
Retail and Ecommerce
Hope&Glory
For IKEA
FMCG
Red Consultancy
For McDonald's UK
Public Sector
Kin&Co
For Hampshire County Council
Public Affairs
Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW)
For Der Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger (German Federation of Newspaper Publishers, BDZV)
Sport and Leisure
Hope&Glory
For Champions Tennis
Automotive and Transport
Golin
For LNER
Healthcare and Pharma
W
International
Smarts Communicate
For Gimbergen
Best Event, Stunt or Promotional Activation
Edelman London
For ASICS
Digital
Shutterstock
For Shutterstock
Influencer Marketing
Red Consultancy
For McDonald's UK
Internal Communications
Blurred, Joint and BT Group Internal Comms team
Most Effective Use of Earned Media
Alexander PR
For Perpetual Guardian
Small Budget
Edelman London
For Domestos – Unilever
Most Effective Use of Social Media
Octopus Group
For Hectare Agritech
Most Effective Use of Data and Insights
Citizen Relations
For Trainpal by Ctrip
Most Effective Use of Technology
Edelman London
For Taco Bell
Corporate Social Responsibility
Ketchum
For Michelin North America
Long-Running and Retained PR Account
Clarion
For Aldi UK
Reputation Management and Crisis PR
Ketchum
For Discover Puerto Rico
The Drum PR Awards took place at the Marriot Governor Square Hotel on September 17 2019. Register your interest for the 2020 awards here.
Partners of these awards are Winmo
