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Pead wins PRINZ supreme award for powerful Haka campaign
Pead took home the Supreme Award at the annual PRINZ Awards for their campaign, Restoring Mana: The World’s Largest Haka for Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust.
The awards celebrate excellence and achievement in Aotearoa’s public relations and communications sector.
Categories ranged from Best Use of Digital and Social Media to PR In-House Team of the Year and Marketing Communication, with more than 75 award winners in total.
This year, five campaigns went head-to-head to take away the final award of the evening, the Supreme Award. Each campaign, submitted by Acumen New Zealand, Pead, Hamilton City Council, Great Scott and Special PR, had won gold in their respective categories, making them eligible for this prize.
Ultimately, it was Pead’s mahi that shone through.
Reclaim the world’s largest Haka
Pead’s campaign was born when the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust (RMTT) was faced with funding cuts.
After looking into Aotearoa’s most marked act of unity, they found that France held the Guiness World Record for the World’s Largest Haka.
They then launched a nation-wide call to action to reclaim the World’s Largest Haka title and raise funds for RMTT.
Their efforts resulted in 6467 New Zealanders performing the Haka at Eden Park Stadium, raising more than half a million dollars for RMTT.
Furthermore, their campaign led Guinness to revise its rules ensuring only Māori can lead future haka records.
A nation-building campaign
The judges noted that their campaign “brought all of New Zealand and the world on an exciting journey to create positive change”. They described it as joyful, insightful, creative and a truly inclusive communications campaign.
Chief judges Nikki Wright APR FPRINZ and Andrew Pirie FPRINZ comment: “This bold, nation-building campaign showcased some of the best qualities of public relations.
“It harnessed the power of haka to unite New Zealanders and reclaim the Guinness World Records title for the World’s Largest Haka. The campaign aptly combined cultural pride with a charitable purpose.”
Other notable gold awards of the evening were awarded to One Plus One Communications for PR Consultancy of the Year (Large), Scope Communications for PR Consultancy of the Year (Small to Medium) and ProCare for PR In-House Team of the Year.
The winners list
| Category | Campaign |
|---|---|
| Telum Media – Best Use of Media Relations | |
| Gold | * Special PR for KFC Gravy Train |
| Silver | * Blackland PR for A new household name in building: NZ Certified Builders * One Plus One Communications for RMHC NZ: Not every family will be at the beach this Christmas * Development West Coast for Putting the West Coast back on the map * One Plus One Communications for NZFN: Pitching in to feed Aotearoa |
| Bronze | * The Shine Collective for One in Five – A Transformative Shift in Māori Data. * Great Scott for The new apartment on the block – The opening of Christchurch’s Rānui apartments * Quantum Jump for Campaign for Greater Wellington |
| Isentia – Best Use of Digital and Social Media | |
| Silver | * Hamilton City Council for The cost to run a city * One Plus One Communications for The Team Talk that Rarked Up a Nation |
| Bronze | * Ngai Tahu for Kauraka e Mataku kia Takatū! Don’t be scared, be prepared * Breakout Room (MBM) for Unpro – Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa |
| Government Relations and Public Affairs | |
| Gold | * Acumen for Advocating for Food Security: How Ingham’s secured a policy change for poultry farming in New Zealand |
| Silver | * ProCare for Patient Voice – giving power back to the people * Employers and Manufacturers Association for Change the Act – EMA’s campaign to simplify holiday pay |
| Bronze | * Auckland Transport for Tackling Drink Driving in Auckland – An evidence based, partnership approach |
| Streem – Corporate and Business Public Relations | |
| Silver | * Acumen for Taking Animal Health forward with Boehringer Ingelheim * One Plus One Communications for Lifting the lid on 2degrees’ books to show NZ they mean business |
| Robert Walters – Internal Communications | |
| Gold | * Great Scott for Connecting the dots to protect lives – Methanex’s process safety campaign |
| Silver | * Fonterra for From Indifference to Inspiration: Sharing Fonterra’s revised strategy * Port Marlborough for Portsafe – Empowering our people through internal communications |
| Bronze | * Summerset Group Holdings for From gratitude comes greatness: transforming Summerset’s employee recognition programme |
| Community Relations and Engagement | |
| Gold | * Hamilton City Council for A rose amongst thorns – the challenging evolution of Hamilton Gardens |
| Silver | * Palmerston North City Council for Shaping Palmy together: the Long-Term Plan that listened * Pead for Restoring Mana: The World’s Largest Haka for Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust |
| Bronze | * Auckland Council for Last Call: Tackling alcohol harm head on in Auckland * Coastguard Tautiaki Moana for Coastguard Bar Awareness Roadshow * Ashburton City Council for 5 for our future – Kia Rima Mō te Anamata |
| Issues, Crisis or Reputation Management | |
| Silver | * Common Ground PR for Strength After Scrutiny: The Ārepa Rebuild |
| Marketing Communication | |
| Gold | * Pead for Restoring Mana (prestige): The World’s Largest Haka for Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust |
| Silver | * Development West Coast for The Coast Calls: how we made New Zealand listen * Acumen New Zealand for Streets, Eats and Snow-Capped Peaks: Celebrating a decade of Uber in New Zealand * One Plus One Communications for NZFM – Pitching in to Feed Aotearoa * Bay of Plenty Regional Council for Baybus On Demand: Smarter public transport, on your time |
| Bronze | * ACC for Turning Critics into Champions: Redesigning ACC’s Sensitive Claims Service with Empathy and Trust * Māia Studio for Step Into your place * Hamilton City Council for Manu with Mana * Anthem for Driving Omoda Jaecoo’s entry into the New Zealand market * Special PR for Cold Call Back Service |
| Celebrity Speakers – Experiential and Activation | |
| Silver | * Acumen New Zealand for Streets, Eats and Snow-Capped Peaks: Celebrating a decade of Uber in New Zealand |
| Bronze | * Special PR for Pou-o-kai |
| Truescope – Sally Logan-Milne Young Practitioner of the Year Award | * Highly Commended – Hannah Powell * Winner – Fiann Blackham |
| Isentia Prize for Excellence in Research, Measurement & Evaluation | * Winner: Great Scott for Connecting the dots to protect lives – Methanex’s process safety campaign |
| PR In-house Team of the Year | |
| Gold | * ProCare |
| Silver | * Development West Coast |
| PR Consultancy of the Year – Small to Medium | |
| Gold | * Scope Communications |
| Silver | * Blackland PR * Brainchild |
| PR Consultancy of the Year – Large | |
| Gold | * One Plus One Communications |
| Silver | * Special PR |
| PRINZ Supreme Award | * Winner: Pead for Restoring Mana: The World’s Largest Haka for Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust |
