SHJ wins PRIA Golden Target Award

SHJ Sydney has won best government sponsored campaign at the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) annual national Golden Target Awards.

We were awarded for our work on the Evocities campaign; a campaign to encourage Sydney residents to live, work and invest in one of seven regional NSW cities. The seven Evocities are Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga.

The Golden Target is the third major award won by SHJ for the Evocities campaign, following the IABC Gold Quill award for best media relations campaign in the world and the PRIA State Award for Excellence for the best government sponsored public relations campaign in New South Wales.

The award was picked up by SHJ's Sydney office partner Susan Redden Makatoa. As a Wagga Wagga native, the Evocities campaign is close to Susan's heart and, in a happy conincidence, she was presented with the award by a former school friend from Wagga Wagga, Peter Fraser, from social media monitoring agency and award sponsors SR7.

We are delighted that Evocities has been recognised by PRIA for this prestigious award. These awards set the industry benchmark for excellent performance, so to be recognised from such a wide and talented pool is a fantastic achievement for SHJ and Evocities. We see awards like this and the others the campaign has received, as a fantastic endorsement of the strength of Evocities.

SHJ's Evocities campaign targeted the "semi-converted"; Sydneysiders who had an existing connection to one of the Evocities who were living in Sydney's commuter belt and feeling the pressures of life in a capital city. We used broadcast, print, online and social media to spread the Evocities message.

To date, our campaign has generated over 1,400 pieces of media coverage and has helped to encourage more than 275 people to make the move to an Evocity.

We are delighted to share in this success with the Evocities team and, as the campaign enters its second year, we look forward to it continuing on its winning ways.