And the Award Goes to …

It’s that breath-taking few seconds, (that have been soooo stretched out by TV programmes like X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing), when your ears prick up and so do the hairs on the back of your neck! It’s that moment when you know you are going to find out who will win an award and when, whether it’s at an industry function or on some reality show, there is total silence. Then the announcement … followed by either sighs of relief or disappointment … rapturous applause and usually the giving of a symbol of the achievement. These awards come in glass, acrylic, metal … or sometimes in the form of a cheque, a bunch of flowers or a bottle of Champagne. Whatever form it takes, everyone likes to have their achievements, or even just their efforts, acknowledged, especially in these trying (financially) times.

In this month’s Top 10 Tips for Motivating Your Staff in a Credit Crunch, Nigel Toplis, MD of Recognition Express, one of Europe’s largest suppliers of corporate recognition products, suggests starting a company award scheme. He says, “It shows faith in the staff and gets them to remember the great work they’ve done so far, instead of the work that’s piling up in front of them. They don’t have to be big annual awards – monthly prizes of wine and book tokens for top performers in anything from sales to tea-making will bring out a smile.”  

Melanie Osborne, Sales Director of Special EFX, agrees. The company designs and supplies stunning contemporary awards and personalised gifts in aluminium and stainless steel. Melanie said,  "With the downturn in the economy we have seen a notable revival in corporate and trade association award events, as companies have looked increasingly to non-remunerative methods to effectively motivate staff or members."

An example of a recent use of an award designed and made by Special EFX is Google's 2009 internal sales conference held in Killarney, Ireland, in October with 2,300 staff attending from across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  Outstanding Googlers within the organisation were nominated by their colleagues for various awards, and the ultimate winners given a rousing reception and presented with these unique Google trophies, which were designed and made by Special EFX.

Vish Patel of Google Events was particularly impressed with the speed with which EFX turned around the order. When asked how he came to choose EFX, the answer, not surprisingly, was, "I Google'd it!" Special EFX

Melanie mentioned industry awards and, naturally, both of the promotions industry’s trade associations have their own awards.

bpma awards

The bpma Annual Awards will once again be made at the awards dinner at the Trade Only National Show. The Show takes place 27-28 Jan at the Ricoh Centre, Coventry and Promotional-merchandise.org.uk will have a stand there, so do come and talk to us to find out more about this interactive and informative website.

The awards dinner will be held on the middle night of the show, 27 January. Not only will the bpma be announcing the winners of the prestigious awards that will recognise the hard work of some of the best companies and individuals in the industry, the evening will also include welcome drinks and a superb three-course meal.

2010 sees the launch of new bpma award categories to reflect the changing nature of this industry; these include Campaign of the Year, British Manufacturer of the Year and Personality of the Year.

The Categories are:

Supplier of the Year - sponsored by Brand Addition
British Manufacturer of the Year - sponsored by Everything Environmental
Distributor of the Year under £1m - sponsored by ID & C
Distributor of the Year £1m - £3m - sponsored by Senator Pens
Distributor of the Year £3m+ - sponsored by AT Promotions
Green Company of the Year - sponsored by Newell Rubbermaid
Personality of the Year - sponsored by Brunel Trade Services
Bpma Partner of the Year - sponsored by Sharon Lee
Campaign of the Year - sponsored by High Profile
Best Distributor Website of the Year - sponsored by Will International
Company of the Year - sponsored by Brunel Promotions
Newcomer of the year - sponsored by PF Concept

There will also be awards made at the exhibition itself, on the bpma stand at 3pm on the first day of the Trade Only National Show 2010, to be precise. They are:

Most Innovative Product - sponsored by The Pen Warehouse
Academy Student of the Year - sponsored by SPS
Best Exhibition Shell Scheme - sponsored by Evolve Branding
Best Exhibition Stand - sponsored by Pinbadge

So, if you want to know who wins these awards, you need to be at the awards dinner or visit this website for a full report following the event.

PROMOTA awards

Nominations for the PROMOTA Awards have recently closed. The annual awards evening is a key date in the industry’s social calendar and the awards are highly coveted by both supplier and distributor members. The PROMOTA Awards will be made on the evening of 1 March at the National Motor Cycle Museum. This is the first night of the International PROMOTA Show, which takes place 1 – 2 March at Birmingham’s NEC.

There are 11 awards up for grabs:

Suppliers – Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze

Distributors – North, Central, Scotland and Ireland, South East, South West and Wales and London and East

Roger Saunders Award for Outstanding Service to the Industry.

Quality Management and Service Award for Team Colours

Companies in the industry also win awards from other sources. Specialist custom-made sports kit, teamwear and leisurewear manufacturers, Team Colours, had its dedication to providing a first rate service for its customers recognised when it was recently subjected to the scrutiny of a panel of experienced business experts, and then awarded ISO 9000 Certification.

Director, Rosemary Carter, said, “We have always been proud of the service we offer our customers and this award will only serve to spur us on to greater levels of care and commitment.” Team Colours

In this case, the award was a simple certificate, but one that signifies a great deal to the company’s employees and customers.

Awards That fit the Occasion

As we have said, awards come in all materials shapes and sizes. To ensure the award is fitting and relevant to the occasion, Anything Promotional supplies engraved acrylic trophies and awards. These can be cut to any shape, such as a company logo or a shape related to a brand, product or event, e.g. a cricket bat or tennis ball.

The acrylic comes in a wide range of colours and can be up to 10mm in thickness. Laser engraving is used to provide really high quality design with greater level of detail in preference to the sandblasting method often employed for glass. Laser engraving can also create a 3D image effect.     

An added practical element of these awards is the self-fixing base that can be flat-packed to make it suitable for more economic postage.

As well as awards, Anything Promotional supplies stylish, designer business gifts from top European brands, point of sale material and environmentally conscious natural products.

 

In Conclusion …

Another company that supplies a range of awards as well as corporate gifts is Purple Zebra. The company has specialist award divisions, Crystal Impressions© and Metal Works©. Crystal Impressions is a leading manufacturer of 3D laser engraved crystal glass. The company creates laser-engraved sculptures floating in pure optical glass, which make for exciting corporate promotional products and visually stunning awards. Metal Works© produces bespoke contemporary awards, as well as many 'off-the-shelf' pieces in various metals, including polished aluminium and bronze.

Paul Bonning of Purple Zebra, concludes, “We believe that the awards business is holding up well in this generally difficult marketplace. People are not cutting back on award ceremonies – actually we are finding the opposite. They may have taken the overall budget down and moved to less expensive venues to hold the ceremony, but they are not ‘scrimping’ on the actual awards themselves.

“We have seen a big shift to the more innovative internally lasered crystal awards and more and more customers are opting for bespoke pieces according to their own design, often reflecting the overall theme of the event. This works very well and we have managed to trim costs so much now, that producing a bespoke award can actually be as inexpensive as standard shapes that we hold in stock.

“With regards to the future of the industry, I see it growing as more customers understand the benefits of rewarding and motivating staff and customers alike, and the recognition of good work, contribution and commitment. The awards themselves will continue to get more adventurous in terms of designs and materials used. It is an exciting industry to be part of at the moment.”

The awards industry, in terms of the award products themselves, seems to be holding its own in these challenging times, but as has been pointed out a verbal or written thank you or acknowledgement for a job well done can be just as motivating.

If you know someone in the promotions industry who deserves a genuine ‘thank you’ why don’t you let me know. We may include it in the news, and who knows, we may create the Promotional-merchandise.org.uk cyber awards, whereby we email a pic of an award to a deserving person.

Carole Bull

Editor

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