Everyone loves awards. Here is how you can use awards to get attention for your business.
The Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. The reading of the nominations was carried on live radio and television, and every newspaper, radio station and television news program will cover the announcements of the nominees and the presentation of the awards. The first Academy Award ceremony received little attention from the media, but more than a billion people around the world are expected to watch this year’s awards program, where the Oscar winners receive their statuettes.
Everyone loves awards. Not only do they love to receive them, they are interested in learning about awards given to others. Could your business or organization gain visibility by giving out awards? If you are a copywriter, give out awards for the best sales letter, best headline, etc. The Internet is filled with awards for Web sites. You don’t have to have a formal awards ceremony. You may choose just to announce the award recipient(s) in a press release to get media coverage.
Choosing who or what will receive the award doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t have to have a complex set of rules, and you don’t have to have a vote monitored by Price Waterhouse. This can be a very unscientific process, where you decide the award recipients “just because.”
If you want to double your visibility, solicit nominations for the awards first, then do another round of promotions announcing the winners. One organization representing office workers has an annual search for the worst boss. People submit nominations (usually anonymously) telling the horrible things their bosses have done. Then, the organization picks some of the best (worst?) stories, and announces them to the media. They get publicity twice from each annual award. And stories about how bad it is in the working world point up the value of what they do on behalf of workers.
That brings us to another truth: If there is anything people like almost as much as seeing someone recognized for excellence, it is seeing someone important brought down a notch or two. That’s why Mr. Blackwell’s annual Worst Dressed List always got much attention. As sort of the anti-Oscars, another group gives out Razzies; these are given to the worst films and performances of the year. (Needless to say, the recipients don’t get a ceremony.)
Start looking for opportunities to recognize the best (or the worst) in your industry. May I have the envelope please?
