MWW Group of East Rutherford, NJ, won the Stevie Award for Public Relations Agency of the Year in The 2008 American Business Awards, and is a Finalist in several categories in the 2009 ABAs.

As one of the top ten U.S. public relations agencies, MWW Group is known for its results-driven approach to public relations and commitment to client service. The agency is nationally recognized for its work in consumer marketing, corporate communications, investor relations, public affairs, and government relations, technology and healthcare. We look at what the agency has been doing over the past year and how it has maintained its high standards.

Aim High. Deliver.
According to Michael W. Kempner, founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of MWW Group, the attitude that guides how the people at MWW Group think and work, and that makes their agency different, lies in their corporate philosophy: “Aim High. Deliver.” 

MWW’s mission is to create superior value for its clients, and it does this by providing them with the best in strategic, integrated communications counsel and effective, measurable implementation. MWW’s “Aim High. Deliver.” philosophy also means that they practice these same standards in how they conduct their own business and how they treat and respect employees, the environment and the communities in which they live and work.

Expanding the Client Roster
Companies choose to stay and to grow with MWW because of the agency’s personal commitment to its clients’ success and its ability to deliver stand-out results.  Over a quarter of MWW Group’s clients have been with the firm for more than five years, and several have been with the agency since its founding some two decades ago.
 
In 2008, MWW Group experienced 7 percent organic growth and 4 percent new business growth, and added 147 new clients to its roster including Target, Adecco, Harrah’s, BMW, Gold’s Gym, JetBlue Airways, The Hershey Company, Employers Insurance Company of Nevada, Johnson & Johnson, and American Water Works.

Though MWW Group has grown exponentially and developed the resources of a leading agency, its aim is still to approach each assignment with the same entrepreneurial spirit and passion upon which the agency was built. MWW Group takes pride in its work and in the belief that no client should ever have an expectation greater than MWW has for itself.  Just like the company mantra, MWW Group aims high. And it delivers.

Digital Media Leadership
DialogueMedia, MWW Group’s digital and emerging media practice, is recognized for its industry-leading campaigns and strategic expertise in new areas of media. In 2008, MWW Group expanded this practice and now includes digital media strategies in nearly all of its communications programs.

DialogueMedia has also developed D.insight , a powerful, comprehensive, social media-monitoring platform, powered by Radian6. Recent DialogueMedia successes include the Nikon “Look Good In Pictures” webisode series; creation of the online Samsung Newsroom; going viral for Gardenburger; and extending Nikon’s brand awareness to the blogger community.

Commitment to Society and the Environment
MWW Group recently released its first annual Corporate Citizenship Report. This report celebrates the collective efforts that have defined MWW Group’s commitment to corporate citizenship, whether for the environment, the community, its employees, or its clients. The report demonstrates that MWW’s commitments are backed by actions that have made, and continue to make, a difference.

In 2008 the agency formalized “MWW Group Green” by incorporating environmental responsibility into every aspect of its business. The agency is in the process of attaining ISO 14001 certification=only the second PR firm in the nation to do so. This process was started in 2008 and demonstrates MWW’s commitment to do their part to fight global warming, preserve natural resources, and help create energy independence for the United States.  MWW Group has extended its partnership with Carbonfund.org for a third year and, most importantly, has engaged its employees in sharing the responsibility of the “MWW Group Green” goals for the betterment of both local communities and the world at large.

From feeding local communities to taking care of children to protecting the environment, MWW Group gives back on both a local and global scale. Accordingly, although they are proud of all that they have done, they remain dedicated to learning and adopting practices that underscore their ongoing responsibility and commitment to society.

Setting New Standards
On receiving the company’s Stevie Award for Best Public Relations Agency in 2008, MWW Group President and CEO Michael Kempner said: “This award recognizes the incredible work and dedication of the more than 250 people who work at MWW Group.  I have been lucky to surround myself with some of the brightest, most creative, dedicated, and supportive people to ever have worked in the public relations profession. These people strive for excellence for our clients and our community, and our work in 2008 was no exception, winning incredible new assignments, creating breakthrough programs, leading our industry in becoming the first ‘Green’ PR firm, and reaching out across the globe with important corporate responsibility initiatives. Our people have once again set new standards for performance.”

About Michael Kempner:
Michael W. Kempner is the founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of MWW Group. In addition to running the agency as a whole, Mr. Kempner plays an active role in many of the firm’s accounts and plays an active role in the strategic and creative development of new business. Mr. Kempner’s expertise includes crisis communications, consumer lifestyle marketing, and public and government affairs. He was named PR Professional of the Year in 2007 by PR Week.

About MWW Group:
MWW Group is a national, full-service public relations and communications firm with international reach and local expertise, committed to the philosophy of “Aim High. Deliver” as reflected in its more than two decades heritage of client service and results. MWW Group began in a small office with one employee representing one client – and a voracious desire to set the industry standard for strategic communications. Today, it is one of the top 10 PR agencies in the nation with offices in East Rutherford, N.J., New York City; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Dallas; Seattle; London; and Trenton, N.J. 

by Chris Robinson, Managing Director of Boost Marketing, the UK-based agency for awards preparation and impact assessment.

While it is quite likely that you, your team, or your company are of Stevie Award-winning calibre, that is only half the story. Becoming a Finalist for—or ultimately winning—a Stevie Award, is not about what you believe you have done well, but the impact your story has on the judges. These can be two very different things.

This article aims to provide companies interested in entering the International Business Awards with some pointers that will help to ensure that your organization does itself full justice when entering, thereby maximizing its chances of winning.  It will focus particularly on the dreaded “award submission.” The preliminary round of judging is based entirely on the content within this 500-word document, so choosing the right words and images is essential.

So … how do you ensure your submission stands out? Here are some top tips from the award entry specialists at Boost Marketing Ltd., who have helped companies garner nearly 100 awards in the three years in which it has been providing this niche service.  We know a lot about the awards industry, and we would like to share some of our expertise with you.

1. Evidence
Being great is not enough when entering awards. It is all about proving your greatness, which is often much harder. Imagine yourself in a court of law defending your assertion that you are the best. If you said: “Customers love our new service,” what would the opposing council say? “Prove it!” So do your research and pepper your achievements with pound/dollar/euro signs, percentages, numbers, graphs, photos, and diagrams. You will find that statistics and images take a much smaller chunk out of the 500-word submission than rambling, unsubstantiated PR waffle; and they are infinitely more likely to be believed.

2. Inspiration (and Achievements) Not Perspiration
Much of business is 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration (and typically 0% assessment of effectiveness). Awards submissions should balance the three. The temptation is to write about what you did; but the judges will be equally—if not more—interested in your research/inspiration and evidence of achievements.

3. Plan your Submission
500 words is not a lot, but just because you can write 500 words in a few minutes does not mean that that is enough. Before you start writing, map out your submission, listing your headings and subheadings, and planning how many words you will allow yourself under each.  This is time well spent, and will save time in the long run.

4. Tell a Story
A judge will easily spot a submission that is just a copy-and-paste job. The best approach is to write the submission like a story, using a planned structure. Only when you have the story nailed should you copy the facts, statistics, images, and evidence into it to ensure the material is as well supported as possible.

5. Get Someone Else to Read It
Have someone as objective as possible read through your draft before you finalize it. Make sure that whoever does this is not a member of your organization, and is not familiar with the typical jargon you use within your sector. The submission should be easy to understand. There is no excuse for jargon or hard-to-read management-speak.

Is It Worth It?
If you are beginning to feel that entering an awards competition is not worth the time and effort, here are some things to bear in mind:

- Entering awards should be seen as part of an organization’s business planning and as a form of continuous improvement. If you follow the steps outlined above, your company will find that the process is highly revealing and will invariably learn from the exercise. Without exception I have found that clients who take the awards process seriously—and are prepared to learn from the process—improve their ongoing performance.

- Awards are a great asset—and not just for PR.  Business awards help reassure potential customers that they are buying from the right supplier. A survey by Fly Research[LINK: http://www.flyresearch.com/] proved that about 72% of consumers are influenced by awards.  We at Boost commissioned our own research, conducted by Shape-the-future, which found that of the 400 senior business executives who participated, 82% admitted to being influenced by awards when buying products and services for their business. 

- Finally, awards add value to you company in terms of inspiring staff and attracting customers and investors.

If you found these tips of interest, there are plenty more where they came from. If you need a helping hand planning your submission, reviewing the first draft, or writing it from scratch, please feel free to contact us at info@boost-marketing.co.uk.

About Chris Robinson:
Back in 2006, after a ten-year stint in sales and marketing, Chris Robinson found his reputation as a successful award-entry writer meant that people kept asking for his help and advice. So one day, when feeling a little entrepreneurial, he had a look in Google and noticed that no company offered award-entry writing as a specialty. Thus came the idea for Boost: the world’s first specialist award-entry consultancy.

For the past three years, Chris and his team of award-entry writers have helped over 50 companies to win nearly 100 awards. Various PR agencies have started copying his concept, but Boost remains the only pure specialist in the field.  This was endorsed recently by the BBC when a reporter in a documentary joked that Boost was "an obvious contender for the Spotting-the-Gap-in-the-Market Award."

For more information go to www.boost-marketing.co.uk

This article is reprinted from the April issue CXO News, a monthly e-newsletter published by the Stevie Awards.

Anyck Turgeon will chair the final judging committee for the Information Technology categories in The 7th Annual American Business Awards.

What book or books are you currently reading?
I am in the midst of re-reading five books:The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler; Revolutionary Wealth by Alvin and Heidi Toffler; The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell; The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom; and Who Was Albert Einstein? by Jess Brallier and Robert Andrew Parker.

What was the last movie you saw, and would you recommend it?
I do not watch many movies. Typically, as I push myself extensively for my work and my customers, I fall asleep within five minutes of sitting down. One of the last movies that I recall enjoying watching—and getting to the end of­—is The Last King of Scotland. For anyone interested in gaining a fuller understanding of the world, I would greatly recommend watching this thought-provoking movie.

What is your favorite sport or hobby?
Flying—because you can see the world in all its splendor.

Who is your favorite historical figure?
Winston Churchill—because he was a brilliant person who was able to think outside the box. He excelled in numerous areas of life.

Who is your favorite living person?
My parents have together been a wonderful source of inspiration for me.  As different as they both are, the combination of their personalities has taught me how to overcome extremely challenging obstacles, and led me to understand that continuous hard work can lead to a fantastic life.

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