This time however, direct marketers were ready. The industry comprising 280,000 jobs, the industry which contributes £27bn to the economy, the industry that created Tesco Clubcard joined together under the DMA and took a stand and let it’s voice be heard. And what a roar it made! Using social media and the hashtag #panoramamail debate whizzed round twitter; 574 tweets were logged reaching 48,000 people.  Eulogy! spent much of Monday seeding the hashtag and encouraging industry members, thought leaders and consumers to join the conversation whilst the programme aired. And judging by the buzz, the industry’s first foray into social media self defence was a resounding success. We felt proud to represent the industry.

I was at the CorpComms Awards, held at the Park Lane Sheraton (which, for some reason, is actually on Piccadilly, and not Park Lane) where we picked up two awards!

Onlinefire was awarded with Best Digital Campaign for ‘It’s Amazing What You Can Do With 30 Peas’, a campaign that combined the best in digital outreach, blogger relations, viral videos and news generation.

Taking home the prestigious Young Achiever of the Year was Onlinefire co-founder, Graham Lee.

The judges described him as “an excellent ambassador for creativity and innovation”. “WOW!” was the general consensus.

On the B2B side, the team arrived at the venue where there was a collection of male models in boxing gear, skipping and shadow boxing on four plinths around an imaginary boxing ring. You guessed it – the theme for the 2009 B2B Marketing Awards was boxing.

We were confused too, but Ben and Rik weren’t fussed – especially being surrounded all night by promo girls in boxing gear:

But on to the important stuff!

Adding to our win earlier this month at the PRCA awards, Eulogy!’s campaign for Mortascreen won again last night, picking up Best PR campaign!

And naturally, like at the PRCA awards, we were the loudest table in the venue.

What can I say?  We like a good party.

Eulogy! had been nominated for three PRCA awards, Agency of the Year, Specialist Agency of the Year and Best B2B campaign. Our sister agency Onlinefire was shortlisted for Best Technology Campaign for its work with Virgin Mobile and its 30p tariff.

We took home two almighty awards: we are now crowned Consultancy of the Year 2009 and Best B2B Campaign for our work with Mortascreen.

It was a spectacular night. And I can’t lie, it was made all the more wonderful by our two award wins. Throughout this year, Eulogy!’s board, executive committee and team – from the graduates to the directors – have worked exceptionally hard to make a difference to every aspect of the agency, from things like training and internal comms, to client service, marketing and team structure.

It’s been worth all the hard work. These accolades are a great demonstration of the agency’s excellence. Our growth proves we’re a leading agency that delivers creativity with media insight – a formidable combination.

And, as you can see, we really know how to party! Apologies if we deafened anyone sitting near us. We were the noisiest and most fun-loving crowd in the room!

The moment we found out we had won PRCA Consultancy of the Year 2009!

I found myself in the minority when proclaiming that Freeview was my preferred choice.  Ignoring the gasps and cries of ‘Luddite’ which followed I went on to make the point that, to me, paid-for digital TV services simply deliver too much choice.

This got me wondering whether the changing, digitised media landscape is such a good thing. 

The assumption is that consumers want more choice; but whether this is true or not, the provision of more choice brings its own consequences.  In the television industry the traditional ad-funded model is failing, or at least stalling, because of dropping revenue, audience fragmentation, the need to expand output in the face of reduced budgets, and competition from the internet.  As a result consumers do have greater choice but quality is undoubtedly beginning to suffer. 

But aside from this there is an even greater issue.  What will these changes mean to the thousands of people who are currently employed in television production?

The term Luddite  comes from a period in British history when the Industrial Revolution threatened the livelihoods of everyday people.  Even the most ardent supporter of the new digital age and the myriad choices it brings can’t deny the similarities between the plight of those eighteenth century textile workers and the uncertain future of many in the media today.

While broad consumer audiences can allow greater scope for creativity, ‘big’ thinking or new ideas, in the eyes of many people corporate or B2B PR tends to equate to churning out endless news releases or lengthy statements of end-of-year financials. To me at least, this actually sets the PR industry a challenge of a change in mindset. Just because you personally may not be fascinated by annual results does not mean the clients’ target audience isn’t.

And yet in many ways, if you can find a way of making it fun for yourself, as well as interesting for those you want to read or experience it, campaigns tend to be much more successful. Good examples of corporate PR may be harder to find, but I guarantee they’ll work harder for you in the long run.