South: Carswell Gould shortlisted for brace of industry awards

Award-winning marketing communications agency Carswell Gould has been shortlisted for a brace of prestigious industry awards which celebrate two of the highly successful campaigns the agency delivered for its clients in the past 12 months.

The agency is in the running for this year’s Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ (CIPR) PRide Awards in the South of England and Channel Islands region, with nominations in the Best Event and best Community Relations Campaign categories.

Carswell Gould’s work with the Venturefest South (VFS) in the Best Event category included developing a fully integrated marketing and PR campaign, which built upon previous years’ events and leveraged the full support and resources of the VFS partners. Results included the highest levels of engagement to date, resulting in new partners and sponsors signing up to support the event, as well as new speakers and delegates. Attendance was increased by 60 per cent on the previous year and a new event record of £90m of investment opportunities were up for grabs available to innovators and entrepreneurs.

In addition, its work with Spectrum Centre for Independent Living for Southampton’s Love Don’t Hate campaign, is in the running for a city-wide initiative to raise awareness of hate crime in Southampton. Carswell Gould’s work included research which framed how hard it was to report an incident of hate crime and focused on engaging with those who would feel more comfortable reporting anonymously. This resulted in the agency developing a new smartphone app to allow users to immediately report a hate crime to the nearest reporting centre and request a call back if required. Results included reaching 316,000 radio listeners, one million readers across online and print outlets, the campaign hashtag reaching over 104,000 accounts and 120,000 impressions.

Ed Gould, creative director at Carswell Gould, said: “This year’s shortlistings for the PRide Awards continue to demonstrate the team consistently working at an award-winning level. They also demonstrate how we incorporate a wide range of marketing communications strategies, tools and tactics to deliver our clients the very best return on their investment. Our clients are based all over the UK and beyond, but what’s really heartwarming is that both these shortlisted campaigns demonstrate our continuing commitment to making a difference in our region, whether it’s in the business community or for the greater public good.

The winners will be announced at a black-tie awards ceremony at the Bristol Marriott Hotel in November.