We’ve had some fantastic news this week with confirmation that Diffusion is a finalist for New Consultancy of the Year at this year’s PR Week Awards. The category looks at a number of criteria including staff and client growth and retention and against a tough economic climate, we have been fortunate to have grown to a 12-strong agency working with a range of amazing brands and exciting start-ups.  However, what we believe makes us stand out even more is our commitment to PR innovation and a pioneering approach to integrating digital, search and traditional media relations at the heart of our communication campaigns.

One of our favourite case studies of the success of this approach in action, was our launch of CyberMentors for charity Beatbullying, back in March.  The campaign not only got the issue of cyberbullying firmly on the national agenda via print and broadcast media, but was able to reach out directly to young people by creatively engaging with online communities and social networks.

The result was a campaign which was able to meet a brief concerned with not just generating large volumes of coverage, but inspiring a range of actions and outcomes from a distinct set of audiences including parents, teachers, politicians and of course young people themselves. Hitting the target set by the DCSF for visits to the CyberMentors site for the whole year in just the first month, was just one of the immediate outcomes.

For a whole host of reasons this was a campaign we were very proud to be a part of, one which made a real difference, so in some ways we were even more excited to hear that our work for BeatBullying has also been short-listed for a PR Week Best Campaign award in the Not-for-profit category.

Having seen the list of finalists for both awards, we are in some very fine company and the competition is going to be tough. It may be a cliché but it is true nonetheless, that we are very grateful for the industry recognition we’ve received just to get this far. Win or lose, the evening of 20th October will be a time to reflect, celebrate and above all be inspired by the great work of our peers to do even better!