For a communications professional, words are everything. 

For your audience, though, the visual impact of your work is what matters most. 

PR Daily’s 2018 Video & Visual Awards are back to recognize the most striking and strategic efforts to entice your audience. 

We want to see how your videos and visual designs grabbed the attention of internal or external audiences. How did they tell your brand’s story in a new and refreshing way? Share how your video and visual designs made your organization’s campaigns and initiatives successful.  

You know your work in special. Now it’s time to prove your expertise. 

This year’s program offers more than 20 categories covering video attributes, design and much more. Enter multiple categories to increase your chances of winning. 

Scroll down to read more about this year’s program and categories. Want to know how your ideas and execution stack up? See last year’s winners here.

See a full list of categories and eligibility requirements, and read how to enter below.

Eligibility Requirements

These awards are open to in-house, agency and independent communication practitioners in the private, corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Enter your work, the work of your organization or submit entries on behalf of your client.

Companies from around the world are welcome to enter as long as the entry is submitted in English.

Contact Brendan Gannon to find the perfect category for your campaign or project. You can call 312-960-4407 or email brendang@ragan.com

This year’s program is open to any work executed between Jan. 1, 2017, and Sept. 5, 2018, inclusive.

Recognition

CATEGORIES

VIDEOS BY TOPIC

Charitable or Nonprofit Video

How did you use video as a storytelling tool for your nonprofit or charitable initiative? Share the video you created to raise awareness about an issue, foundation, charitable service or nonprofit organization. We want to know what your goals and results were. Entries from nonprofit or for-profit organizations doing charitable work are eligible.

*NEW!* Crisis Management Video

You had to respond to a crisis in a sensitive and prompt manner. Producing a video was the perfect way to get your message out to a broad audience. Did you issue a public apology? Respond to a crisis affecting your community? Tell us why you had to create this video and walk us through the production process. Don’t forget to include what made it successful. A short production window, increased brand awareness and high engagement are all measures of great work.

Digital Advertisement

Video is an extremely effective way to drive sales. How did your digital ad show off your product or service and entice people to buy? Tell us all about it—and whether it made a difference in your revenue as well.

Educational Video

Who was your audience? What were you hoping to teach with your video? How did you use the expertise of your employees, executives or outside influencers to add credibility to your message? We want to know your mission and, most importantly, the results.

Event Video

Driving registrations to your event is more than a matter of sending out invites. You sought a more creative approach. Share the video that told the story of your event. What channels did you use to share it? Did it feature clips from speakers, emphasize the benefits of attending or show what people missed by not attending last year’s event? Did you create the video as a post-event recap of your successful soirée? Did it get attention from the news media? Let us see the video you created for your event or program. Please include responses from your audience(s).

Executive Communication Video

You wanted people to pay attention to the news your organization has to share, but using a generic spokesperson wasn’t flashy enough. How did you train your executives to effectively share messages on camera that people would pay attention to? How did this make a difference in viewership and perspectives of credibility? What were the results from your executive comms video message? Share your video with us.

*NEW!* Explainer Video

Explainer videos are a great, fun way to explain business ideas and new concepts. Why was producing an explainer video a great strategy for you? Did you create this for a client or for internal use? Share a link to your video and all the details about your strategy and success.

Influencer Video

You wanted to get your brand in front of a massive audience, so you let an influencer take center stage. How did you choose the right spokesperson for your video? What made him or her a perfect fit for your brand? We want to see the planning that went into selecting this influencer, along with the video you produced and the results.

Internal Communications Video

We want to see how you delivered your organization’s news onscreen, offered holiday greetings to your workforce, announced a merger or new direction, boosted morale or communicated an executive’s statement. Share your success with us, and don’t forget to include employee feedback.

Interview Video

Video captures human wisdom and emotion more powerfully than any other medium. Why did you choose video to bring a person’s passion or story to life? Did a compelling story or idea emerge during the interview? Did you interview an employee to share his or her experience at your organization? Did a customer share his or her experience with your brand or service? We want to know what made your interview video a success.

News Story Video

You delivered powerful or important news to your audience through video. Tell us how you covered all the important questions and delivered significant information to the public, employees or customers. What made your video distinct and unique to your brand? How did you capture your audience’s attention in a world of constantly breaking news?

Organization Overview Video

How did you capture your organization’s goals, mission, new initiatives or services on video? We want to see videos that provided a comprehensive view of what your organization offers. What did they do for recruitment and training? Did they provide background for the news media when reporters were telling your story? We want to know what you did to enhance your organization’s message, as well as the feedback you received.

Product Marketing Video

A picture might capture a moment worthy of a thousand words of marketing copy, but a video tells your product’s story. Why did you choose video to market this product? What was video’s distinct value? We want to know what your marketing goals were—and don’t forget feedback. What made your video a hit?

Public Relations Video

Your press releases weren’t getting attention anymore, so you went a different route. What story did you tell in your public relations video? Was your video created to pitch a story to journalists? Did you want to generate a more favorable image of your client or brand? We want to know the results of your video. What did you achieve?

Recruitment or Employer Branding Video

Your organization would be nothing without good people. How did you use video to attract great candidates for your team? Share the video that touched the hearts and minds of a bright, demanding pool of potential new hires. How did you attract a new, more digital workforce? What was the response? What story did you convey via video?

Safety Video

You created a safety video that conveyed serious, lifesaving safety tips or procedures in a fun, inviting way. We want to know how you used video to promote a safety campaign in your workplace or among the public. What issue were you looking to tackle? How did your video keep your audience attentive? How did your video result in a safer workplace?

TV Advertising Campaign

TV ads should be unique, memorable and watchable again and again. How did you maximize exposure for your organization, product or service with an innovative, intelligent, witty TV ad campaign? What message did you get across? Please show us results.

User-Generated Video

Your users add a new perspective to your brand story. You may have sent out a call for video submissions to learn more about your customers’ experience. Maybe you scoured the web for people creating content about your brand. In any case, user-generated videos can tell you a lot about how your products or services are viewed. Share the user-generated videos you collected and tell us how you used them. What inspired people to create them? Did you develop a contest or giveaway? Share the videos and the results.

VIDEO ATTRIBUTES

360 Video

You wanted to give your viewers the entire picture, so you created an interactive, 360-degree video they could explore. Were you showing off a product, an event or something else? Share your 360 video with us and tell us how it helped achieve your goals.

Animated Video

With whimsical yet relatable characters and a fun and engaging storyline, your video attracted a broad audience. We want to see the methods, feedback and results of your outstanding animated video.

Live Video

With the rise of live video apps like Facebook Live, Instagram Stories, YouNow, Live.me and more, you can connect and engage with your audience immediately. How did you use live video to drive engagement with your organization, event or campaign? What did you broadcast? How was your live video perceived? Did you ask for feedback or participation from your audience? Tell us all about it.

Low-Budget Video (Under $2,500)

It’s easier than ever to create stunning video without breaking the bank. Did you use a smartphone, digital camera or GoPro to make movie magic? Show us how you stretched every dollar and got more video bang for your buck.

Use of a Celebrity or Personality

You had to create a video concept, but it needed a touch of star power. How did you form a partnership with a celebrity or personality that made sense for your brand? Who did you select and why did it work? We want to know how you employed your celebrity’s influence and reputation to lend credibility to your message. We also want to know the impact he or she made by advocating for your message.

Video Series

You told a rich, exciting story in many parts. Why was each video spectacular on its own and even better when put together with others? Tell us how you were able to make these interesting segments add up to more than the sum of their parts. How did your series increase engagement and keep viewers coming back for more? Don’t forget to share the results.

DESIGN

*NEW!* Digital Signage

Digital signage can be an effective tool for sharing information. Did you create signage for an event, activation or office space? What pain point did the addition of digital signage address for your organization or client? Tell us about the concept behind it and the feedback you got.

Illustration or Animated Design

Animations and illustration are anything but lowbrow. Done right, they provide straightforward explanations for complicated concepts. Why were animated characters the right medium for your message? What did you design? Did your illustrations and animations grace a video, infographic or something else? Tell us about the story you created for your characters and how it met your goals.

Infographic

Did you rise to the challenge when you were asked to turn intimidating data into an elegant infographic? We want to see how you found a story in numbers and used design to tell it. Did you make boring statistics interesting with your creative and interactive design? Tell us how your infographic made overwhelming information engaging and valuable.

Internal Communications Design

Show us how you inspired your workforce to act. Did you use interactive design to explain a new benefits plan? Did you use gamification to entice employees to complete a boring training session? Tell us how your internal communications benefited from an updated visual design. Show us how you got messages noticed using visual design.

Marketing Design

The best marketing campaigns would be incomplete without strong design. We want to see how your design gave your campaign staying power. Why were your visuals the most influential part of your campaign? How did design help you execute your vision?

Mobile App Design

Loyal consumers live on mobile apps. What did you do to make yours stand out? Did you redesign your app to make it more user-friendly? What improvements did you make to previous versions? Did you add new features that users loved? Tell us what they said about their experience with the app. We want to see metrics, feedback and, of course, the app design.

Photography

Stunning photography displays the human experience from a new perspective. It generates passion, emotion and action, and it speaks for your brand as few other things can. How did you use photography to portray your campaign, project or organizational message? What was your goal? How did photography affect your results?

PR Design

Did your design change the public perception of your client or organization? Did you build brand awareness with impressive graphics? Did you create a design that was highly shareable? Tell us how you met (or exceeded) your organization’s or client’s goals thanks to design. Back up your creative idea with metrics.

Print Design

We know print is alive and well, but we want to see how you kept its blood pumping. Show us how you brought your message to life with your design of print materials. Why was print the best medium for your message? How was your print design displayed? Was it on a postcard or a billboard? Was it for an internal or external audience? We want to recognize your work in the industry’s most traditional design medium.

Social Impact Design

Your design or infographic did more than generate buzz. It incited social change. Tell us the cause you’re passionate about. Did you target environmental, educational or human rights issues? How did your design bring the issue to the forefront of public consciousness? Why was design essential to educating your community about important issues? We welcome submissions from agencies, corporations and nonprofit organizations. Don’t forget the results.

Social Media Design

Social media speaks to the masses, but your message could easily be missed. How did design set your social media content apart from your competition? Did your visuals generate tons of likes, shares and comments? How did you figure out what content would appeal to your audience? Show us how you used social media to become a thought leader in your industry. Why were your profiles the go-to pages for your audience? Did your design enhance your entire profile or was it used to generate buzz for a specific campaign? Show us your visuals and impressive metrics.

Website Design

Your website sets the digital experience your audience associates with your brand. How did your website design impress people? Was this an initial web launch for a new product or a complete image overhaul for an organization or client? How did your design boost traffic? Were you able to turn your website into a digital destination? We want to see proof of a beautiful and functional website that engages and retains visitors.

GRAND PRIZE

Grand Prize: Best Overall Video

We want to see videos that elicited an extraordinary response from employees, stakeholders and/or consumers. Your video can be about anything. As long as the story is great and the results are impressive, you’re in the running for the grand prize.

Grand Prize: Best Overall Design

Tell us the story behind your stunning visual design. How did you use visual art to communicate an idea, cause or product? Was your design informative, powerful or humorous? Show us your top-tier design. What was the design for? What was its effect? Prove that you possess originality that instantly arrests attention.

How To Enter

On the entry form, be sure to include a thorough synopsis explaining the purpose and scope of your project. We ask that the synopsis be at least 1,000 words (max: 1,250 words) and include the following sub-headings (when applicable):

  • Goals
  • Strategy and tactics
  • Execution
  • Evaluation: success, results or ROI

Be sure to follow the guidelines laid out in the category descriptions, as the judges will look for those elements when they select the winners.

You will be able to upload up to five additional documents to your submission. We encourage you to include press releases, design concepts, videos, analytics, testimonials and anything else you feel will give us a better sense of your project. Proprietary or internal information can also be attached and will not be shared with the public.

Supporting documents that can’t be uploaded to the system should be mailed to:

Brendan Gannon
Ragan Communications
10 S. LaSalle St., Suite 310
Chicago, IL 60603

Additional Questions

Additional Questions

If you have any questions about the program or problems submitting your entry, please call Brendan Gannon at 312-960-4407 or email brendang@ragan.com.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorship Opportunities

If you are interested in sponsoring one of Ragan Communications’ award programs, please contact our sponsorship team at sponsorship@ragan.com.