Your entry must address each of the following four areas: Research, Planning, Execution and Evaluation. Entries not clearly outlining each of the four areas will be disqualified. Entries that exceed the two-page limit for Mercury Awards and one-page limit for Silver Wing Awards will be disqualified.
Please note: The SCPRSA Mercury Awards competition recognizes outstanding achievement based on a clear explanation of the entry's adherence to the traditional four-step model of public relations: Research, Planning, Execution and Evaluation. Your entry must clearly explain how you achieved each of these steps. Pay very careful attention to the criteria below as well as to specific criteria of your entry category. Our judges will use the following criteria to judge your entry, so it is highly recommended that you use these criteria when writing your entry.
Research:
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Each entry will be judged on the quality of the original and/or secondary research.
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Analyze or describe the situation on which the campaign or tactic is based.
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When addressing the actual research component, describe who specifically initiated the research.
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Was the research in response to a problem or to examine a potential problem?
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Did research help redefine the situation in any way?
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How was the research relevant to shaping the planning process?
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How did research help define the audience or the situation?
Planning:
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Judges will examine how each entry relates to measurable objectives, originality, judgment in selected strategy and techniques, accuracy of budget and difficulties encountered/overcome.
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How do the plans correlate to the research findings?
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Who was involved in the planning?
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In general terms, what was the plan?
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Who were the target audiences?
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What was the overall strategy employed?
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What materials were used?
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What was your budget?
Execution:
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Judges will examine plan implementation, materials used, in-progress adjustments to the plan and effectiveness of resources.
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How were the plans executed and what were the results?
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In general terms, how did the activities flow?
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Were there any difficulties encountered? If so, how were they handled?
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Were other organizations involved?
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Were other nontraditional public relations tactics (i.e., advertising) employed?
Evaluation:
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Judges will consider to what degree a program met its objectives and what efforts were made to identify, analyze and quantify results.
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What method(s) of evaluation were used?
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How are results related to research findings?
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How are results related to strategic objectives?
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Note: media circulation figures and advertising value equivalencies are not acceptable as the only means of quantitative measurement.
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Documentation of how success was measured is encouraged.
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