On a strangely orange evening (a consequence of the wildfires in Canada) in early June, the PR industry converged on a ballroom in New York City to celebrate the winners of the Public Relations Society of America’s Silver Anvil awards. Our very own Theresa Carper was among them, representing Firebrand, a finalist for the Best Boutique Agency award.
Well, we only went and won!
If you aren’t familiar with the PRSA, it is the leading professional organization for the PR industry, with more than 400 professional and student chapters. Its prestigious Silver Anvil awards are widely regarded as a top accolade, recognizing excellence and high standards of professionalism. The Best Agency awards celebrate the PR agencies that demonstrate exceptional impact, innovation, growth and team culture. Suffice to say, we were honored to be named the winner.
But, while the hardware is nice, the real satisfaction comes from seeing all the hard work and ingenuity of this team of Firebrands be recognized. And from knowing that we genuinely are doing something new and meaningful.
Specifically, this award recognized our distinctive approach to PR for startups. As we’ve shared before, we see PR as an integral part of the wider marketing mix. We intertwine PR with content and digital marketing to drive awareness and demand for tech startups. We call this approach Multiplier Marketing because, as we’ve seen time and time again, it delivers a multiplier effect for our clients. When we amplify demand gen content through PR, we drive more leads. When we tie paid media into a content-fuelled nurture, we increase conversions. When we couple PR with out of home ads, we create a greater spike in awareness. Building a PR agency that can deliver true Multiplier Marketing is not easy – it requires deep expertise in each discipline as well as processes to ensure constant collaboration. We’ve invested in every aspect, from our HubSpot and Demandbase partnerships, to Google Ads certifications, media and social media expertise, training, tools and talent.
The result is not only greater impact for clients: happy clients equal happy teams. Of all the metrics that went into our award entry, the one we’re perhaps most proud of is our exceptionally low staff churn (zero for two years). Why is this important to us? Because it shows that even when we post great growth numbers and impressive results, we never do it at the expense of our team’s well-being. In fact, two of our values are ‘health’ and ‘laughter’ (alongside curiosity, discipline and integrity in case you were wondering).
So, yes, on that orange evening in NYC, we were honored and thrilled to earn this industry recognition as a top PR agency. But what really made us grin was the fact that we get to celebrate with such a bright, funny, energetic group of pros.
To this group of Firebrands – and to our extended family of clients, partners and friends – we owe a big thank you and congrats. This win is for all of us!
About the Author
Lucy Allen is a Principal at Firebrand with two decades of technology communications experience. Lucy leads client operations, from executing programs that help clients grow their business, to developing Firebrand’s team and services. Prior to joining, Lucy held leadership roles in global agencies including US tech sector chair and Bay Area GM at Edelman and chief strategy officer at LEWIS.
