PharmaTimes Communications Team of the Year has a long history of being the only pharma industry award that tests the competencies and potential of communications agency teams, benchmarking talent agency side. Such is the popularity of the competition that the decision has been taken to increase the number of categories and with it, the opportunity for agencies – and individuals – to shine.
“The Awards has always had an element of charity awareness and promotion and we have been both proud and humbled to have great charities participate in the awards ceremonies,” says executive steering group member Eric Hansen. “This year we want to bring even more to these very deserving organisations. To this end, a new category is being added to the proceedings.”
Called the Charity Challenge, this new and exciting category will have a brief developed for a specific charity and agencies will have the opportunity to present their ideas directly to a team of expert judges on the day.
Also new for 2018 is the ‘Aspiring Communications Manager’ category, which will give “talented individuals within agencies the chance to learn, develop and rise through the ranks,” says PharmaTimes business manager and competition lead Anna Yeardley.
These two new categories are in addition to the already incredibly popular NHS and International Challenges.
Entry is now open and healthcare communications agencies are invited to put forward their very best teams (and Aspiring Communications Managers!) to ‘face the panel’ in an on-the-day pitch challenge.
Previous entrants rate the competition highly as a learning and development opportunity: “We entered the competition because I was keen for the team to test their wits against competitors in front of an industry panel. It was a rare opportunity to get some useful feedback and to develop the team’s experience and expertise even further,” says Jenny Ousbey, director and head of health at WA Communications, winner of last year’s NHS Challenge.
The benefits don’t stop there either; taking part in the competition is also a great way for agencies to raise their profile: “Winning the award has helped to position us as a market leader and has attracted the attention of prospective clients to our unique integrated communications offer,” says Jenny.
Individuals and teams can register their entries or nominations online now at pharmatimes.com/CTOY. Entries are screened by the executive steering group and finalists are announced in September.
All finalists will be invited to the high-profile awards ceremony, where their success will be celebrated alongside other industry leaders. The ceremony, to be held in November in central London, will coincide with the presentation of PharmaTimes Marketer of the Year and the all-new Sales Awards.
For more information and to enter visit www.pharmatimes.com/CTOY
