Karl has won a bottle of champagne - kindly donated by the Cambridge Champagne Company - for his October article entitled: New rules on inheritance - do I still need a Will?
His contribution came out top from a number of articles selected from material posted by members on this site and judged by a panel of experts for their newsworthiness and relevance, memorability, image and good use of quotes. Judges included Rachel Holdsworth of Holdsworth Associates; Paul Casciato of Cheary & Gallagher and Richard Blackburn of Energi Technical Marketing, who were all involved in a recent Cambridge Network Breakfast workshop on PR.
"To be fair to members, we tried to steer clear of material which we knew had come from professional PR people and writers," said Cambridge Network Editor Judi Coe, who was involved in the shortlisting with Alexandra Murphy, the Network's marketing manager.. "We made our shortlist within a specific timeframe of just a few weeks, so our pool of material was deliberately limited. It was also very difficult to compare some of the entries because we receive blogs and editorial alongside press releases, so we were not comparing like with like.
"However, the consensus was clear. Karl's article was not only highly memorable, it actually included a real call to action; it was timely because it referred to a change in the law about to come into force, and while it was promotional - he is from a law firm which helps people with wills - it was not overtly so. The issue was the story, not the firm's offer."
Judge Paul Casciato commented:"This was a compelling press release/story which is filled with great quotes because it is written in the first person. Good headline. Excellent introductory paragraph. Revelatory information in every paragraph. I read all the way to the bottom. No hook needed. I want to call my lawyer and update the will right now."
Other shortlisted articles included:
Happy engineers get dancing to Pharrell Williams’ hit! (commended for its image and use of video)
CDP awarded certification to ISO13485 and ISO9001 (in which a striking image lifted an otherwise dry story)
Large UK/USA study provides evidence that Group Nature Walks enhance mental wellbeing (which combined a good image with a story based on relevant research)
Interested in learning more about how to write a good news article? PR expert Rachel Holdsworth - one of the competiton judges - offers some useful hints and tips in a blog on this site. Read it here.
Image: Karl Dembicki of Woodfines Solicitors receives his Champagne from Hilary Laing, Cambridge Network's COO.
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