Published July 29th, 2021
A Cornish creative communications agency has been shortlisted for five awards at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ (CIPR) PRide Awards.
Barefoot Media, which is based near St Wenn, north Cornwall, has been shortlisted for Small PR Consultancy of the Year, Best Covid Response campaign, Best Public Sector campaign, and Best Use of Digital and Social Media.
Two of the agency’s account managers, Hattie Frisby and Sophie Peters, have also been shortlisted for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year; an award which celebrates the achievements and performance of young professionals who are making a valuable contribution to their organisations, and showing considerable promise as future leaders.
Jim Michell, managing director, said; “I’m so pleased to learn that both Hattie and Sophie have been shortlisted for the Outstanding Young Communicator award; they have both made fantastic progress in their professional development over the past three years and I am confident that they will both be marketing stars of the future.
“The Small PR Consultancy award recognises agencies which have shown professionalism, outstanding achievements, a strong business strategy, and resilience.
“While many of our competitors chose to make redundancies when the pandemic hit, we were determined to keep our team together and position the business for rapid recovery. We took the opportunity to develop skills across the team, refreshed our brand identity, and created a new website to better reflect our skills and values. It’s heartening to see our response to these challenges recognised by the judges.”
Barefoot has also been shortlisted for Best Covid Response campaign, and Best Public Sector campaign, for its work with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Hub.
An eight-week PR-led campaign, the project involved working with the Growth Hub and Skills Hub to identify Cornish businesses which had adapted their offering in an innovative way during the Covid-19 pandemic, and share success stories amongst local, regional, national and trade media.
Commenting on Barefoot’s work, communications manager Kirsty Miles Musgrave, said:
“The coverage Barefoot delivered was beyond our expectations in terms of volume, variety, and reach. It has been beneficial to both our project and the businesses mentioned themselves. The resulting content was of a very high standard and will continue to be used across a variety of channels to deliver an ongoing positive message to businesses.”
The agency’s work for Rosemullion Distillery has also been shortlisted in the Best Use of Digital and Social Media category, with activity over the period covered including launching an online shop; organic social media strategy, content and advertising; website content creation; email marketing; and PR.
Organised by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, the South of England and Channel Islands PRide Awards is open to agencies and in-house teams based in 13 counties, spanning from Cornwall in the west to Kent in the south east, taking in Bristol, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Wight.
Founded in 2002 by Jim and Ellie Michell, Barefoot Media works across a broad range of sectors, including travel and tourism, food and drink, property and construction, and technology.
With a six-strong team of PR and digital marketing professionals, its core services include public relations, marketing strategy, social media, email marketing, website content creation, events management, and photography.
The award winners will be announced at a virtual ceremony in September 2021.
