MOSCOW, January 29 (RIA Novosti) - RIA Novosti news agency won a special prize at the Silver Archer national award ceremony on Thursday for a public relations campaign during rebranding.
The national award for public relations was founded in 1997 by the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Russian Association of Public Relations and the Russian Union of Journalists.
“RIA Novosti is a leader on the Russian media market and this has been recognized by everyone. RIA Novosti chose absolutely the right format by making a bet on multimedia technologies,” Silver Archer award director Nadezhda Yavdolyuk said.
As part of its major rebranding campaign, RIA Novosti has introduced a two-floor newsroom, the only one of its kind in Russia, with floorspace of 1,100 square meters. The newsroom houses the Integrated News Department providing multimedia coverage of events with traditional textual, video and infographic presentation of news, expert opinion and lighter items.
“For us, the rebranding we are now putting into effect is a benign virus that was born within us and burst out, and was captured by a communications campaign,” the news agency’s deputy director general, Valery Levchenko, said. “We are glad that this campaign has been a success.”
RIA Novosti was the most frequently mentioned brand on Runet websites in 2008.
Four prestigious Silver Archers were awarded in the Best Project category, to Sakhalin Energy company, the Health Ministry, the Khanty-Mansiisk Autonomous District, and the Russian national insurance company Rosgosstrakh.