Rigips and senft&partner scoop BEST PRactice Award

27. Mär 2009

Extra-time victory for EURO 2008 project
Twice a year the Public Relations Verband Austria (PRVA), in cooperation with publishers Manstein Verlag, presents the BEST PRactice Award for innovative and creative PR services. In March 2009 Rigips Austria and senft&partner snapped up the award for their RIGIPS4FANS project.

Rigips Austria, one of Austria’s largest producers of plasterboards and gypsum powder products, is well known in the industry for its high-quality customer service and innovative ideas. Football fans visiting Austria for the EURO 2008 tournament also benefited from the company’s philosophy, “We’re there for you”, as Rigips was the main sponsor of the Fan Camp at the Wiener Messegelände (Vienna Fairgrounds). Rigips plasterboards were used to build 770 sleeping units on the doorstep of the Ernst Happel Stadium, with room for up to 3,000 guests per night.
Rigips’ sponsorship of the Camp was the centrepiece of a six-month communication campaign in Austria and the CEE countries. The campaign was designed and implemented by Vienna-based PR agency senft&partner in close cooperation with Rigips.
The jury’s stated that the project fulfilled three main criteria for the BEST PRactice Award: firstly, Rigips’ success in adapting its B2B products and service quality to the consumer segment; secondly, the creative use of a variety of communications tools – ranging from conventional press activities to an interactive web page and special events – and thirdly, the decision to target the campaign at the Eastern European market.

“Rigips4Fans really underlines the idea that PR involves much more than just press activities. PR covers all areas of corporate communications – dialogue with customers, suppliers, the local community, business partners and of course the media,” says Susanne Senft of senft&partner. This is the second such award won by the agency, which specialises in PR for the construction sector. "Dein Job an der Sonne" (Your place in the sun), a campaign for Arge Sonnenschutztechnik aimed at attracting apprentices, secured a BEST PRactice Award in 2004.