PLDT and its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) continue to reinforce integrated telco superiority, bagging a total of 19 citations at the 56th Anvil Awards, including the coveted Company of the Year distinction. This honor is awarded to an organization for garnering the greatest number of accumulated points based on the value of each Anvil trophy received.
Considered as the “Oscars” of public relations in the country, the Anvil Awards are presented annually by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) to outstanding PR programs, tools, and practitioners as discerned by a multi-sectoral board of jurors. This year’s theme “PR for Good” aimed to recognize purpose-driven and impactful initiatives that promote corporate integrity and the social good during crises and across platforms.
“Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the lifeline that kept communities functioning was communications. This is exactly why our PR initiatives leverage on digital technology and our network. With this Anvil Award, we will continue to connect and empower Filipinos everywhere, as it is our core business and our key contribution to our country and people,” PLDT FVP and Group Head of Corporate Communications Cathy Yang said during her virtual acceptance speech for the group’s Company of the Year award.
For the award-giving body’s first virtual run, PLDT and Smart’s citations include a Platinum Anvil for “#CyberSmart Caravans: Promoting Cyber Security and Safety among Teachers and Students”. The Platinum Anvil Award is given to the most outstanding public relations tool that stands out among all Gold Award winning PR tools.
A collaboration between various business units across PLDT and Smart and supported by the Department of Education, the National Privacy Commission and UNICEF, #CyberSmart Caravans aimed to increase people’s awareness on data privacy and security, internet safety, responsible social media use, spotting and combatting fake news, and computer and mobile protection especially for online teaching and learning. The weekly event ran for the whole month of September 2020, which is recognized as the National Cyber Security and Awareness Month, and gathered more than 28,000 teachers and students from over 1,300 schools nationwide.
Under the Programs Division, PLDT and Smart’s awards haul included the following: #LearnSmart eLearning Sessions campaign; PLDT Home’s #StayHome and #StayHomeSeries; LearnSmart’s omnibus education campaign: Helping create a #NoLearnerLeftBehind Nation through digital technology; Love comes in all shapes, sizes, and paws with PLDT's #ComeHomeToLove Valentine's Day campaign; PLDT and Smart Cyber Security Awareness Campaign : Empowering employees through online safety; School-in-a-Bag: Leveraging Partnerships for Education; Smart Communities and the UNSDGs omnibus campaign; and value brand TNT’s Big Bente and Giga Stories campaigns.
The companies were also recognized for public relations tools such as PLDT Enterprise’s HOT JOE Online: Pasasalamat Issue; PLDT Home’s No Learner Left Behind Virtual Benefit Concert; PLDT Home brings the Holideals to Filipinos; #LearnSmart eLearning Sessions: Ensuring continued learning even while in quarantine; and Kalye Mabunga: Building food-secure communities one 'kalye' at a time.