Colleague awards that cut through
The challenge
To mark ITV’s 70th anniversary, the Internal Comms team wanted to launch a colleague awards programme that both celebrated their history and aligned with the company’s brand-new values and behaviours.
We needed to create new awards, fresh promotional materials, a bespoke judging process and a new platform for colleagues to submit nominations from across ITV’s many different arms – both nationally and internationally.
The solution
We created The Makers. A multi-phase campaign that celebrated colleagues who personified aspects of the new ITV values across four key categories: The Pioneer, The Pathfinder, The Creator and The Motivator.
Working with ITV’s existing well-established brand, we developed a unique look for the awards and built a bespoke online nominations portal for all ITV colleagues to use.
A fantastic 777 nominations were shortlisted to just 50. All nominated colleagues received an email from ITV’s CEO and a custom graphic to share their nomination on their personal social media.
The shortlisted 50 then received further communications and assets to celebrate the occasion, including an invitation to ITV’s 70th anniversary event at the Guildhall in London and the opportunity to network with key stakeholders and ITV personalities.
Senior leader-led panels each took a category in turn to anonymously discuss and debate the merits of the shortlisted 50 into the final four winners across key criteria. The four winners were then presented with their trophies by the CEO as part of a special vodcast, which included videos for each winner with nominators and peers sharing their thoughts on the colleague’s award win.
The results
With an initial aim to reach 200 nominations within the four-week nominations window, we ended with 777.
More than half of respondents to a post-awards survey felt The Makers had a positive impact on team morale, with 63% saying it had improved recognition at ITV.
Crucially, 60% of survey respondents felt The Makers had helped people to better understand the new behaviours and ITV’s values, and more than 70% of respondents said The Makers made them feel proud to work at ITV.
“The Makers has felt like the most brilliant ITV initiative ever. It highlights how many talented people are in the business and how much great work gets done across all areas.”
Anonymous ITV survey respondent.
Why we love it
“The Makers was built from the ground up and exceeded all expectations with more than 750 nominations. What was most pleasing was the quality of the nominations, with colleagues taking time and care to give recognition to deserving team mates.”
Nick Robbins, Strategic Content Director
