London International Awards (LIA) is pleased to announce Della Sweetman, Chief Business Development Officer Executive Lead, Creative, Strategy and Planning at FleishmanHillard Global as the 2024 Creativity in PR Jury President.
Della is an energetic leader with a proven record of creating a high-performance culture centered on the work. She has led global clients, P&Ls, practice groups, and large-scale agency initiatives. Based in New York, today she leads FleishmanHillard’s global growth function and Creative, Strategy and Planning, including the introduction of ‘Bend the World’ – the agency’s unique point of view for earned-led creative.
“I’m delighted and honored to be invited back to serve as president on the LIA Creativity in PR Jury for a second time,” said Della. “We are well into the era where the power of earned creative and ideas is unrivaled. I’m especially keen to see more work emerge from Creatives in PR and Communications at a time when we know other disciplines continue to show very strongly in this category. And I’m looking forward to joining the other LIA jurors to celebrate some exceptional work!”
LIA introduced the Creativity in PR category to the Awards in 2022. The work entered in this category must have creative thinking at its core. Work that has driven and influenced opinion. Work that is culturally relevant and focuses on reputation management with the objective of increasing positive reinforcement and good will for the brand across all sectors of the PR spectrum.
Some of the most inspiring creative work has come from PR. The sky’s the limit. In 2018, when SpaceX launched Falcon Heavy, their newest space rocket into space, it made the headlines. But the PR hype for both SpaceX and Falcon Heavy went into hyperdrive when Falcon Heavy shot a cherry red Tesla Roadster into orbit. Today, six years later, the orbiting Tesla is still an annual curiosity with the media asking, “where is it now in space?” A good PR campaign gets people talking, puts brands in the spotlight and makes a lasting impression. It doesn’t just attract attention, it attracts stakeholders.
Barbara Levy, President of LIA, said: “Every PR campaign is a series of planned activities to give either the brand or the company publicity. Over the years, many brands have been inventive and have used original ideas in PR to bolster media relations and coverage, and to build credibility. Some have likened Creativity in PR to a breath of fresh air - it gives the public a chance to learn more about the brand or company through the lens of creativity without an overt call to purchase. Creativity in PR is increasingly vital. It is like what Oscar Wilde wrote, ‘There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.’ With our esteemed jury, we are confident that there will be a lot of buzz from the work honored this year.”