IPC's #WaitForTheGreats campaign shortlisted for major international award

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) reached the shortlist for the prestigious European Excellence Awards 2020 in the Sports & Lifestyle category with its #WaitForTheGreats campaign. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic postponing the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics to 2021, the IPC created #WaitForTheGreats to keep its global audience engaged during the days the Paralympics should have happened and mark one year to go. The campaign made it on the top five for the Sports & Lifestyle category, which was won by Swedish ice hockey club Bjorkloven for their #Filltheareana project. 

IPC Chief Brand & Communications Officer Craig Spence said: "This was a tremendous effort from Team IPC involving multiple departments and our tremendous pro-bono advertising agency adam&eveDDB.  At a time when we originally should have been in Japan delivering a spectacular Paralympic Games we found ourselves celebrating one year to go until Tokyo 2020 for the second year in a row!  Thanks to the team’s dynamism and the magical creativity of adam&evedDDB, we delivered a fresh campaign that really did build excitement and interest in next year’s Games, engaging millions of people around the world.

"It is wonderful to be recognised by our industry peers and I am really proud of the team’s efforts this year for dealing with a historic Games postponement and delivering top class work in unique circumstances.”

Key highlights from #WaitForTheGreats included:

•    An innovative TV spot developed by advertising agency adam&eveDDB that was aired over 2,000 times by broadcasters in 10 countries
•    The campaign gathered 14 million impressions, 13 million video views and 400k engagements across the IPC digital channels
•    Publication of a digital toolkit for members and other stakeholders
•    A 24h Instagram LIVE relay and athlete takeovers, featuring athletes from all 22 sports and 38 nations, in multiple languages
•    Launch of the new Allianz “Winning Mindset” podcast
•    IPC President Andrew Parsons conducting interviews with more than 40 international media outlets leading to widespread global coverage
•    Rising Phoenix sparking conversations about the Paralympics beyond audience
•    The hashtag was used consistently by athletes and other stakeholders

Hosted by Quadriga - a Berlin-based knowledge hub of excellence in education, information, networking and business IT solutions -  the 14th European Excellence Awards honour outstanding campaigns and projects in the field of PR and communications. With categories covering everything from employer branding to crisis, the Awards are a celebration of the most exceptional campaigns in European corporate communications and PR.

This is the second time the IPC has been shortlisted for the European Excellence Awards. In 2016, the organisation's communications and media team went on to win the In-house PR Team of the Year. Craig Spence was also picked up the PR Professional of the Year category that same year.