Townsville City Council selected as State and National Finalist for PR awards

Townsville City Council’s Public Affairs team has been selected as a Queensland and National Finalist in two categories for the 2018 Golden Target Awards.

The Public Relations Institute of Australia’s (PRIA) Golden Target Awards are the industry’s most prestigious awards.

Council was selected for the best Small Budget (under $15,000) communications campaign and best Government In-House Team across the state and the country.

The subject nominated was the Litter-ally Improving Waste marketing campaign, which aimed to explain changes to Council’s waste policies such as introducing a free kerbside hard waste collection and implementing free dumping of green waste and recyclables all-year round.

A feature of the campaign was Council using its own staff as talent in the advertisements.

Townsville Mayor said being selected as finalist by PRIA demonstrates the local talent in the communications and creative industries.

“Not only do we have amazing creative talent in our communications team but we also have great acting talent in our Townsville Waste team,” Cr Hill said.

“These ads showcase exactly what we can do locally with Council’s own team members.

“Townsville City Council is now up against advertising and creative teams from across the country in two categories for the Golden Target Awards.

“I think the whole city should be proud of the fact we have produced one of the best communication campaigns in the country – and it was all done locally with Council team members.

“We have so much talent in Townsville and it’s wonderful to have it recognised on a state and national level.”

Council’s Community Engagement and Cultural Services General Manager Stephen Beckett said Council had implemented major changes in the way it tries to communicate with the public.

“This campaign was created to engage with the community and deliver information using humour and in a memorable way,” Mr Beckett said.

“It’s really important that we engage with our community and speak their language.

“We’ve had a big focus of trying to use humour and showcase some of the characters we have working as part of the team.

“I think we’ve shown that Council can be a bit fun, and it helps us get our key messages through to our local residents, whether it collecting rubbish, celebrating our libraries or explaining Council’s record infrastructure program.

The winners and highly commended for the State and National Awards will be announced at two different ceremonies in October.