DIAGEO RESPONSIBLE
DRINKING MEDIA AWARDS

At Verb we love an awards ceremony. The glamour, the celebration of excellence and the overall feel good nature is irresistible to work on. We are proud to have had an association with the Diageo Responsible Drinking Media Awards for a number of years and can boast a double in the amount of entries and awareness as a result

The RDMAs are not your average awards ceremony. Verb has been in charge of the full 360-degree management of the awards. Managing everything from PR and entries to the awards night and trophies. We handled it all.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Without a proper PR strategy or the right network of media pulling together the RDMAs would be impossible. Our team delved into our network and began to source stories that qualified for the RDMAs. The awards are open to journalists and media house from across the media landscape in South Africa – Radio (community and commercial), Television, Newspapers (community and commercial), Online publications (including blogs) and Magazines.

In the end we managed to get over 33 million in reach with a R1 264 838 AVE. We also managed to get 464 entries – a new record for the RDMAs.

Our PR strategy also included coffee activations at some of South Africa’s biggest media houses. We’d send a crew in the morning armed with delicious coffee, coffee cones and a mission to encourage all journalists to help spread the word, write and submit stories that are eligible.

Our social media strategy fell into our PR work on the RDMAs too. Our objective was to spread awareness as much as possible with targeted campaigns and direct mentions and tags on various platforms. Our social media success lay in the less is more approach – highly targeted messaging less frequently and it paid off. We achieved 27 031 impressions and 6943 engagements (engagement rate of 25%).

LOGISTICS

The Verb Events team has several feathers in their cap, and one includes being able to handle travel logistics. All travel and accommodation were managed by our team and included transporting journalists from all 9 provinces to Johannesburg for the awards. We managed to get all the finalists and their partners to the venue on time and back home safely again without any major issues.

The Verb Events team was also responsible for the design and manufacture of the trophy, certificates and finalist’s gifts. See the pictures below for a peek at the gorgeous glass trophy and certificate design!

VENUE GOALS

The RDMA night was the culmination of months of creative preparation and logistical planning. The venue we chose to host the ceremony was The Four Seasons Westcliff, one of Johannesburg’s most beautiful hotels with views that will convert even the biggest Jozi hater.

The bar service and catering were a part of our responsibility and we worked closely with both the Westcliff caterers and the bar service company to make sure we cater to all dietary needs and tastes. Dairy-free, gluten-free, halaal, vegetarian, vegan you name it we catered it.

DÉCOR

The RDMA logo draws its deep magenta hue from the Diageo logo and we decided to carry this tone along with some luxurious warm tones as the colour scheme for the event. Bold oranges, reds and golden tones from moody candlelight stood out against a black backdrop beautifully.

ENTERTAINMENT

You don’t always have to go for a big band, dancers and confetti cannons to make entertainment at any event memorable (like we did for the CSA Awards). We opted for the lowkey, soulful music of Lungi and her bass player. She was a consummate professional and her dulcet music was the perfect atmosphere enhancer.

If you’re looking for a company that can handle every aspect of your awards, look no further the Verb Events team has got your back. Get in touch with them at info@verbsa.com to get planning today!