Student wins PR award for breastfeeding campaign

Singapore – The 15^th Institute of Public Relations (IPRS) PRISM Awards on March 7, 2019 (Thursday).

Held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the 15^th PRISM 2019 had a record-breaking number of entries and nominations for its 32 categories which included eight new categories showcasing the competencies of PR and Communication organisations within the country.

One of the categories under the PRISM Awards is “Outstanding PR Student” which highlights a project initiated by a student.

A final-year student Dayna Yin from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information took home the award for her project titled “Bare It For Baby.”

What started out as a Social for Good assignment for a social media class became a movement in society. Bare It For Baby is a series of content aimed at raising awareness of the challenges faced by breastfeeding mothers nursing their children in public.

Ms. Dayna shares, “Going into this project, it started out as a way to understand how breastfeeding affects both mother and child. Then as more mothers shared their story, the aim of Bare It For Baby was for both mothers and non-mothers Singapore to connect and understand life in a mother’s shoes when it comes to providing for their children.

“The response to the project has been so wonderful and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have explored this part of Singapore culture and start a movement while at it. To those out there who find something that you feel fuels your fire to explore, go for it because you never know where that path may lead you.”

The awards criteria encompass areas such as corporate reputation, corporate responsibility, social/digital media campaigns, integrated B2B and B2C campaigns, and crisis and issues management. Organisations from the public sector, corporate field, and those that are non-profit are among the entries.

A distinguished panel of judges with a seasoned history in PR and Communication selected a total of 47 entries for the Excellence (14 winners) and Merit (33 winners) awards. Another 15 awards were presented to individuals for their contributions and achievements in the field.

MP for Marine Parade GRC and CEO NTUC FairPrice Cooperative, Seah Kian Peng was the special guest at the event.

The MP guest speaker, among the 300 guests comprised of heads of National PR associations from Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong emphasised the importance of Singapore’s reputation as one of “our greatest assets” that must be protected at a time where divided opinions in society may distort the truth.

MP Seah, who is a member of the Select Committee for Deliberate Online Falsehoods said, “The current Bi-centennial Celebrations remind us not just of Singapore’s past, but of the need to build on our reputation for the future. We are entering a world where much more is contested – entering new realities populated by opinions which may divide society and distort the truth”.

He did not miss an opportunity to give credit to the PR industry for their excellent job in upholding the country’s reputation. He noted how the award recipients placed extra focus in executing their campaigns through online platforms, in line with the government’s efforts in the digital age.

More on the winning campaign here:

https://www.facebook.com/bareitforbaby/posts/1051193498406732?__xts__[0]=68.ARA2ndqhB_459ZJxIzrNo0vRjayBWqCn5r4r1xMBjbzUnyp3Mpu7C9h81LGUijNfYsPRvO1rs14uD5_IKd1ozk9vWFOS4XAoF0C3_rbZ89m7ybfxuLiseZNfR6CaXZBo116nMUgLtSoKIzi-o0nGsd-fW9cD6KO3A0vXiDoM0YvjkHySzpfwirWqEeiwFyxFTidaeJoXZeLjrQM5YAtJ37I-Wdsg43SkPnx_n_ZIMV4kp6zh3X4jddX7N2xW3T0wExjV_xCqvWgNtPtPjKyM6Xv4jvJOJLgCIp4wrd_YExSlW0OO6yEBkr5E8Cmv4qLjN3XyiUWreRc54Uwqkcmje-nwjw&__tn__=-R

Among the awardees were Foodpanda Singapore, Microsoft Asia, the Singapore Police Force, Grab, and AXA under their respective categories.

The full list of PRISM Awards 2019 recipients can be found at the following link.