The winners of the IPRN AWARDS 2024, organized by the International Public Relations Network (IPRN), were announced on 24 September in India. Makaira KK, a Japanese public affairs company, won in the Event and/or Activation category.

The IPRN AWARDS recognize outstanding achievements by IPRN member firms in seven categories, including media relations, digital and influencer marketing, reputation and crisis communications.

The IPRN AWARDS 2024 recognize the outstanding achievements of public relations firms from around the world that are members of the International Public Relations Network (IPRN). “The Good Lobby Project” of Makaira was selected as the winner in the Events and/or Activation category, which recognizes events and/or activation initiatives that stand out for their creativity, originality and complexity.

About the award-winning work “The Good Lobby Project”

The IPRN AWARD 2024 in the Event and/or Activation category was awarded to Makaira’s work with The Good Lobby to raise awareness of good lobbying in Japan.

Makaira, a communications company with strengths in public affairs for social change, has supported public affairs, including lobbying, to bring the voices of diverse individuals, organizations and companies to government and other public sectors. This is because we believe that providing politicians, bureaucrats and other public sector actors with up-to-date, relevant information from a variety of perspectives will contribute to the formation of appropriate policies and, ultimately, to the healthy development of democracy. In recent years, however, there has been criticism, particularly in Europe and the US, that the influence of lobbying by large IT companies and others may be too great. For the sake of proper policy-making and the healthy development of democracy, there is a growing debate in Europe about the ideal form of lobbying, including regulation. On the other hand, it has been pointed out that there is a risk that the mere imposition of regulations may lead to the proliferation of activities that circumvent the regulations, thereby reducing transparency, or that only actors that can comply with the regulations will be able to access the public sector, thereby depriving the public of opportunities for political participation.

In this context, Makaira believes that it has a social responsibility as a leading public affairs company to create an environment that facilitates proper lobbying and policy-making in Japan.

We have therefore adopted a mechanism developed by the international NGO The Good Lobby to promote transparency and appropriateness in corporate lobbying by using market monitoring and investor selection, such as ESG rating agencies, and held events to provide a forum for discussion to promote understanding of the importance of appropriate lobbying.

In particular, this initiative was recognized for its ‘efforts to promote a change in the attitudes of citizens, businesses and policymakers towards achieving major social change’.

About IPRN AWARDS 2024

The IPRN AWARDS 2024 are presented by IPRN, the International Public Relations Network, and winners in all categories will be determined through presentations at the IPRN General Assembly and online voting by participants.

IPRN AWARD winners will be selected in each of the following seven categories, and the project that receives the most votes in each of these seven categories will be named the “IPRN Gold” campaign of the year.
In addition, an Agency of the Year and a Member of the Year will be selected in the Agency category.

1. Media Relations
Projects that stand out for their media results and media engagement strategy.

2. Digital and/or Influencer Marketing
Projects that stand out in the digital space (web and social media) or whose strategy
with influencers is differentiating.

3. Reputation and/or Crisis Communication
Projects to affirm and improve the reputation of organizations or to manage crisis
cases that stand out for their strategy and damage control.

4. Content and/or Publication
Content projects, whether digital or on paper, for external or internal
communication, that stand out for their graphic quality, creativity and reach.

5. Event and/or Activation
Internal, external events or activations, which stand out for their creativity, originality and complexity, as well as for the quality of the graphic, multimedia and scenographic supports.

6. Film and/or video
Films or videos, for internal or external audiences, that stand out for their quality of editing, originality, creativity and scope.

7. Integrated campaign
Integrated, differentiating projects that include several communication areas and disciplines and whose results are proven.