Performance Communications wins Automotive campaign of the year at CIPR Excellence Awards

Performance Communications | June 8, 2017

This week, we took home the award for the best ‘Automotive campaign’ for our Fiat Professional Tradesman Trials campaign at the CIPR Excellence Awards 2017.

The campaign which maximised Fiat Professional’s sponsorship of the English Football League gave one tradesman the chance to forge a professional football career. The insight-driven, content-led campaign gave Fiat’s target audience an emotional reason to engage with Fiat Professional and resulted in widespread coverage and the sale of five vans.

Commenting on the campaign, the judges said: “Performance Communications ticked all the boxes – they had a clear strategy, carried out with structured research and, with inclusion of all relevant partners, resulted in a demonstrable return on investment. The programme ensured that key messages reached all target audiences, with a creative, inspiring and fun campaign which captured the imagination.

“It made the most of a previously under-utilised sponsorship partnership and involved no other agency input. Using a broad range of tactics and events, they undertook a range of activities that resulted in 5 clear sales.”

The agency was one of only 29 winners on the night and was picked from a short-list of six in the Automotive category.

The CIPR Excellence Awards are the longest-running and most-rigorously assessed awards in public relations. Now in their 33rd year, the Excellence Awards showcase the highest levels of professional achievement from PR professionals and teams across the UK and throughout the world.

Well done team!

Six things we’ve learnt in the first six months of 2026

The face of search has changed forever and the pace at which it’s doing so is quicker than ever. At the start of the year, half of UK adults were using LLM-based AI tools to find car information. Now, as we enter H2, that number is already at two-thirds – and growing. The era of […]

TO CHARGE FOR FEATURES, OR NOT TO CHARGE? THAT IS THE QUESTION FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED VEHICLES

I enjoyed my first visit to FT Future of the Car summit last month, and it got me thinking. While Software Defined Vehicles (SDVs) and connected cars were a hot topic, communicating the benefits of these vehicles to consumers isn’t necessarily straightforward. It’s especially hard when it feels like new tech is simply the enabler […]

PARTNERSHIPS, PARTNERSHIPS, PARTNERSHIPS

Sam Mercer noticed a running theme at the FT Future of the Car Summit as the complexity and cost of producing modern cars is pushing more and more companies to work together. “Protectionism doesn’t work”. That was the clear statement from one panellist at FT Future of the Car last week. And this sentiment truly […]

Breaking Barriers

It’s not often you stop and stand in awe of sporting achievement, but Sunday morning’s London Marathon stopped me in my tracks. The sub two-hour barrier for a marathon was never meant to be beaten in competition across 26.2 miles. While Red Bull and INEOS’ 2019 event showed it could be done in controlled conditions, […]

2026 is make-or-break for self-driving cars in the UK

We all know that driverless cars are no longer the stuff of science fiction. While both China and the US have embraced autonomous technology, Aisling Fitzgerald looks at why 2026 promises to be a big year for self-driving vehicles here in the UK… This year is set to be a turning point for autonomous mobility […]

Do e-axles hold the key to the EV transition? Why EV powertrains are going all-in-one

While battery technology typically takes the role of frontman in the rock band that is the EV transition, Matthew Kirtley looks at another member of the group that could be about to take centre stage… According to a recent report from Automotive IQ, the total value of EV powertrains produced worldwide is projected to more than […]

The law of unintended consequences: The new per-mile EV tax in detail

It has been more than a week since the later-than-usual Autumn Budget, and we think the new proposals could have an unintended consequence that will bring an age-old challenge for the auto industry back in the spotlight. The 2025 Autumn Budget has introduced a new per-mile road tax for battery EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs. […]

5 key takeaways from the IAA Mobility show

We were on the ground at the IAA Mobility show earlier this week, and what a show it was. The European motorshow is back with a bang. Here are my five key take-aways: Rise of the small EV: Favourable market conditions and demand for low-cost EVs, lead to an abundance of great-looking all-electric hatchbacks. VW’s […]