- JEDDAH: Adalid Public Relations, Jeddah based company fewer than three years old, beat off over 2,000 competitors to scoop the European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Platinum award for the best Public Relations campaign in 2011.
- At the awards ceremony held recently at Prague castle in the Czech Republic's capital, Adalid also took the Gold SABRE award for Turkey and The Middle East, Geographic Categories EMEA.
The campaign conducted by Adalid PR on behalf of Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin Sultan Al-Saud was the unanimous first choice of the SABRE judges. It was placed ahead of fellow finalists from Airbus and the UK's Good Relations; German children's charity Initiative Vermisste Kinder with fischerAppelt; the Confederation of Swedish Industry with JKL/MSL Sweden; and Unilever with Apex Porter Novelli of Kenya among others.
Commenting on the award, Saudi Ambassador to the Czech Republic Abdullah Al-Alsheikh said that it was a signal achievement as it demonstrated the talent that was available in the Kingdom. "This outstanding double win is proof positive of the fact that young Saudis are capable and completely in tune with the 21st century global industry," he said.
The world's largest awards competitions for the PR industry, the SABRE Awards celebrate PR campaigns that demonstrate the highest levels of creativity, integrity and effectiveness. A significant part of their campaign was to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest ever "Pink Ribbon" made up of thousands of volunteers who gathered in a football stadium in Jeddah last year in the record attempt.
Adalid Public Relations' Managing Director Yahya Hamidaddin described the winning campaign as a professional campaign but one that had hidden content. "The benefits reflect directly on my mother, sisters and every single woman, not only Saudi Arabia but across the world," he said. "Now the Kingdom has demonstrated that there is enough concern to establish a world record and been recognized for its efforts to bring concern over breast cancer out into the open, I am sure we can move forward in the battle to overcome this deeply distressing affliction."
Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud, campaign owner of "A Woman's Stand!" and member of the Zahra Breast Cancer Association observed that the winning campaign had brought the challenge of female breast cancer to the forefront of public awareness.
On accepting the accolade, Hamidaddin dedicated the award to Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Prince Sultan, crown prince, deputy prime minister and minister of defense and aviation, and Second Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Prince Naif. "Without their support, we simply could not have succeeded."



