What winning an award means for your brand

Last Tuesday Team Brand by Me went to the PRECIOUS Lifestyle Awards.  These awards celebrate the achievements of women of colour in the creative industries.  It was an amazing and inspiring evening. We previously wrote a blog post about our own award wins  and what they meant to us, so after witnessing the joy and celebrations of winners and nominees alike, here’s our team take on what awards mean for a brand.

 

For Collette, winning an award means…RECOGNITION

Running a business is tough.  Climbing your way up the corporate ladder is tough.  Especially if you’re a woman. And even more so if you’re a woman of colour. Or anyone who’s face doesn’t fit the mould.  Or if you’re trying to do something differently or create long term change. That’s why winning or being nominated for an award is so special.  Because it feels incredible to have your efforts recognised by people outside of your day to day, by experts in their fields and by people who have no vested interest or agenda (obviously depending on the award!).  Awards are both validation of and vindication of the tireless work that has gone into your work, your product, your project and of course, your brand. If you have a team, they will share in this achievement. If you have clients or customers, they will enjoy and celebrate your recognition (and the halo effect on them – after all, they recognised you first!). Because even though people seldom create brands for the recognition, it’s really important that we recognise and acknowledge the great work and immense effort that goes into building them.  

 

For Danielle, winning an award means…VISIBILITY

It was amazing seeing brilliant, black female business owners being awarded and recognised for their equally as brilliant brands. As Tamu Thomas, founder of Three Sixty Conversations and the winner of Podcast of the Year said: “Black business women are renaissance women, they do everything”. 

And it’s true! Business owners appear to be superhuman. They do everything when it comes to running and building a successful brand. Social media? Check. Admin? Check. Business development? Check. Early morning meetings followed by evening networking? Check. ALL OF THE WORK. And they do this on top of living and surviving life. It is  tough and it is gruelling. So it must be really special to be acknowledged for the long hours and hard work you put in to make your business the best it can be. Winning an award means more visibility and a larger reach for your brand. It’s one thing for you to know how great your brand is, it’s another for the world world to feel the same towards it too. 

 

For Aidan, winning an award means… TAKING UP SPACE

For a brand, especially a young one, one run by a womxn of colour, and or one that’s purpose is centring on womxn of colour, taking up space is not something afforded to them. And that was and is the remarkable thing that Foluke & PRECIOUS Awards have done and continue to do.

When your brand celebrates and priorities the identities that exist on the margins of society you are rarely given permission to take up space, and it’s in that space that you have the chance to recognise the power of your work, to validate the time and energy that work took, and encourages you to continue on the journey forward in that work. And in welcoming all of these nominees to commune in a room of their peers, their fellow entrepreneurs, that is the magic that transpires.

I hope that everyone, both nominees and winners left with a sense of being seen, heard, and appreciated in their endeavours and inspired to continue creating change on a micro and macro level. That is truly where the power lies.

 

Find out more about the PRECIOUS awards here. And if you’d like to work with an award-winning consultancy to drive the visibility of your organisation and build a brand worthy of recognition that creates change, then get in touch.