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Page 6 of 7 Background to the Public Sector 100
How-Do would also like to thank our outstanding panel of judges, which had the challenging task of reducing the list to 100 and then choosing which of the 30 in its collective view, merited ranked inclusion at the top of the regional tree – so to speak. A task made more difficult by the relative lack of information about many of the individuals when compared to their communications and marketing peers working in the private sector who typically enjoy a much higher profile.
For the record, our judges unanimously reported that the task of judging was both enjoyable and informative. The judging panel comprised both acclaimed private sector marketing folk and two well-known professors with a keen interest in matters communications. Two of these judges, Messrs Jones and Hayes, were ranked in the top ten of How-Do’s inaugural Top 100 Marketers last year.
This list of communications professionals is long overdue and to the best of our knowledge, such a compilation of top public sector marketers and communicators has never before been undertaken in the North West.
How-Do's Top 100 Marketers and Media 100 features have proved enduringly popular with our readers but both are focused on the private sector and given the scale and importance of the public sector's activities in the region, this new initiative allows us to highlight the contribution that their communications professionals add to the regional economy.
From regional government, major health authorities and housing associations to academic institutions, national bodies based in the region and substantial not-for-profit organisations, the North West is home to thousands of professionals who collectively manage media and promotional budgets running into hundreds of millions of pounds.
Where and how well they spend it matters.
In February, when we announced this initiative, we called for nominations and our in-box rapidly filled up with names both familiar and unfamiliar to us. No doubt, we have missed out on several notable communicators and it will be interesting to see how this listing develops over coming years.
How-Do’s Top 100 Marketers 2009, which is due for publication in mid July, has seen a change of almost a third in its composition this year – and it’s likely the Public Sector 100 next year will also see many additions…and deletions. How-Do also would like to point out that in several cases, folk who don't necessarily head up their departments have been included to the detriment of their 'bosses'. This quickly became evident when our researchers began fact-finding. It seems that a number of our readers feel that many key comms folk deliver more than some of those they report to... Judging criteria
Such compilations of individuals are neither an art nor a science – but the results over the course of this week will surely confirm that this compilation was worth the effort.
In addition to the perceived contribution the nominated candidates make to their organisations within the region, the judges considered were looking at a number of challenging criteria – these included:
• Creating and/or managing outstanding marketing communications campaigns
• Delivering best value for money campaigns
• Level of innovation
• Level of influence – in the region and beyond
• Most inspiring Click next page for information on our judging panel
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