KARACHI – Asiatic Public Relations Network (Pvt.) Ltd – APR, one of the oldest and most experienced PR agencies in Pakistan, was shortlisted for the prestigious Gold Standard Awards 2019, in the Issues Management and Crisis Communications category. APR is the only agency from Pakistan which was short-listed in any of the categories for the 2019 Awards.
Organised by Hong Kong based organization, Public Affairs Asia, Gold Standard Awards are held annually to recognize the best public relations practitioners across the region, which include achievements by agencies, corporations, NGOs and governmental agencies across 25 categories. More than one hundred of the region’s most senior practitioners form the jury, to first shortlist entries and then to select the final winners, out of more than 250 entries that were received from countries all over Asia-Pacific.
Sharing his thoughts on this distinction, Zohare Ali Shariff, CEO of Asiatic Public Relations Network (Pvt.) Ltd stated
“Being shortlisted is indeed a singular honor, not only for our agency but also for Pakistan, even if we finally are not declared as the category winner. This is international recognition that is merit-based and transparent and not one of those pay-to-win award schemes which seem to have proliferated in recent times. Issues and crisis management and communications is one of our greatest strengths, and this area of public relations has assumed even greater importance these days with the COVID-19 global crisis, which has deeply impacted businesses.”
Previously APR was the winner of the Social Media Campaign category, of the 2016 Gold SABRE Awards South Asia, for its entry: The Coca-Cola Book Bank, a unique PR activity conceived and executed by the agency for its client, Coca-Cola Pakistan, and which targeted collecting donation of books from the public, to be given over to students of schools operated by The Citizens Foundation (TCF) and other NGOs for less privileged children. The campaign was actively promoted on the social media and had received an overwhelming response.
Established 28 years ago in 1992, APR had emerged as a sister concern of Asiatic Advertising (now JWT Pakistan), one of the pioneers of the advertising industry in the country. Today APR is one of the largest and most experienced PR agencies in the country, affiliated with the global PR firm, Hill + Knowlton Strategies. It has offices in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, and representatives in Quetta, Multan and Peshawar. APR is the retainer PR agency of some 16 leading national and multinational companies and non-profit organizations, active in diverse fields like food & beverages, communications and technology, chemicals and fertilizers, banking and insurance, transportation and aviation a and retail trade and online marketplace. Its latest retainer client is Facebook.
