LONDON — The annual Women in Marketing awards has introduced a communications category for the first time in its 10-year history, to recognise the global PR Communicator of the Year.

The category (developed with PRovoke Media, one of the media partners of the awards) has been created to recognise the important role of communications highlighted by the global pandemic.

The award is open to female PR specialists in agency or client-side, working anywhere in the world, who can showcase impactful campaigns, as well as their personal and professional achievements, leadership and their contribution to the advancement and promotion of the wider PR and communications industry.

Ade Onilude, founder and CEO of Women in Marketing (WiM), told PRovoke Media: “I wanted to recognise the importance of PR and communications within the holistic marketing world, because it’s been clear throughout Covid that communications is a hugely important factor in the world we’re now living in, as brands adapt.

“We’re looking for the women around the world who are doing innovative, next-generation work: the hidden stars.”

Other new categories introduced at this year-s awards are the Marketing Scientist award for educators, and the WiM Copywriting Award, which join existing categories recognising agency and in-house marketing leaders, and special awards including Outstanding Contribution to Marketing (Brand), last year won by Bacardi’s VP of global brand communications Lisa Jedan.

The 2020 judging panel reflects the awards’ global outlook, with judges from Europe, Asia, North and South America, and the Middle East.

They include Debbie Ellison, chief digital officer at WPP's Geometry; Prudential Assurance Singapore’s digital engagement lead Alice Yu Yuebo; Live Nation UK’s VP marketing solutions Lisa Lugo; Man Bites Dog CEO Claire Mason; Gabriela Lungu, founder of the Wings Creative Leadership Lab; and PRovoke Media’s associate editor, EMEA Maja Pawinska Sims, herself the recipient of the WiM Journalist of the Year award in 2019.

Alongside PRovoke Media, the sponsors of the 2020 WiM Awards are IPG, Intuit QuickBooks, Torstone Technology and CreativeBrief/Bite.

Details of all the WiM Awards 2020 categories and how to enter are here.