A Christmas message from Ann-Marie O’Sullivan, Chief Executive, AM O’Sullivan PR
As we near the end of 2020 and begin our preparations for Christmas, it is a good time to reflect on what has been a challenging but successful year at AM O’Sullivan PR. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support during the year. 2020 has brought significant challenges for all of us. However, we can look forward to 2021 with a renewed sense of hope, following a year that brought a lot of firsts (positive and negative) and an important strengthening of relationships between ourselves and our clients, suppliers and business contacts. I think it’s fair to say that we have all demonstrated significant innovation and resilience as a result of the pandemic!
Adapting to clients’ needs during 2020
From our perspective, 2020 was a year which presented new challenges to the way we work. How we met clients’ needs changed this year as we adapted to working from home and the various Government restrictions. Against the backdrop of the global pandemic, we worked with our clients to find new ways to maintain our high standards of service, while responding effectively to our clients’ changing needs. Many of you will be familiar with our COVID-19 Digest which we have been sharing since March.
This year we saw a much stronger focus on internal communications, with an increased demand for employee engagement surveys. We supported new, creative and safe ways to host virtual all-hands meetings and town halls, ensuring that the transition for clients from physical to virtual events, meetings, and conferences was as seamless as possible. Crucially, we developed new ways of creating engaging content that would resonate with our clients’ stakeholders in a changing world.
It’s worth noting that we have been truly inspired by the resilience of our clients this year, many of whom are classified as essential service providers. While 2020 was a year of unprecedented change for everybody, their critical supply chains needed to, and did, continue to operate without disruption. This involved a lot of modification internally to the way they work, under significant time and logistical constraints.
Expanding our team
Despite the impact of COVID-19, the AM O’Sullivan PR team continued to grow in 2020, with the addition of two new team members. In July, Sadhbh Sullivan joined us as a Junior Account Executive and in October, Aileen McCormack joined as our new Office Manager. We’re also in the process of recruiting a new Account Manager to support our strategic communications offering.
Awards and recognition
In June, AM O’Sullivan PR proudly accepted the inaugural PRCA Agency of the Year award (1-10 employees). The criteria for this award assessed the work that the consultancy had done over the past year, evaluating our growth, campaigns and dedication to education and improvement. Given the calibre of the competition in the category, we were honoured to receive the award.
In July, I was delighted to be recognised as a ‘Thought Leader in Communications’ by the All-Ireland Business Foundation. The All-Ireland Business Foundation accredits Best-in-Class Irish businesses as Business All-Stars. This award saw us recognised as a progressive indigenous Irish business that meets the highest standards of verified performance, trust and customer centricity.
In August, as a member of IPREX, the global communications platform, we contributed to an international report which analysed the communication strategies of 14 countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a truly worldwide effort, which saw agencies across 14 countries collaborate to produce a significant piece of analysis, entitled What’s Working To Calm Hearts Worldwide.
Finally, I’m delighted to let you know that last week, following a unanimous vote at the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) AGM, I was awarded the title of Life Fellow. Life Fellows have, by example, championed the highest standards and implementation of the profession and this is the highest honour that the PRII can bestow on a member. This honour is a recognition of the standards that we set at AM O’Sullivan PR – to deliver results, consistently exceed targets and execute campaigns with integrity, creativity and professionalism.
Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2021
As 2020 comes to an end, and we all look forward to a much-needed break over Christmas, I am very conscious that charities are particularly stretched this year. We will be making a donation to Good Shepherd Cork who support women and children who are homeless in Cork. If you would also like to support their critical work, you can do so at www.goodshepherdcork.ie/make-a-donation.
Please note that our offices will close on Wednesday, December 23rd 2020, and will reopen on Monday, January 4th, 2021 at 9am.
In conclusion, I’d like to wish you and yours a very happy and healthy Christmas and a prosperous 2021.
Best regards,
