Weber Shandwick wins 'Agency of the Year' & 'Multicultural Communications' recognition at annual European Excellence Awards

Weber Shandwick has been honoured at this year’s annual European Excellence Awards, held in Vienna last week, for its multicultural communications work with UK Government Agency, the Equality & Human Rights Commission.

MCC, Weber Shandwick’s specialist multi-cultural communications practice, was recognised as ‘Multicultural Communication’ category winner for the 2009 Muslim Women Power List campaign. The campaign, which saw the creation of the first-ever dedicated Muslim Women Power List, championed the achievements of professional British Muslim women across the UK and challenged prejudices about the Muslim community in the wider society.

Weber Shandwick was also named “Agency of the Year” at the ceremony and is now the only PR agency to have received the European Excellence ‘Agency of the Year’ accolade and to have been named ‘International Consultancy of the Year’ by both the PRCA and UK PRWeek within the same year.

Colin Byrne, Weber Shandwick’s UK & European CEO, commented: “I’m delighted with our success at this year’s European Excellence Awards. 2009 has been a strong year for Weber Shandwick in the government and public sector and MCC’s stellar performance this year is evidence of the importance of multi-cultural communications and specifically in the government and the wider public sector.”

He continued: “This has been nothing short of a spectacular year for all of us here at Weber Shandwick, particularly in this challenging economic environment. To be recognised as ‘Agency of the Year’ by the European Excellence Awards committee and ‘International Consultancy of the Year’ by two of the UK’s most prestigious public relations organisations, within the same year, is a real testament to the dedication of our employees across our local, regional and global network.”

Rakhee Vithlani, Head of Multi-Cultural Communications (MCC) at Weber Shandwick, added: “Winning an award like this feels fantastic and I'm very proud of the work the team put in to achieve it. Multi-cultural communications is such an important part of campaigns nowadays and it’s great to see the industry recognising that."

These awards continue to build on Weber Shandwick’s remarkable global award success in 2009, which includes a PRWeek UK Global Agency Report Card gold medal, a Cannes Lion award and an IPRA Golden World award.