Teams from APRR's digital marketing department and from TBWA Corporate (the PR agency that advises the Eiffage Group on social media matters) attended the TopCom awards ceremony in Paris on Thursday 14th February, where they received the 2019 TopCom d'Or award in the "Social media advertising" category, for the summer web campaign against pet abandonment (#Aprrcontrelabandon) run for the second consecutive year in partnership with the animal welfare charity, SPA. 
Antoine Gache, Head of Partnerships at SPA, was also on stage to collect this award.
 
A tough oral on the road to Gold
The TopCom Corporate Business Grand Prix Awards highlight current trends in marketing aimed at promoting a company's image among the general public or promoting its brand and products to a professional audience.
As the #Aprrcontrelabandon campaign (1) had already been frequently noticed and mentioned by the specialist online press and prominent opinion leaders, the decision was made to enter the "Social media advertising" category.
Upon being shortlisted for a TopCom award, APRR and TBWA were invited to provide additional information, and in mid-February gave an oral presentation of the campaign to a panel of judges.
They focussed on the creative flair and runaway success of the campaign, which featured a dog named Emmylou in a short film that garnered more than four million views and was shared nearly 130,000 times on the web, unlocking a donation of €40,000 to the SPA.
APRR handed over the cheque to the SPA in person, at a refuge in the Paris region in October 2018.
 
APRR already had a Gold award from late 2018
TopCom awards are presented in recognition of the year's best communication initiatives, in around 30 different categories. The judging panels are made up of experts and professionals working in marketing, communication and HR departments. This year, would it be gold, silver or bronze for APRR/TBWA/SPA?
The answer was gold, matching the COM-ENT award presented to APRR last year, acknowledging the company's 2018 "Road of Likes" internal advocacy programme for APRR and AREA employees.