The inaugural Outstanding Social Work Awards 2026 (OSWA), organised by the Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW), was not a typical consumer campaign.
There was no product, no launch moment, and no advertising spend behind it. What it had was a story worth telling: five teams of social workers doing exceptional work with hidden youth, seniors living with dementia, and survivors of domestic violence. The communications challenge was to give that story the reach and resonance it deserved, across a media landscape that needed to be engaged in four languages, not one.
The strategy was built around getting the story into circulation before the event, not on the day of it. Award recipients were placed with media weeks ahead of Social Work Day, with four long-form CNA938 broadcast segments secured in the lead-up period, each running 15 to 18 minutes. These were not soundbites. They gave social workers room to speak substantively about their practice, building public familiarity with the profession and the individuals being recognised before the ceremony took place.
By event day, coverage was already running across Channel 8, Channel 5, Suria, and Vasantham on broadcast, with The Straits Times carrying a double-page spread, and Lianhe Zaobao, Berita Harian, and Tamil Murasu all covering the event in print and online, reflecting a deliberate effort to engage Singapore's full multilingual media ecosystem. Tailored pitching and interview facilitation across each outlet made the difference.
The campaign closed with 59 pieces of coverage reaching a combined audience of over 73.4 million, a PR value of $$2,029,970, and an AVE of $676,657 (and counting!). For a campaign with no paid media behind it, the results reflect what a well-structured PR strategy, timed correctly and pitched with precision, can achieve.
Planning a corporate PR or public affairs campaign in Singapore? Mad Hat Asia works with organisations across the public, private, and non-profit sectors to build media strategies that generate real coverage and measurable impact.
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