The awards reward effectiveness and excellence across all sectors of the sponsorship industry.

The honour for Williams (pictured below, alongside Sir Philip Craven, International Paralympic Committee President, and Mandeville, the Official Mascot of the London 2012 Paralympics) is a major boost for BT, the Official Communications Services Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

But the group marketing and brand director believes the accolade serves as recognition that some of the company's more aggressive advertising strategies adopted for the Games have been successful.

"Throughout our sponsorship of London 2012 we have always tried to take a lead, and be a little bit different and more adventurous in all of our campaigns," Williams told insidethegames.

"Even though we have sometimes taken a lot of risks in what we have done, we have tried to be brave.

"An award like this is nice because it shows that we were right to back our judgement and avoid going down the obvious route all the time."

Williams highlighted the Paralympic Games as something the telecommunications giant has approached differently compared to many other sponsors; the company is recognised as one of the biggest Paralympic supporters among all the London 2012 Partners.


BT, whose commitment to the Paralympic Movement stretches back over 20 years, is entering its fourth year as title sponsor of the Paralympic World Cup.

"Our sponsorship of the Paralympics gives us real integrity as a brand and has allowed us to build some fantastic relationships along the way," said Williams.

"We have always seen it as a hugely important event and that is illustrated by the BT Paralympic World Cup.

"The World Cup this year will be one of the biggest things we do in terms of our sponsorship ahead of the Games.

"The Paralympics has also been cost effective for us and the relationships we have built up will last for a very long time."

Williams added that BT is now stepping up all its London 2012 campaigns to ensure it enjoys a big presence at the Games.

"We will have lots of things going on up to and including the Games, including BT London Live at Hyde Park and Victoria Park, that will allow spectators to watch the Games for free," she said.

"But the Games will be particularly important for us because they will be the culmination of a long journey for us.

"It's our job to help make London 2012 the most connected Games ever, and during the Games our communications networks will carry every official image, every sports report and millions of calls, emails and texts."

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