CorpComms Magazine

Perhaps it is a little presumptuous to award the CorpComms Communications Professional of the Year award to Jackie Brock-Doyle, director of communications and public affairs for London 2012, one year ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

But, unlike the competitors, her achievements are not just about her performance on the day(s). It is been a marathon effort. London's Olympiad began the moment the Beijing Games' closing ceremony ended, but Brock-Doyle has been involved since long before that.

Indeed, she was there in 2007 when the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) sent a round robin that read: 'There are 2,065 days to go to the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games.' In fact, she has held her current role since November 2005, when her predecessor Mike Lee resigned, stepping up from the position of head of public relations and media.

It is hard to recall now but those were tumultuous times for LOCOG, with regular headlines decrying the cost of the Games, potential delays and myriad grumbles about the rationale for London as host city.

A MORI poll last year, conducted on behalf of the BBC, found that one in three Londoners were more positive about the Games than they had been in 2005, and that 73 per cent supported the choice of London as host city.

As the judges said: 'The mood has changed towards the Olympics. People are definitely more positive, and much of that has to be down to the communications. Even the anger about ticket sales appeared to disappear relatively quickly.'

Brock-Doyle's experience has certainly played a role. In the run up to the Sydney 2000 Games, she created and directed communications campaigns for both the Olympics and Paralympics, and helped create campaigns for leading sponsors that helped them leverage the opportunity.

She has also been involved with the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, the Doha 2006 Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games Federation.

'London 2012 has used its assets extremely well,' added the judges. 'Former Olympic medal winners have been used to great effect, while at the same time they have worked well with sponsors to ensure they are maximising the opportunity.'

London 2012 is the first Olympics to take place in a truly digital age. It has led to higher levels of transparency and the need to effectively manage multiple platforms. When the Olympics site was just a hole in the ground, London 2012's website posted footage of tunnelling activity and artists' impressions of the facilities.

'There have been a lot of early wins for London 2012, such as completing construction work ahead of schedule and on budget, and these have been exploited with great success,' said the judges. 'But more than that, they have managed to deliver high visibility over a prolonged period of time without fatigue setting in.'

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Shortlisted candidates

Catherine May, group director, corporate affairs, Centrica

Paddy Harverson, communications secretary, Clarence House

Philip Thomson, senior vice president of global communications, GlaxoSmithKline