Media relations is a tough job.

Telling your company or client’s story to the press—whether for a new product launch or a fast-moving crisis—is a fundamental part of many PR professionals’ jobs, yet with the media in upheaval, the task has never been more challenging.

PR Daily wanted to know how you’re confronting the challenge.

In August, we asked you to share with us how you’re telling your company or client’s stories for PR Daily’s first-ever Media Relations Awards. And you floored us. The staggering amount of entries we received revealed the myriad ways you’re handling media relations amid the historic shakeup in the media world. Nearly all the entries impressed us, but we had to cobble the number of entries to a list of finalists that really knocked our socks off.

We’re honored to share the finalists in PR Daily’s Media Relations Awards 2012.

In the coming months, we will unveil the winners on PR Daily. Just give us some time to choose them—it won’t be easy.

Congrats to the finalists, and thanks to everyone for sharing their work with us.

Best Branding or Positioning

Current Lifestyle Marketing for Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressings and Dips
Eastwick for Violin Memory
Grow Marketing for Birkenstock USA
KC Projects, LLC for Slice Pizza & Brew
M Booth for Unilever
Norwegian Cruise Line
RF|Binder for BAND-AID Brand
RF|Binder for Dunkin' Donuts

Best Crisis Communications

Spirit AeroSystems
Strategic Communications of FTI Consulting

Best Event or Stunt

Ad-diction for Autogermana MINI
Nemours Children's Hospital
Katz & Associates for The California Office of Traffic Safety
LoJack Corporation
MWW for Nikon, Inc.
RF|Binder for Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker
USA Swimming

Best Integration of PR in a Business Campaign

Bankrate, Inc.
Donath Business & Media
Genesis and Peppercomm Strategic Communications for Steelcase
Northwestern Mutual
Thornton Communications for Proffitt-Dixon Partners
Wood Group

Best Issue/Cause Advocacy Campaign

Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Luna Media Group for World AIDS Institute and Timothy Ray Brown Foundation
Peel District School Board
RF|Binder for Harlem Educational Activities Fund
Riley Children's Foundation
Saeger Media Group for Romano's Macaroni Grill

Best Online Newsroom

Cisco Systems
Florida Realtors
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Strategic America for USS IOWA

Best PR Campaign - Under $24,999

Hanson Dodge Creative
Konnect Public Relations for Babiators
NYU Langone Medical Center
Quinn & Co. Public Relations for Waldorf Astoria New York
RF|Binder for Abine
Silvera for Seniors

Best PR Campaign - $25,000-$49,999

Crosby-Volmer International Communication for CoreLogic Spatial Solutions
KC Projects, LLC for Slice Pizza & Brew
M!ke PR for Zippo Manufacturing Company
Matter Communications for Aquabotix
National Treasury Employees Union
RF|Binder for Gazelle
Strategic America for USS IOWA

Best PR Campaign - $50,000-$99,999

Child's Play Communications for Reading Rainbow
CommunicationWorks, LLC for "Generation on a Tightrope"
MGH for Reed Street Productions
Quinn & Co. Public Relations for Affinia Hotels

Best PR Campaign - $100,000+

Cantor Fitzgerald and its affiliate BGC Partners, Inc.
GYMR Public Relations for ABIM Foundation
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Ketchum for DoubleTree by Hilton
National Restaurant Association
Phillips & Company for Explore Mars
RF|Binder for Dunkin' Donuts

Best PR Innovation

Gate 7 for Visit California Australia
MWW for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Quinn & Co. for AKA
Sports Illustrated

Best Product Launch

Cathay Pacific Airways
Child's Play Communications for Reading Rainbow
Current Lifestyle Marketing for Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressings and Dips
Formula PR, Inc. for Native Union
GolinHarris Canada for McDonald's Restaurants of Canada, Ltd.
MWW for Samsung Telecommunications America
RF|Binder for BAND-AID Brand

Best Response to Breaking News

Affect for Sophos
Brownstein Group for The Graham Company
Crosby-Volmer International Communications and CoreLogic Spatial Solutions
DuPont Pioneer
Edmonton Police Service
Goodwill Industries International
Vantage Communications for Life360

Best Use of a Celebrity or Personality

Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Kaiser Permanente
MWW for Nikon Inc.
Northwestern Mutual
RF|Binder for JOHNSON'S Baby Brand
The Nature Conservancy

Best Use of Social Media

Chobani
Current Lifestyle Marketing for The Clorox Company
M Booth for The National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express
MWW for Nikon Inc.
Phillips & Company for LEGO Education
RF|Binder for Talenti Gelato e Sorbetto

Best Use of the Internet or Digital Tools

Eastwick for NetBase
M Booth for Unilever
MWW for Nikon Inc.
SAESHE for CalRecycle
U.S. Department of Labor
Union Pacific Railroad

Best Use of Video

Cisco Systems
Northwestern Mutual
Southwest Airlines
Union Pacific Railroad

Best Website

Phillips & Company for Explore Mars
SAESHE for CalRecycle
Strategic America for Wendy's
Union Pacific Railroad

Grand Prize Media Relations Campaign of the Year

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
MWW for Samsung Telecommunications America
Niagara Tourism & Convention Corporation
Sports Illustrated