Publicity Club of Chicago Recognizes Five Golden Trumpet Winners with Special Awards
While the annual Gold Trumpet Awards recognizes the outstanding achievements of Chicago area public relation professionals, five award winners receive special recognition with PCC's top awards. All the awards were presented during PCC's 58th Annual Golden Trumpets Awards dinner on June 1, 2017 at the Palmer House Hilton.
Winning the Elynore Dolkart Meserow Creativity Award - given for exceptional creativity in public relations programs - was presented to Zapwater Communications, Inc. for their "The Windy City Welcomes Icelandair" Golden Trumpet winner.
Returning to Chicago after more than 20 years, Icelandair retained Zapwater to plan and execute the launch of non-stop service between Chicago and Reykjavik. The campaign generated more than 10 million media impressions, highlighted by an ABC 7 Chicago "Windy City Live" contest and a media breakfast that drew large crowds.
Receiving the Edwin J. Shaughnessy Quality of Life Award, which recognizes the foremost contribution to improving quality of life in our society through public relations, was awarded to Pubic Communications Inc.(PCI) and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago for their winning entry: "Voices for the Vulnerable"
PCI and AIDS Foundation of Chicago used media relations to advocate for Illinois's most vulnerable populations during the state budget crisis. The challenge was to ensure that Illinois' tax budget would continue to provide funds to provide care for people with HIV and transgender citizens. The campaign successfully secured $500,000 in emergency funding and greatly raised awareness about AIDS and transgender citizens.
The Buell Patterson Technology Award, named for the visionary founder of the Publicity Club of Chicago, and recognizes the creative use of technology to build a brand, save a reputation or publicize a product, was awarded to Cramer-Krasselt, for their winning entry: "Knott's Instagram World Excites Fans."
Cramer-Krasselt developed a summer-long Instagram experience that built buzz surrounding the 75th Anniversary of Ghost Town, educated on the park's history and demonstrated in-park experiences. As a result of the campaign, attendance increased by four percent, Knott's Instagram page grew by more than 12 percent and the campaign generated nearly 2 million social impressions.
The Jeffrey D. Bierig Brand Builder Award, which is named in memory of a distinguished, two-time past president of the Publicity Club of Chicago, a valued board member and long-time member who served our organization and our profession well, was awarded for the best branding of a product or service to Zeno Group for its "Turtle Wax eSports Campaign."
As Turtle Wax's sales plateaued and consumers aged out of the category, they needed a way to engage the next generation of car care enthusiasts. With competitors taking the route of racing and auto show sponsorships, Zeno identified a partnership that tied to the brand's core pillars. Turtle Wax joined popular eSports team OpTic Gaming for a content-driven campaign that resulted in increased awareness with Millennials, resulting in a 4-percent growth in sales across products.
PCC's top prize, the Platinum Award, recognized 2017's best overall public relations program. The award went to the Chicago Cubs for their winning entry: "#FlyTheW: Cubs are World Series Champs." Chicago Cubs players, fans, media and celebrities were excited to "Hashtag FlyTheW" across the world en-route to the team's most incredible "W" in franchise history: Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. With a postseason campaign, Chicago Cubs' public relations goal was to drive broad participation from fans, media and players to supplement the exciting action taking place on the field. "Hashtag Fly The W" was used more than 3 million times on Twitter, and 213,800 times on Instagram. Social media generated more than a half billion total impressions and 13.9 million total engagements.