 Photo: Sharlene Spingler |
Ketchum and client Tourism Australia took home PR "Best in Show" honors at the annual Adrian Awards of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association Feb. 23 in New York.
The "Reporting on OZ:CorOZpondents" campaign gathered bloggers and other social "influencers" in areas like travel, food & wine and golf to cover Australian adventures as correspondents. "Oz" is a colloquial term for Australian.
HSMAI gave Destination Cleveland and its agency, MMGY Global, advertising Best in Show honors for its re-brand of the city's marketing, while Red Roof Inn and 360i won top honors for digital marketing for a data-crunching campaign that saw the hotel chain reach out to stranded travelers.
 Lou Hammond and Ken Fischang, President & CEO, Sonoma County Tourism Bureau, celebrating a Gold Adrian win. |
HSMAI, which carried an "Adrian in Wonderland" theme for the event, handed out 130 PR Adrians, along with 46 in advertising and 87 in digital marketing. Ten of the highest PR honors, Platinum Adrians, were awarded.
They included:
AKA - Ballentines PR and Quinn
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection - Mardiks PR
Destination Quebec - DQMPR
Embassy Suites Omaha - La Vista Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau - Current Lifestyle Marketing
Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C. - Laura Davidson PR
MCA Namibia/Namibia Tourism Board - Development Counsellors Int'l
Premier Rail Collection - Lou Hammond & Associates
The Cayman Islands Dept. of Tourism - Mfa Ltd.
Tourism Australia - Ketchum
Visit St. Pete/Clearwater - Paradise Advertising, Digital and Entertainment.
Geoffrey Weill, president of travel PR shop WEILL, was given the Winthrop W. Grice Award for lifetime achievement in PR. Weill noted his three "great passions" growing up in London - hotels and travel, Israel and New York. "And I have been so incredibly fortunate to have been able to forge a life and a career that encompasses all three," he said.
Hilton Hotels president/CEO Christoper Nassetta received HSMAI's Koehl Award for lifetime achievement in hospitality marketing.
Full list of Adrian winners is at adrianawards.com.
HSMAI said nearly 1,000 attended the event at the New York Marriott Marquis.
BerlinRosen was named Observer’s #1 Best PR Firm in America for the second time, which no agency has ever done.
M Booth and Carmichael Lynch Relate came out on top at the 2018 PRSA-NY Big Apple Awards, which were held on June 11 at the Mandarin Oriental in New York.
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