Next in a Series on Award Winning Programs from the 2010 PRSA Del Oro Awards
Award Recipient of La Plata Award of Excellence – Marketing Consumer Services
Award Recipient of La Plata Award of Excellence – Multicultural Communications Campaign
Public relations professional Deborah Charnes of Bromley Communications is a well known name in the Del Oro circle. Every year, she’s the first to submit her entries, which arrive long before the competition’s deadlines. And, her entries always win the coveted Award of Excellence.
This year, her “¡Sí! Western Union Helps Make Dreams Come True” campaign was the competition’s highest scoring entry with 98.5 out of 100 possible points.
How does she do it?
“You can have stellar execution, but if there are no quantifiable results to meet or surpass the communications objectives, then you’ve missed the mark,” says Charnes.
For more than 12 years, Bromley communicators have worked with Western Union to produce a number of extremely successful campaigns.
As the 2009 banking and real estate collapse was top of mind among consumers in the U.S. and abroad, Western Union set out to depict the tremendous power and impact money transfers have in the lives of people around the world. In collaboration with Bromley, the global money transfer giant partnered with a popular Hispanic TV personality, Ana Maria Canseco, to tour the country and capture human interest Western Union testimonials, reality-style.
Across six cities, in six weekends, brand ambassadors completed 800 consumer intercepts and Canseco conducted 33 media interviews, which generated 59.41 million impressions via 707 placements.
In NYC alone, Bromley and Canseco conducted 10 interviews in one half-day period, generating 30 placements. The agency obtained 22 video testimonials, 11 Mother’s Day testimonials and 165 contest entries in the Bronx and Queens.
In Los Angeles, Bromley and Canseco completed nine interviews in one half-day session, resulting in more than 40 placements. In addition, it recorded 14 consumer stories at retail venues, part of the campaign’s objectives.
“Western Union has very unique needs which make for more challenging campaign development. At the same time, the company understands that PR is not just about publicity,” says Charnes. “We have to connect with the consumer, in and around where the consumer interacts, and in a manner that is relevant and appropriate to the consumer.”
The next time you evaluate your Del Oro entry, ask yourself if your write-up includes results that show you met your goals. If so, you probably have a winner. After all, the proof is in the pudding.
By Christi Fish, a PRSA San Antonio Board Member and a Public Affairs Specialist at The University of Texas at San Antonio
