Posts Tagged ‘Award of Excellence’

So, how do you win “Best in Show” anyway?

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

by Tyra Haag
@tyratuckerhaag

Awards programs provide a great way for a company like ours to develop its own market reputation while also putting forth our work for peer review in a competitive setting. The whole process is an excellent learning experience and a way to stay toe-to-toe with best practices.

Last month, our team walked away from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Volunteer Chapter awards with 12 Award of Excellence honors, including “Best in Show” – a first for the agency – for the 2010 Dandy Lions Holiday Media Relations Campaign.

Since that evening, I’m often asked, “So, how do you win ‘Best in Show’ anyway?” Several factors were involved, but the following summary offers a glimpse into the “who, what, where, when and why” of the campaign.

In 2006, Blount County native and “mom-trepreneur” Joy Forster Carver opened Dandy Lions, a unique gift and stationery boutique in the heart of downtown Maryville, Tenn.  Dandy Lions carries baby, wedding, graduation and holiday gifts, along with home décor and a variety of distinctive items for special occasions, including an extensive selection of local and regional stationery.

In late summer 2010, Carver enlisted the services of Mary Beth West Consulting (MBWC) to build her base of customers locally and promote her boutique on a more prominent level, specifically during the 2010 holiday season.  The goal: to increase holiday-related sales from the previous year. Carver desired to become the area’s go-to “guru” for gifts and stationery needs. 

Because this initial campaign needed to focus on awareness-building for the Dandy Lions brand in the local media market, MBWC created a list of media contacts and publications that would benefit from Carver’s expertise.

In addition to researching media contacts and holiday gift guide criteria, MBWC researched the publications’ editorial calendars to see which special sections would be a good fit to highlight various aspects of what the store and Carver herself had to offer in gift-giving trends, product ideas and party-planning tips.

The research allowed MBWC to suggest and actively pursue special sections, including regional and statewide holiday gift guides for Dandy Lions to be featured.

The local campaign was planned to emphasize Carver’s event-planning, party hosting and gift etiquette expertise while the statewide campaign emphasized some of the actual holiday product purchases available at Dandy Lions.

Due to the successful targeted media outreach strategies, MBWC was able to secure four columns placed in the Sunday section of local paper The Daily Times; four holiday gift guide features in local and statewide glossy magazines (At Home Tennessee November and December issues, Knoxville Magazine and Cityview), one feature in The Knoxville News Sentinel, two mentions in Blount Today; and one television feature on the local NBC affiliate, WBIR-TV – the area’s number-one ranked news station.

According to published circulation rates, more than 2.7 million impressions were generated by the local and statewide exposure. The goal of the media relations campaign and targeted outreach was to promote Dandy Lions on a more prominent local and statewide level during the holidays. By the end of 2010, Carver had more than doubled her sales from the previous year.  

MBWC thoroughly enjoyed working with Carver to promote her extraordinary boutique. What an honor it was for our contemporaries to recognize us for those efforts with the J. Carroll Bateman “Best in Show” award.

A host of our colleagues also received Awards of Excellence, Quality and Merit for their outstanding work in 2010. For more details about the 2011 PRSA V Awards, please visit:  http://volunteerprsa.org/content.php?page=Awards_of_Excellence.

Already, we are poised to enter strong work again for the 2012 awards program, given the results we’re generating for clients in the utility, education, travel / tourism and retail sectors, to name a few, so stay tuned!

On a final note, Dandy Lions recently unveiled a fantastic new website . Be sure to stop by the next time you’re in Maryville.

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How to Get in the White House—It Is Not Easy, But It Can Be Done!

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

By Amy Schwinge, MAOM

With several people officially either throwing their name in the hat or taking their name out of the hat for the next presidential campaign recently, the White House and who will be the next president have been on my mind lately.  The team at Mary Beth West Consulting (MBWC) had the pleasure of working on a very unique project last year – helping one of MBWC’s clients get in the White House, but politics had nothing to do with it.

In January 2010, Todd Richesin came to MBWC with a dream of being able to decorate the White House for the 2010 winter holidays.  Todd Richesin Interiors, LLC, is a full-service interior design studio that utilizes custom furniture, antiques and luxury fabrics in serving mostly residential clients with upscale home décor projects.

Following much discussion between MBWC and Richesin, MBWC began researching the volunteer selection process in order to determine how to submit Richesin for consideration as a volunteer.

After numerous hours of research, MBWC was able to determine that there actually was not a formal holiday volunteer decorator submission process in place.  The lack of a formal process made it even more difficult to determine who MBWC should contact about submitting Richesin to be considered.  After further phone calls and e-mail exchanges, it was determined that the decision maker and appropriate contact was the White House chief floral designer.

In May 2010, MBWC sent this contact a portfolio of Richesin’s work, which included a letter of introduction, copies of media clips that included his national accolades and honors, and photos of Richesin’s own home, Casa Real, decorated during the holidays.

Richesin’s work spoke for itself.  In October 2010, Richesin received notification from the White House Social Secretary Julianna Smoot that he had been selected to volunteer as a 2010 White House Holiday Decorator. On the day after Thanksgiving in November 2010, Richesin began his first day of work.  So, he made it to the White House!

For security reasons, Richesin could not discuss the details of his trip with anyone, including the media, until Dec. 3, 2010. Once that date rolled around, MBWC launched an aggressive local media campaign that included a number of local interviews, such as WBIR-TV, WATE-TV,  WIVK FM, NewsTalk Radio, The Knoxville News Sentinel, Farragut Press, West Side Shopper and The Advocate and Democrat. 

According to published circulation rates, more than 11.4 million impressions were generated by the news coverage that was secured from Richesin’s selection.  The exposure augmented Richesin’s local profile and credibility as one of the area’s most talented and sought-after decorating professionals.

Incidentally, MBWC received the Public Relations Society of America Volunteer Chapter 2011 Award of Excellence for Marketing Consumer Services for “Todd Richesin Interiors 2010 White House Holiday Decorating Campaign.”

Saying that Todd Richesin thoroughly enjoyed his decorating trip to the White House would be an understatement as he said it was simply awesome and a dream come true.  More information about Todd’s decorating trip to the White House can be found on his website:  http://toddrichesininteriors.com/

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Mary Beth West Consulting Wins Multiple Awards from Public Relations Society of America

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Maryville, Tenn. — Mary Beth West Consulting, LLC, a public relations and reputation management firm in Maryville, Tenn., won multiple top honors at the annual awards dinner of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Volunteer Chapter on April 15 at the Clayton Center for the Arts.

The event also honored Mallorie Mendence – senior account service coordinator at Mary Beth West Consulting and a Maryville native – with the PRSA Rising Young Professional Award, which recognizes an outstanding public relations professional in East Tennessee who has worked for six years or less in the field.

The agency won public relations campaign “Award of Excellence” honors in the public service category for its Blount Education Initiative Public Awareness Campaign and in the marketing consumer services—financial category for its LeConte Wealth Management Marketing Campaign.

The firm’s work producing strategic communications tools also received “Award of Excellence” honors in five areas:  non-profit media relations for the Blount Education Initiative; consumer services media relations for LeConte Wealth Management; media kit development in the service category for Todd Richesin Interiors; press conference implementation for the Blount Education Initiative; and external web site development for Blount Education Initiative.

The web site award was shared by the agency with Knoxville-based interactive firm Blue Media Boutique, which together with Mary Beth West Consulting launched Interactive Springboard in early 2010 to formalize the firms’ collaboration in online and social media strategy research, reputation management and measurement. 

In addition, Mary Beth West Consulting won four “Award of Quality” honors for several news releases and media relations campaigns.

“For me, one of the most rewarding parts of managing this firm has been building a team of professionals who share high values for producing great work that meets clients’ business objectives and also serving the public in meaningful ways,” said agency principal Mary Beth West.  “I’m proud of my team, and I’m also appreciative of the clients we’ve been privileged to serve.”

Mendence – a graduate of Maryville High School – joined Mary Beth West Consulting in December 2007, following her graduation with honors from Berry College in Rome, Ga., with a degree in public relations, as well as completion of a summer internship with Mary Beth West and other practicum experience. 

In her position with the firm, Mendence works with the account team to coordinate campaigns for agency clients.  She serves on the board of directors of Maryville City Schools Foundation and is a past board member of the Community Food Connection. 

Established in 2003 and located in the Law Building in downtown Maryville, Mary Beth West Consulting works with clients to advance their communications, relationships and reputations to meet business objectives. 

The firm’s services include integrated brand marketing communications strategies and campaigns; media, community and employee relations programs; social and interactive media strategies and program management; crisis preparedness; and special events.

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