When your brand is all about nutrition and health, it helps if the company’s founder and president celebrates his 90^th birthday with no signs of slowing down.

Bob’s Red Mill makes muesli and other healthful foods, and Bob Moore himself is a vibrant force in that Oregon-based company. Maxwell PR seized the opportunity and launched “Portraits of Longevity,” a digital campaign inviting fans to nominate an elder in their lives who has defied the odds of aging to make a lasting impact.

Th contest raised awareness for Bob’s Red Mill. The goal was 100 entries; it drew 720. Minimum age for nominees was 65; most were 80-plus, with numerous entries over 100. More than two-thirds of entrants submitted a photo.

There were more than 32,000 website visits, and 8.7 million total impressions.

Additionally, the company doubled its number of prize winners, from 10 to 20, based on the wealth of inspiring stories it received.

The grand prize winner, 97-year-old Masao Inada, endured internment camps during World War II yet retained his optimism and benevolence. (The prize money bought him a nifty big-screen TV when he turned 98.)

Pandemic or no, parents prioritize their kids’ well-being and often do extensive online research to learn the essentials.

With that in mind, Children’s Health stepped up its already-impressive information game, educating consumers through a content marketing campaign.  

Its key objectives included:
• Increase organic web traffic through SEO to ensure users find reliable medical information when they need it most.
• Establish Children’s Health as a reliable expert for online information, rivaling WebMD and other major pediatric hospitals’ sites.
• Develop unique, data-informed, accessible content that users would engage with for longer periods of time.

To those ends, the team devised a multi-layered strategy to achieve organic growth to childrens.com: 

• Plan content around trending, seasonal topics that consumers are actively seeking.
• Always keep the mobile user in mind, because 70% of visitors to the Health & Wellness library come from a phone.
• Implement SEO best practices to increase first-page search result rankings and top of page Google featured snippet/answer box placements.

As a result:
• In 2019, the content team produced 119 new pieces of health and wellness content, resulting in a +292% year-over-year increase in organic traffic.
• It gained 315 Google “top result” placements for that content, an increase of 389% year over year.
• In 2019, the Children’s Health & Wellness Library received more than 1 million pageviews—up from fewer than 250,000 in 2017.
• Engagement on childrens.com also dramatically increased. The content team found users spent much more time with content, rising from 2 minutes 35 seconds in 2018, to 3 minutes 47 seconds in 2019.

Creating one unified identify for all of internal medicine can be a challenge.

Internal medicine includes both doctors who are primary care physicians for adults and subspecialists such as gastroenterologists and cardiologists, so the American College of Physicians (ACP) created the “I.M. Proud” initiative to help its various members celebrate their profession, show pride in being an internist, and promote internal medicine as a career.

The campaign tapped multiple channels, including emails, newsletters, websites, search engine marketing and social media (with the hashtag #IMProud).

Among its multiple successes—and following ACP’s comprehensive social media campaign began to build excitement—during the targeted week in October 2019, ACP’s National Internal Medicine Day webpage saw 3,500 total downloads:

• Static poster downloads: 857
• Customizable poster downloads: 711
• Timeline downloads: 638
• Social media copy downloads: 812

Influential internists information downloads: 513

Even as a pandemic rages, climate change remains an existential threat to planet Earth.

Mars (parent of well-known food brands such as Snickers and Uncle Ben’s) teamed with Weber Shandwick to launch the #PledgeForPlanet campaign to raise awareness of climate change, especially among younger consumers.

Campaign team members enlisted social media influencers, as well as artist Steven Harrington, who went to New York City’s Bryant Park to create a large, striking artwork depicting coral reefs, renewable electricity and education.

The campaign met its lofty engagement goals:

• There were 890 million total impressions, 360% of the goal. 
• It saw 5.2 million engagements across owned and partner content.
• It published 68 Instagram stories posts spanning owned, media, celebrity and influencer partner channels.
• Coverage had 100% positive sentiment. 
• Media highlights included the print edition of The Wall Street Journal, Financial Time’s, Cheddar, CNN Climate and marketing and sustainability trade titles.

Milestones offer great opportunities to strut your stuff.

Celebrating Sandia National Labs’ 70^th birthday, its digital communications team shared its history through engaging, creative and informative content using social media and other online channels.

In addition to sharing historical facts, the campaign aimed to accomplish broader, strategic goals: 

• Public relations. It boosted awareness and the positive perception of Sandia’s image, work and community relations, as well as building upon Sandia’s reputation of providing “exceptional service in the national interest.”
  • Recruiting. Social media enables Sandia to create brand awareness and connect with prospective employees, especially those under 35. 
  • Issue education. Sandia uses online platforms to put forth experts to engage with audiences and showcase their knowledge.

Significant results include:

• Social media posts: 105
• Social media impressions: 1,000,000-plus
• Social media engagements: 24,500-plus
• New followers: 16,000-plus (nearly 10% growth)

Sometimes you want to hook a fish, and sometimes you want to hook seafood consumers.

Dish on Fish sought to expand its web presence, engaging consumers and providing inspiration for people to enjoy seafood. The campaign, developed by Butin Integrated Communications, featured an eponymous blog by nutrition expert Rima Kleiner, supported on social media and with original recipes.

The campaign had three major goals:

• Capture audience members to drive interest and purchase intent.
• Ensure engagement throughout the campaign.
• Generate awareness for campaign messages.

A key component of the blog: new, step-by-step recipes, providing visual cues along with how-to information. In short, making consumers hungry for mouth-watering seafood.

Results were significant.  It:

• Generated 410,455 online engagements, with a low CPE of $00.45 for the overall campaign.
  • Drove 207,095 web sessions and 285,127 annual pageviews.
  • Generated nearly 174 million campaign impressions from social media and earned media efforts.
  • Secured 1,300-plus search engine rankings for DishonFish.com. 

Even when delivering the hard numbers of an annual report, your best bet is a compelling story.

Chartwell Agency worked closely with Beloit Health System to emphasize Beloit’s 50th anniversary, focusing on Deb, whose life story, “A Lifetime of Care,” weaves directly into the health system’s narrative.

Deb was born at the hospital the year it opened, she delivered her children in the Family Care Center, her father was treated at Hendricks Heart Hospital, and her mom received care at Beloit/UW Cancer Center. Deb herself is a nurse in the hospital, as is her daughter.

The team used photo shoots, a video series and graphic design elements to create a through line intertwining the hospital’s half century of care with the patient experience.

The annual report design was so well-received that its elements were replicated throughout the year for other 50th anniversary promotional materials. 

A century of innovation, especially on a global scale, is certainly cause for celebration.

The Victaulic marketing team optimized its centennial, underscoring the company’s technological contributions to landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, Hoover Dam and Petronas Towers. A corporate video, “This is Victaulic,” complemented a detailed timeline the team developed to highlight a century of milestones.

Yet the year was not dedicated solely to that notable birthday. For its multiple successes in 2019, Victaulic richly deserves its designation as a Ragan and PR Daily Marketing Team of the Year (1-9 People).

Its media relations efforts netted Forbes.com coverage, including interviews with Victaulic’s CEO and VP.

On the CSR front, the team highlighted Victaulic’s dedication to engaging, inspiring and preparing the next generation of STEM professionals, including ABC’s third annual “Let’s Build” construction camp for young women.

Congratulations to team members Megan Longenderfer, Keela Vincent, Courtney Cuvo, Jonathan Rex, Carla Derck and Makayla Trittenbach.

Two disparate PR campaigns stand out for Tampa General Hospital—one involving a high-tech workspace, the other a selfless act of humanity.

For telling these stories, communicators at Tampa General Hospital are a Ragan and PR Daily Public Relations Team of the Year (1-9 People).

The team showed that CareComm, often likened to a NASA-style “mission control” center, is more than just a room with dozens of computer screens—but rather an essential component of care for patients in the 1,000-bed hospital.

In the same year, a Fort Myers doctor learned her office manager had kidney disease and decided to donate a kidney to her. The surgeries would take place at Tampa General, testament to its outstanding reputation. Beyond that, the Tampa team highlighted the importance of organ donations overall—which transcends any one medical facility.

Congratulations to team members Lisa Greene, Curtis Krueger, Ellen Fiss, Daniel Wallace and Susan Shulins.

Putting people in homes can be a bit like putting a man on the moon: It requires common purpose.

Kerry McGovern, VP of communications, gathered siloed Re/Max communicators and told a story: Touring NASA, President John F. Kennedy asked a janitor what work he did. The janitor replied, “I’m here to put a man on the moon.”

Instilling that purposeful mindset—keying on direction, alignment and motivation—has been elemental to her team’s success. It’s also a prime reason Re/Max has been named a Ragan and PR Daily Communications Team of the Year (10-24 people).

McGovern’s approach, as the organization overhauled its communications structure, was to clarify and specify roles and to eradicate not only vertical silos but hierarchical barriers, as well. Morning meetings are forums for introducing objectives and discovering opportunities for collaboration.

Congratulations to team members Kerry McGovern, George White, Katharine Davis, Keith Miller, Jennifer Armbruster, Kayla Roofe, Alexis Rhein, Stephanie Visscher, Sam Rotbart, Mary-Kate Newton, Luke Graham, Leah Curtis, Laura Piscopio and Emily Gibson.

A lot can happen in a short time frame. Just ask Prudential Financial’s Enabling Solutions’ Communications Team.

For one thing, Enabling Solutions tripled in size as part of Prudential’s One Front Door initiative. The organization ballooned from 500-people—mostly salaried, full-time, in-office employees—to a 1,500-person organization, spanning three time zones, in 14 office locations. That included a spike in remote workers and seasonal or hourly employees in contact centers nationwide.

The team rolled out podcasts and animated videos, conducted monthly pulse checks and focus groups, and monitored SharePoint metrics regarding its hosted content. The annual town hall leadership meeting would have to be reinvented, too, to inform the new employee base about company objectives, in an engaging, fun, tech-forward way. Done, and done.

Congratulations to team members Lauren Jensen, Chris Repetto, Steve Hay, Jackie Lavignera, Susan Federico, Brian Dunne, Sean Gowden, Larry Small, Alexis Tosti, Kristy Drews, Daniel Neville-Rehbehn, Tania Torres-Delgado, Cliona O’Reilly and Victoria Perrin.

With a lineage dating back more than a century, the new Peraton brand needed a fresh jolt of vitality.

Along with the introduction of new leadership and an organizational realignment emerged an integrated communications team composed of three core functions: strategic communications (external and internal), marketing communications and stakeholder engagement.

Since forming in 2018, the team has launched, established and expanded the new Peraton brand, encompassing its efforts in cybersecurity, telecommunications, military technology and more. With scant brand awareness at the beginning of 2018, it has drawn 11,000-plus followers on LinkedIn, has garnered over 160 million impressions through targeted advertising, and has been named to top lists for technology innovation, revenue growth, acquisition successes and executive influence.

Congratulations to team members Matt McQueen, Ben Ingham, Melody Pleasure, Brian Wagner, Annemarie Cleary, Wendy Janus, Peyton Rowe and Matt Peluso.

Amid the company’s ongoing shift from print to digital publication, Pearson communicators have not taken their eyes off their colleagues.

Organizational change causes disruption and uncertainty, and keeping messaging consistent and the flow of information steady is a hallmark for the team—and ample reason to honor Pearson as a Ragan and PR Daily Internal Communications Team of the Year (10-24 People). 

To engage the workforce, the team highlighted a milestone—the organization’s 175th birthday, which resulted in over tens of thousands of virtual engagements and dozens of physical parties, bolstering camaraderie among employees. 

Concurrently, the team focused on direct communications with its people managers, including the Managers’ Corner newsletter. This channel helps supervisors identify key topics, so they can develop their people without sifting through endless emails.

Congratulations to team members Deirdre Latour, Christine Flores, Diana Liquori, Brandy Dawson, William Brucella, Will Keunen, Sarah Fiedler, Katelyn Barone, Sue Wynkoop, Alexa Christon, Laura Goldmeier, Buddhika Amis, Kim England, Dina Vekaria, Jo Broomfield, Amanda Murray, Carla Pinto and Jo Moon.

It’s surprising what four people can accomplish.

The PAN Communications team was in overdrive during the year, racking up achievements and earning recognition as a Ragan and PR Daily Marketing Team of the Year (1-9 people).

It published three service-oriented e-books, each focused on delivering actionable resources to clients, supporting its integrated marketing PR services, and providing resources for its sales team to use in prospect outreach.

It completed its annual Content Fitness Report, surveying 100 modern marketers on strategies and pain points, and conducted its annual CMO Predictions Campaign, surveying 19 influencers and client CMOs on their 2019 forecasts.

The team developed its NXT Stage campaign to educate and support B2B marketers seeking to propel their organizations through various stages of growth. It also created blog content, videos and press releases to support sales, HR and overall brand awareness.

Congratulations to team members Mark Nardone, Jennifer Bonney, Alyssa Tyson and Ashley Thon.

Communicators thrive when given a mission and the chance to seize the moment.

The internal communications team at MSU Federal Credit Union combined those elements in its Mission Moment campaign to promote employee support and appreciation for members.

The Mission Moment campaign began with updates to core values, design, descriptions, printed booklets with explanations, and Mission Moment cards for employees to recognize core values in action.

The team developed a dedicated intranet page—Building Dreams Together—consolidating multiple initiatives into one message. The result includes the mission statement, rotating core value icons with their definitions, strategic initiatives and their progress, organizational metrics, accomplishments, digital newsletters, core value booklets, and Mission Moment card orders.

Congratulations to team members Silvia Dimma, Julie Rosenthal, Chelsey Fether, Colleen McBride, Kendra Church and Chase Stanton.