Break the Ice Media’s PR Campaigns were a WIN-ter at the 2017 PRism Awards
Last night we celebrated winter in the middle of June, winning a PRism and two Awards of Excellence for Break the Ice Media’s PR campaigns. It was a day that was all about celebrating- the team, all our hard work from the past year, and one of the most unique campaigns we’ve ever worked on.
Last night was the 2017 PRism Awards, an annual awards show hosted by the Public Relations Society of America, Rochester Chapter. We look forward to this event every year as a chance to be inspired by some of the best and most creative minds in Rochester- and to show off a little.
Break The Ice Media’s PR Campaigns: Visit Syracuse
We were first recognized with a PRism and an Award of Excellence for our work on the Visit Syracuse “Official Home of Winter” Campaign. Visit Syracuse hired Nicole Mahoney and Break the Ice Media in mid-2016 to create a campaign that encouraged travelers to visit Syracuse, N.Y. in the “off-season”, typically known as winter. Through a lot of hard work and creative thinking, the “Official Home of Winter” campaign was born. We helped Syracuse take ownership of the snowy season, and invite “Winter” the character to move to Central New York and call the city his home.
The Break the Ice Media team led the winter campaign throughout the 2016-2017 season, creating the “Winter Needs a Home” video series introducing the notorious season. We also hosted a “Winter Welcome Rally” and press conference to welcome our new celebrity home, and managed his press outreach through social channels and an online blog.
On February 2, 2017, Winter and his entourage (a significantly colder Break the Ice Media team) took to the roads to “hack” Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, PA – cheering on the groundhog for six more weeks of winter and drawing national and international attention for the city of Syracuse, N.Y.
The freezing Pennsylvania weather and early morning drive to see Phil was worth it. Our team won a PRism award for the Groundhog Day stunt. We also took home an Award of Excellence for the welcome rally and press conference, gaining recognition for the creativity and excellence in Public Relations shown throughout the campaign.
Break The Ice Media’s PR Campaigns: Cayuga County Office of Tourism
But it wasn’t all about winter- we work all four seasons!
We took home our third recognition of the night – an Award of Excellence – for the Cayuga Group Tours Marketing Newsletter. For last five years, Break the Ice Media has managed a group tourism program for the Cayuga County Office of Tourism, with the goal of bringing tour operators and groups into the area to experience this destination. The program includes attending tradeshows, lead development and sales, and relationship building through our now award-winning group tours newsletter.
If you want to hear more about how we did it, check out Nicole Mahoney’s blog “Changing Perceptions and Moving the Needle – A Destination Marketing Case Study” or Rhonda Vaccaro’s blog on “Relationship-Building Through E-Newsletters.