University's marketing campaign receives Virginia Public Relations awards
The Richmond chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) honored Virginia Tech's "This is the Future" campaign with a bronze medallion for its microsite and a silver certificate of merit for reputation and brand management.
The Virginia Public Relations awards recognize statewide organizations and companies for excellence in public relations.
“These awards mean that Virginia Tech is creating innovative and integrated communications campaigns to showcase the institution and its research, as well as demonstrate the impact we’re making with communities in Virginia and around the world,” said Cecelia H. Crow, brand marketing manager for Virginia Tech.
Thisisthefuture.com microsite, winning a bronze medallion, is the culminating focal point of a campaign designed to increase awareness of Virginia Tech’s research programs. The multimedia campaign for this effort won a silver certificate of merit. The campaign utilized a combination of viral and traditional media to drive traffic to a new microsite focused on Virginia Tech research and its impact on the world today. A variety of research stories are highlighted and visitors were encouraged to submit stories on how they have used their Virginia Tech education to impact their world or how friends of Virginia Tech are making a difference in their own communities.
“The Virginia Public Relations Awards highlight the best and most exciting [public relations] campaigns and initiatives from across the state,” said Alissa M. Poole, APR, president of PRSA Richmond. “We celebrated the work of talented [public relations] professionals and recognized the importance of public relations as a tool across disciplines.”
The award entries for Virginia Tech were submitted by Neathawk, Dubuque and Packett (Roanoke, Va.), agency of record for Virginia Tech Marketing and Strategic Communications. Awards are separated into two divisions: Public Relations Programs and Public Relations Tactics. The programs division judges comprehensive campaigns while the tactics division judges specific components. Programs entries can receive either Silver Medallion or Silver Certificate of Merit awards, while tactics entries can receive either Bronze Medallion or Bronze Certificate of Merit awards. Public relations programs entries were judged for research, planning, execution, and evaluation. Public relations tactics entries were judged for planning and content, creativity and quality, technical excellence, and results.
