San Luis Obispo marketing agency Verdin took home five awards at the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Image Awards ceremony last week. Verdin received awards in the categories of Campaign of the Year, Special Event, Social Media and Website.
The ceremony, which took place in Fresno, CA on May 12, honored outstanding work in the PRSA Central California chapter completed in 2015 in the areas of public relations, communications, marketing and advertising. Every year, submissions are judged on a rigorous scoring system based on the four key pieces of a PR campaign: research, planning, implementation and evaluation.
“I am particularly proud of the awards we receive through PRSA,” said Mary Verdin, president and chief strategy officer of Verdin. “The awards standards are high and we have to supply a full case study with support for results. Because of our emphasis on strategy, this recognition is especially meaningful.”
Verdin was recognized for the following projects:
- Campaign of the Year Award of Excellence – for the “Keep Isla Vista Safe” social media campaign. The goal of this campaign was to reduce attendance at a massive student-organized party known as Deltopia. Even at its peak, the crowd that showed up to Deltopia 2015 was only 40% of the number that came in 2014.
- Special Event Award of Excellence – for the Verdin 24-Hour Give. The annual 24-Hour Give event is a tag-team with community partners to give a full overnight re-brand to a deserving organization for free. This past November, Verdin rebranded local nonprofit Literacy for Life.
- Social Media Award of Merit – for a social media advertising campaign for the Morro Bay Tourism Bureau. The campaign saw a 336% increase in website referrals from social media, and Morro Bay saw a 14% increase in TOT year over year during the campaign.
- Campaign of the Year Award of Merit – for the Think H20 water conservation campaign with the cities of Arroyo Grande and Pismo Beach. This campaign educated residents about the role of water conservation in securing a reliable and long-term water supply. As a result, Arroyo Grande reported a 41% reduction in water usage and Pismo Beach reported a 29% reduction in water usage, which far surpassed their given mandates.
- Website Award of Merit – for the new Verdin website. The agency’s upgraded site launched in September 2015 as part of their agency-wide re-brand.
The Award for Excellence is the highest award given at the PRSA Image Awards. Submissions in this year’s competition were judged by professionals from a PRSA chapter in North Carolina to ensure that the nominations are evaluated without bias. For more information, visit prsacentralcal.com.