NEW YORK—October 31, 2022— Mower was honored to receive the first-of-its-kind “New Yorker Award” presented by the New York State Tourism Industry Association (NYSTIA) last week for the creation of the “Roam the Empire” cause campaign. Mary Gendron, Mower’s senior vice president and managing director, accepted the award at the 2022 NYS Tourism Excellence Awards in New York City to celebrate the agency’s unique contribution to pandemic recovery in support of New York State’s most adversely affected industry.
In late 2020, Mower undertook the task of creating a rallying cry that would unite not only NYSTIA membership, but the industry as a whole. The rallying cry to “Roam the Empire” encouraged residents of the Empire State to celebrate, visit, and support New York’s destinations and attractions struggling to survive the pandemic. Mower developed the theme, created a branded logo, social media pages, a dedicated landing page, and a robust digital and media toolkit to be utilized by destination marketers of all sizes—at no charge.
The “Roam the Empire” campaign brought together over 100 statewide tourism partners within the first 90 days and caught the attention of statewide media groups, which provided tens of thousands of dollars in advertising grants, earned media, and pro bono press services. The unprecedented coalition, which included many non-NYSTIA members, resulted in earned media attention measuring well into six figures on social media and contributed to the momentum of New York State’s pandemic recovery.
“When presented with this opportunity, Mower said ‘yes’ without pause,” said Gendron, who leads Mower’s Travel & Tourism specialty. “Mower is heavily invested in travel and tourism, serving clients throughout the state, and has a market presence in five New York locations. It was a labor of love for the team members who donated their time and talent to the cause, and we are delighted with the outcome.”
About Mower
Mower is a digitally integrated independent marketing, advertising and public relations agency with professional staff in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, and Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Syracuse, N.Y. Mower delivers strategic insights and counsel, digital solutions, smart creative and award-winning results to clients in a wide range of industries and service sectors. It has earned top industry accolades from Clio, Cannes and ANA B2 awards and is the only full-service agency ranked in Ad Age, B2B Marketing, PRWeek and Chief Marketer. Mower is 100% employee-owned and part of two global agency networks—thenetworkone and IPREX—as well as the 4A’s.