Mower’s pandemic recovery work for Westchester County Tourism & Film awarded coveted PRSA Bronze Anvil award for “Best Use of Social Media”

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Julie Thomas

Senior Account Supervisor, PR & PA Group
05.31.2022
anvil

Instagram campaign also earned gold from Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s Adrian Awards.

NEW YORK—May 31, 2022— In a competitive category that spanned all industries, Mower’s organic Instagram work for Westchester County Tourism & Film—designed to position the County as a destination “beyond the everyday” and support tourism recovery during the pandemic—won Best Use of Social Media in the Bronze Anvil Awards, as presented by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). The nation’s leading professional organization serving the communications community, PRSA has been conducting its Bronze Anvil Awards for 79 years. The award program recognizes the best of the best in public relations tactics that contribute to the success of overall programs or campaigns.

Westchester County Tourism & Film’s Instagram campaign (@westchestercountytourismny), conceived and executed by Mower, also earned gold this spring in the 2021 Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Adrian Awards in the Digital Marketing-Social Media Campaign category. For 65 years HSMAI has recognized travel marketing excellence through its Adrian Awards, and Westchester Tourism’s Instagram work was judged among the best practices and innovations in the hospitality industry that will empower recovery. The Instagram campaign was also a finalist in PR Daily’s 2021 Digital Marketing & Social Media Awards.

The Instagram campaign generated a +226% growth in impressions, a +75% growth in engagements and a +85% growth in profile actions on the channel, year-over-year. Mower and Westchester County Tourism & Film also engaged select influencers to share their first-hand travel experiences, and their content’s total value provided an 108x return-on-investment to the County.

Trish Nugent, Mower’s Vice President – Public Relations, who leads the agency’s PR practice in New York and supports Westchester County Tourism & Film, noted, “We saw Instagram’s evolving tools and visual storytelling capabilities as an opportunity to stretch ourselves as practitioners, support Westchester’s recovery, and put the County on the map in a more dynamic, compelling way. By spotlighting the towns, hamlets and communities–as well as the local artisans and thought leaders–that make Westchester a destination ‘beyond the everyday,’ we aimed to make content that could live on past the pandemic and inspire travel consideration well into the future.”

Mower is the integrated marketing communications agency for Westchester County Tourism & Film. The agency worked with Director Natasha Caputo of Westchester County Tourism & Film to conceive and execute the County’s social media marketing effort. To support tourism recovery to the region, dynamic storytelling was leveraged across Instagram—from in-feed posts and stories to newer features like reels and guides—to introduce the people and places of Westchester that make it a vibrant, special destination for an easy getaway. Representatives of the County, from restaurants like Goosefeather and The Cookery to attractions like Lyndhurst Mansion, Jay Heritage Center, Armour-Stiner Octagon House and Hudson River Museum, as well as shops and businesses like Penny Lick Ice Cream and Wings Air Helicopter Tours, were given an opportunity to share their first-hand stories through Westchester Tourism’s Instagram channel. Important events like Westminster Kennel Club’s Dog Show, which moved to Westchester County in 2021, and returns again this year, were also spotlighted. Seventeen local itineraries were created by Mower for www.visitwestchesterny.com and some were transformed into a series of complementing Instagram reels that offered a snapshot of the County’s unique communities, helping travelers map how to make the most of their time in Westchester.

Other finalists in the category included Tropicana, TABASCO® Brand, Providence and Jackson State University Communications.

About Mower

Mower is a digitally integrated independent marketing, advertising and public relations agency with professional staff concentrated in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, 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 part of two global agency networks—thenetworkone and IPREX—as well as the 4A’s.

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