Little Rock’s public relations industry was punching above its weight last week at the Edison Ballroom, in New York City, winning four national Silver Anvil Awards from the Public Relations Society of America.
Ghidotti Communications won a Silver Anvil for its Little Rock Police Department campaign, and the Sells Agency got the same award for its work for Arvest Bank, while Mangan Holcomb Partners/Team SI won an Award of Excellence for its work for Kinetic by Windstream.
“Not bad for the PR biz in Little Rock,” Sells told Arkansas Business in an understatement.
Ghidotti Communications, led by Natalie Ghidotti, was celebrated for its Little Rock Police Department Minority Recruitment Campaign in the category of integrated communications for association, government and nonprofit clients.
Sells took the most effective corporate social responsibility communications for Arvest Bank’s 1 Million Meals Campaign, an anti-hunger effort. MHP/Team SI’s Building Kinetic Communities campaign took the Award of Excellence in consumer services technology marketing.
“Everything about the trip [to Manhattan] was amazing,” said Kristen Vandaveer Nicholson, Mangan Holcomb’s director of public relations, who was at the event Thursday night to collect the award. She said it was an honor to be among “so many top agencies and brands in the country. “We’re excited to bring home this trophy for Windstream.”
Ghidotti’s mission in the police recruitment campaign was to attract women and minority applicants for more than 50 open positions on the Little Rock police force. The $150,000 campaign included a creative partner, Cranford Co. of Little Rock.
The PSRA Silver Anvil Awards, representing the forging of public opinion, are the most prestigious awards in the PR profession awarded on the national level. The 2019 national ceremony included 110 finalists in 50 categories and subcategories.
