KVBPR EARNS TOP HONORS FROM NATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS ORGANIZATIONS

June 09, 2009

KVBPR recently earned recognition from two national public relations associations, receiving three communications awards for work on behalf of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and the Nashville Symphony. 

BlueCross’ 2008 open enrollment campaign for its employees earned a Gold Quill Award for excellence in employee/member communication, presented by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), and a Silver Anvil for excellence in internal communications, presented by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).

The Nashville Symphony integrated communications campaign, which KVBPR partnered with Locomotion Creative to develop, received a Silver Anvil Award of Excellence from PRSA. 

As Tennessee’s largest health insurer, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee needed to communicate significant changes to its 2009 employee health plans for the company’s approximately 5,400 staff and 500 eligible retirees. The internal communications program focused on higher levels of wellness and personal health accountability, calling on employees to embrace a Culture of Wellness for 2009 and offered substantial incentives for doing so.

BlueCross’ campaign resulted in attracting 26 percent of employees to a health savings account option and securing 78 percent employee participation in wellness initiatives.

The Nashville Symphony faced the challenge of sustaining momentum and increasing single-concert ticket sales going into its third season in a new concert hall.  Meanwhile, its new energetic Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero was a rising star in the classical music world but still unknown in Nashville. The Symphony teamed up with KVBPR and Locomotion Creative to launch Guerrero as the “face” of the orchestra with a multi-channel communications campaign, resulting in a 33 percent increase in classical single-ticket sales and 12 percent increase in all-season ticket sales.

Both programs combined traditional and new media strategies to achieve their goals. The internal campaign for BlueCross included interactive electronic brochures, postings on the corporate intranet site and BlueCross external site, a customized open enrollment site, and a senior management communications campaign including videos, e-mail reminders, messages and presentation development. The Nashville Symphony integrated campaign included traditional and online advertising, social media tactics, direct mail, publicity and community outreach through events and speaking opportunities.