Rich Marketing takes Washington state by storm with winter weather campaign

A much-needed winter emergency preparedness campaign netted Rich Marketing top honors in the Best Corporate/Nonprofit Partnership category of PR Daily’s 2013 Nonprofit PR Awards. Its “Take Winter By Storm” campaign was launched in partnership with the City of Seattle, King County, Puget Sound Energy, State Farm, Bartell Drugs, Greenfield Media, and GC Services.

Rich Marketing’s mission in Western Washington was an education outreach campaign, encompassing partnerships with multiple government agencies and corporations, to increase winter weather preparedness behaviors and keep Western Washington residents safe. 

When surveyed before the campaign:

• Only 22 percent of Western Washington residents remembered seeing or hearing winter preparedness messages.
• Less than half kept emergency kits in their homes. 

The organization wanted to reach its audience with the story of why it should care about getting prepared. It also wanted to be sure Western Washington residents had tools—from checklists to contact lists—to prepare for nasty winter weather conditions.

The TakeWinterByStorm.org website and partner channels included 12 preparedness checklists specific to severe winter weather and cards in 10 top-tier languages. “Preparedness Mondays” grabbed media exposure on major television, radio, print, and online outlets. A Twitter account and Facebook page generated additional awareness. 

When polled after the campaign: 

• Fifty-six percent of residents remembered seeing or hearing messages about winter preparedness, a 155 percent increase. 
• Thirty-eight percent reported feeling more prepared for winter than last year.
• Online visitors, up 48 percent, generated 84,000 downloads of English materials and nearly 8,100 downloads of top-tier language materials.
• Facebook likes and Twitter followers increased more than 500 percent. 

We congratulate the team that collaborated on the winning effort: Karen Rich, Court Rich, Brian Temple, Davina Gruenstein, Cornell Amaya, Andy Ryan, Lynne Miller, Grant Randel, Andy Wappler, Lindsey Walimaki, Scott Thomsen, Neil Neroutsos, Julee Cunningham, Marci Scott, Kristin Tinsley, Ty Cordova, Theron Andrews, and Howie Cohen.

Want to get recognized for your hard work? Find out about Ragan and PR Daily’s award programs here.