Ragan's PR Daily Awards winners

Public relations practitioners today have to do it all. The winners of Ragan’s 2018 PR Daily Awards are inspirational writers, insightful strategists and influential brand managers. We’re excited to honor them and share their work with you. Click on each winner’s name to learn more about the best work we received, and congratulate them on Twitter using the hashtag #RaganAwards. 

General Campaigns

B2B Campaign

WINNER
Putting Mack Trucks in the Driver’s Seat of a B2B Public Relations Campaign
Oracle

Honorable Mentions

  • Mercer Global Talent Trends Study 2018: Unlocking Growth in the Human Age, Mercer
  • You Are How You Eat, Ingredion with Stein IAS
  • PizzArt, Anchor Food Professionals with Truth Communications
  • Bosch 'N Blue, Bosch eBike Systems with Tech Image
  • Mental Health and the Financial Advice Relationship, Bridgehouse Asset Managers
  • VERITAS Study B2B Campaign, Reflexion Health
  • Branding Campaign, PeopleService with Zaiss & Company

Branding Campaign

WINNER
Creating an Iconic Brand for an Aviation Pioneer
Bell

Honorable Mentions

  • Village Green Redefines Distinctive Living, Village Green with Airfoil
  • ibis Music Lives Here, AccorHotels with Public Dialog
  • SCMP - Abacus and Inkstone U.S. Launch, SCMP with IW Group Inc.
  • Elevating the USA TODAY NETWORK Brand: More than a Newspaper Company, USA TODAY NETWORK with Diffusion
  • Aflac Launches Reputational Revamp Using CSR, Aflac with FleishmanHillard, KWI, MMC and Carol Cone on Purpose
  • Relaunching McAfee as a Thought Leader in D.C., McAfee with RH Strategic

Cause-Related Marketing

WINNER
Teacher for a Day
BIC with Doner CX

Honorable Mentions

  • 2018 PA Blue Ribbon Champions for Safe Kids, Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance with Nell McCormack Abom Communications
  • More for MBC and the Thriver Movement, Porter Novelli
  • National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Campaign, LTS
  • Every Second Matters, Travelers
  • Natural Light College Debt Relief Program, Anheuser-Busch with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
  • Busch x National Forest Foundation, Anheuser-Busch with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment

Community Relations

WINNER
Jack Daniel's Country Cocktails "Flavors of Pride"
Brown-Forman with IW Group Inc.

Honorable Mention

  • Making Every Source a Resource, Idea Hall with East Valley Water District

Content Marketing and Brand Journalism

WINNER
Inspiring People with Rare Diseases Through Storytelling Vita
CSL Behring

Honorable Mentions

  • Employer of Choice in Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney
  • Duke Energy Illumination, Duke Energy

Corporate Social Responsibility

WINNER
Pathways to Employment
Belden Inc.

Honorable Mentions

  • Data for Climate Action Challenge, Porter Novelli
  • A 60-Year-Old Promise Quacks to Life, Aflac with FleishmanHillard, KWI, MMC and Carol Cone on Purpose
  • Travel with Purpose—Where Responsibility and Hospitality Meet, Hilton
  • More for MBC and the Thriver Movement, Porter Novelli
  • Teacher for a Day, Janel Lewis and Linda Palladino with Doner CX
  • El Salado—Peace through Water, Ferrovial

Crisis Communications

WINNER
Orange County Hurricane Irma Response
Orange County Government

Event Marketing

WINNER
Four Seasons Pop Down
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts with HL Group

Honorable Mentions

  • “Crazy Rich Asians” Film—Asian American Marketing, Warner Bros. with IW Group
  • 2018 PA Blue Ribbon Champions for Safe Kids, Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance with Nell McCormack Abom Communications
  • Vienna Beef 125th Anniversary, Vienna® Beef with Creative Marketing Associates, Inc.

Media Pitch

WINNER
Empowering Consumers to Make Smart Benefits Choices
Aflac with Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Honorable Mention

  • Top Ways Things Can Go Wrong, Travelers

PR on a Shoestring

WINNER
Gifting of Souvenir Plots to Scotland, CT
Highland Titles with BML Public Relations

Honorable Mentions

  • Green Giant Creates Viral News Story and Sparks National Debate by Naming Broccoli as America’s Favorite Vegetable, Gillian Small Public Relations
  • Media Pitching for the Sentencing of Bill Cosby, Laffey, Bucci & Kent with Furia Rubel
  • DCTA's State Fair of Texas Influencer Marketing Partnership Leads to Contest Success, Denton County Transportation Authority
  • Launch of World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report 2018, World Wildlife Fund
  • Busch Latte, Anheuser-Busch with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment

Social Media Campaign

WINNER
Dr. Jim Allison's 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
MD Anderson Cancer Center

Honorable Mentions

  • Mercer Global Talent Trends Study 2018: Unlocking Growth in the Human Age Social Media Campaign, Mercer
  • Stonyfield Kids Campaign, Stonyfield with Sway Group
  • WeAreCisco Snapchat Summer of Interns, Cisco
  • Corporate Social Responsibility, Grupo Bimbo with Ingenia
  • Rethinking the Pork Rind, Southern Recipe Small Batch with RMD Advertising
  • Road to Coachella, BMW with Mirrored Media

Thought Leadership Campaign

WINNER
U.S. Loneliness Index
Cigna with Edelman

Honorable Mentions

  • Site C Awareness Campaign, Peace Valley Landowners Association with Munro/Thompson
  • Mental Health and the Financial Advice Relationship, Bridgehouse Asset Managers
  • Guitar Isn’t Dead: Fender Sets the Record Straight, Amplifies Voices of Female Players, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
  • THRIVE Thought Leadership Platform, DXC Technology
  • Princeton Stars, Penn Medicine Princeton Health

Traditional Campaign

WINNER
Empowering Consumers to Make Smart Benefits Choices
Hill+Knowlton Strategies with Aflac

Honorable Mentions

  • Careers2B Video, HM Health Solutions
  • Yua: Henri Matisse and the Inner Arctic Spirit Exhibition, Heard Museum with Riester
  • CEO Succession, Webster Bank
  • Natural Light College Debt Relief Program, Anheuser-Busch with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment

Viral Campaign

WINNER
Road to Coachella
BMW with Mirrored Media

Honorable Mentions

  • Pizza Bouquet and Boutonniere, Villa Italian Kitchen with BML Public Relations
  • Big Mac ATM Brings Swagger Back to Boston, McDonald's of New England with SHIFT Communications
  • Busch Latte, Anheuser-Busch with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment

Publications

Annual Report

WINNER
We Are Hilton. We Are Hospitality—Hilton’s 2017 Annual Report
Hilton

Honorable Mentions

  • 2017 Annual Report, United Methodist Communications
  • “More Than a Promise”: Aflac Aligns Founding Promise with CSR Commitment, Aflac with FleishmanHillard, KWI, MMC and Carol Cone on Purpose
  • 2017 Annual Report—Powering Potential, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.
  • NGWA 2018 Annual Report, National Ground Water Association

Digital Publication

WINNER
The Post-Modernist
Stein IAS

Online Newsroom

WINNER
Alizila
Alibaba Group

Honorable Mentions

  • RED Digital Newsroom, Metropolitan State University of Denver
  • Anadisgoi.com, Cherokee Nation Businesses

Print Publication

WINNER
Setting the Irvine Standard
Irvine Standard with Idea Hall

Honorable Mentions

  • Anadisgoi Magazine, Cherokee Nation Businesses
  • Cherokee Nation’s Economic Impact on Oklahoma, Cherokee Nation Businesses
  • Where the Casino Money Goes, Cherokee Nation Businesses

Website

WINNER
MoDOT.org Website Redesign
Missouri Department of Transportation

Honorable Mentions

  • Patient Value Proposition: Stories and Information to Inspire and Help Rare Disease Patients Lead Full Lives, CSL Behring
  • GBTA Website, The Global Business Travel Association

Campaigns by Industry

Automotive Campaign

WINNER
Nissan's Rear Door Alert
Nissan

Honorable Mentions

  • Road to Coachella, BMW with Mirrored Media
  • Putting Mack Trucks in the Driver’s Seat of a B2B Public Relations Campaign, Oracle

Beauty, Fashion or Lifestyle Campaign

WINNER
Pepperoni Pucker
Villa Italian Kitchen with BML Public Relations

Honorable Mentions

  • McDonald's x Anna Sui x $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu, McDonald's with IW Group

Education Campaign

WINNER
Advancing Education Through DreamBox Investment
Raffetto Herman Strategic Communications (RH Strategic)

Finance or Utilities Campaign

WINNER
Generate Possibilities—Tri-State G&T's Renewable Energy Story
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.

Honorable Mentions

  • PJM Interconnection Celebrates 90th Anniversary, PJM Interconnection
  • Mental Health and the Financial Advice Relationship, Bridgehouse Asset Managers
  • The Why of Wealth, Boston Private with Vested
  • Creating a New Generation of Michigan Homeowners, Michigan State Housing Development Authority with Airfoil

Food or Beverage Campaign

WINNER
McDonald's x Anna Sui x $1 $2 $3 Dollar Menu
McDonald's with IW Group

Honorable Mentions

  • Pizza Bouquet and Boutonniere, Villa Italian Kitchen with BML Public Relations

Health Care Campaign

WINNER
Get Real About Diabetes
BCW

Honorable Mentions

  • Stress in America: The State of Our Nation, American Psychological Association with Vanguard Communications

Hospitality, Travel or Tourism Campaign

WINNER
Dundee Tourism Campaign
Tourism Australia

Technology Campaign

WINNER
SCMP - Abacus and Inkstone U.S. Launch
SCMP with IW Group Inc.

Honorable Mentions

  • Listening In as Hearables Brand Enters U.S. Market, Nuheara with lotus823
  • George Takei and House of Cats, House of Cats with Bospar
  • LG Thin Client Solutions, Demystify the Cloud, LG with Brand Definition
  • Focals by North Launch, North with Uproar PR

PR Events

Contest or Giveaway

WINNER
O-Cedar Targets Millennial Roommates with National Sweepstakes
O-Cedar with 3rd Coast PR

Honorable Mentions

  • Fly Free to the Outback, Tourism Northern Territory with Myriad Marketing
  • Race Resume, Anheuser-Busch with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
  • Busch x National Forest Foundation, Anheuser-Busch with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment

Influencer Event

WINNER
Stonyfield Farm Tour,
Stonyfield

Honorable Mentions

  • “Crazy Rich Asians” film—Asian American Marketing, Warner Bros with IW Group
  • Novo Nordisk Deepens Relationships and Increases Trust with Diabetes Influencers, BCW
  • Road to Coachella, BMW with Mirrored Media
  • Real Learning Summit, Bellevue University with Zaiss & Company

Press Event or Media Tour

WINNER
Sequoyah’s Cabin Museum Grand Reopening
Cherokee Nation Businesses

Honorable Mentions

  • Richard Ferretti Civil Lawsuit Press Conference, Eisenberg Rothweiler Winkler Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C. with Furia Rubel
  • GBTA Media Day, The Global Business Travel Association
  • 2018 Bill Foege Global Health Awards, MAP International with Hope-Beckham Inc.
  • Red Gerard's Gold Medal Tour, Mountain Dew with Fuse, LLC
  • Jacksonville Landing Mass Shooting Public Relations Campaign, UF Health Jacksonville

Product or Service Launch

WINNER
Electron Wheel #RidestoCES with the Google Assistant to Launch the Gen 2 Wheel
Electron Wheel with Diffusion

Honorable Mentions

  • Changing the Playbook: Fans-First Campaign Delivers Record-Setting Launch, Activision with PMK•BNC
  • Think About It..., Think Whole Person Healthcare with Zaiss & Company
  • Launching Baraja’s “Laser Eyes” for self-driving cars, Baraja with RH Strategic
  • Launching a Pro-Style Controller Made for Every Gamer, Scuf Gaming with Gregory FCA

Publicity Stunt

WINNER
Teens for Gun Reform Stage White House Protest Days After Parkland Shootings
Teens for Gun Reform with Steppingstone LLC

Honorable Mentions

  • Creating a Pop Culture Moment Without Saying a Word, Activision with PMK•BNC
  • Deadpool Karaoke with William Hung, 20th Century Fox with IW Group

Grand Prize

PR Campaign of the Year

GRAND PRIZE
HP Launches World’s Most Advanced Metals 3D Printing Technology for Mass Production to Accelerate 4th Industrial Revolution
HP Inc.

Honorable Mentions

  • Dundee Tourism Campaign, Tourism Australia
  • Get Real About Diabetes, BCW
  • A 60-Year-Old Promise Quacks to Life, Aflac with FleishmanHillard, KWI, MMC and Carol Cone on Purpose
  • Generate Possibilities—Tri-State G&T's Renewable Energy Story, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.
  • Changing the Playbook: Fans-First Campaign Delivers Record-Setting Launch, Activision with PMK•BNC