The Bulldog PR Awards highlight Bulldog’s digital, social media and media relations awards programs with categories in the nonprofit and social responsibility arena. With a record number of entries this year in 37 campaign categories, the panel of journalist judges honored NJF in the category of Best Issue/Cause Advocacy Campaign – a big win for its creative PR campaign.
NJF took home a silver award for its thoughtful and tailored campaign for Intrepid Travel, a leader in small-group adventure tours focused on local experiences. Because Intrepid is the first tour company to have a responsible tourism department, NJF played on this major differentiator for a bold approach showcasing Intrepid’s stance against issues that negatively impact the communities in which it operates.
Read the full press release and complete list of 2018 Bulldog PR Award winners here.
Campaign Goals and Strategy:
2017 was declared the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the U.N. General Assembly. The year became integral to raising awareness of sustainable tourism while showing that tourism can be a catalyst for change.
With the global tourism mindset set on sustainable tourism, NJF created a plan that highlighted two key strategies:
- Focus on Intrepid’s responsible tourism leadership in order to demonstrate the “Purpose Beyond Profit” mission of the brand
- Capitalize on timely events and news stories in which Intrepid can take a stand and demonstrate how travel can be a force for good
With the strategies in place, NJF utilized one of Intrepid’s existing socially responsible campaigns to create three timely pitches that capitalized on relevant global issues in the news. This resulted in four campaign pillars that touched female empowerment, political issues, diversity and inclusion in travel, and the environment.
Campaign Results:
The increases in bookings surpassed all goals set for the campaign. The outreach resulted in 134 articles that garnered 953,282,574 impressions. The PR efforts factored into underlying organizational objectives, particularly communicating Intrepid’s responsible tourism and “Purpose Beyond Profit” messaging. The perception of the brand as a leader in responsible tourism is strengthened, too. In total, Intrepid saw a 24 percent growth in U.S. bookings from June and July 2016 to June and July 2017.