NonProfit PR Awards: Marketing Communications

Campaign:.ORG’s Rollout of DNSSEC

Winner:.ORG, The Public Interest Registry

To raise awareness of the need to have widespread adoption of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), which protects Internet services from domain name system attacks,.ORG, The Public Interest Registry—the database for all.org Internet Web addresses—launched an integrated marketing campaign.

Of top concern were the lack of security ramifications that would ensue if DNSSEC was not moved forward to effect change.

Among the tactics leveraged by.ORG, The Public Interest Registry to seed and disseminate their messages were the creation of a video featuring the CEO of.ORG and a senior member of the tech team discussing the need for DNSSEC, and collateral pieces for industry meetings and events.

Also as part of the media outreach were extensive use of social media and broadcast interviews.

Thanks to the campaign, the issue of Internet security has gone from a little-known concern with the tech sector to a major issue. The Public Interest Registry was able to brief industry players and top governmental entities on the need for DNSSEC, and.ORG became the largest generic top-level domain to implement it on June 2, 2009.

Honorable Mentions:

BackBay Communications Inc.: ACG InterGrowth 2009—To promote ACG’s InterGrowth 2009 conference held at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, BackBay reached out to 26 financial media outlets. Thanks to the extensive press coverage, readership about the conference totaled over 12 million.

Bloomington Hospital: Regional Orthopedics Center Campaign—To educate the public about its joint replacement specialty, as well as its state-of-the art technology, the hospital advertised on cable TV, in magazine ads and on its public Web site.

First 5 LA/Hershey/Cause: First 5 LA’s Parent Helpline Campaign—The campaign promoting the helpline utilized bilingual grassroots outreach by marketing heavily in the “Magnolia Place” area of L.A., which is primarily comprised of Latino and Asian-American residents. The average number of calls made to the hotline increased by 58.9%.

Foundation for Chiropractic Progress: Public Awareness Campaign—F4CP public awareness created a campaign with high-profile names like Jerry Rice and General Becky Halstead, in order to increase the general public’s knowledge on the benefits of chiropractic care. The campaign helped the organization generate millions of media impressions.

Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit/Tanner Friedman: Broadcasting for Jobs—With unemployment becoming an increasing problem in Detroit, Tanner Friedman created “Broadcasting for Jobs” to help local people secure jobs, reaching more than 2.1 million listeners.