Rallying the public and organizations to donate nearly 26 million diapers for struggling moms; reenergizing the GM brand by tenaciously pitching compelling stories to the media; helping Gulf Coast tourism get back on its feet after the BP oil disaster—all in a day’s work for our 2011 Platinum PR Award honorees. Well, more than a day’s work. This year we honor excellence in 40 categories for campaigns spanning Jan. 2010-May 2011; we also celebrate this year’s Hall of Fame inductees. We feted the Platinum PR Award winners and honorable mentions at a Sept. 14, 2011, luncheon in New York. Congratulations to all, and a special thanks to our luncheon sponsor DS Simon Productions. 

Download the Platinum PR Awards special issue

HALL OF FAME

• Aflac – Aflac Duck
• American Airlines and Weber Shandwick – Fuel Smart
• Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. – The Real Warriors Campaign
• Comcast – Comcast Cares Day
• Cone Inc. & Jiffy Lube International – Maintenance Partners for Life
• Deloitte – Greening the Dot
• Edelman/Unilever & Dove – Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
• GE – ecomagination
• Office Depot – National Backpack Campaign
• Yum! Brands – World Hunger Relief

ANNIVERSARY CAMPAIGN

Pierson Grant Public Relations - 25th Anniversary of the Blizzard - A Blizzard of Publicity

Honorable Mentions:

• Aflac - Aflac Duck Wingman Bead Helps Kids Find Courage Against Cancer
• Hampton Hotels and Cohn & Wolfe Austin - Save-A-Landmark 10th Anniversary
• Euro RSCG Worldwide PR - Fifty for Five
• Porter Novelli - Tip Top 75th Birthday
• Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S. - 3G Speed Test

ANNUAL REPORT

• Entergy Corporation - Low Income Customer Assistance Progress Report • The Methodist Hospital - Reflections in Nursing 2010: The Year in Review

Honorable Mentions:

• King County Library System - 2010 Year in Review:The Busiest Year Ever
• MWW Group - 2011 MWW Group Corporate Citizenship Report Promise Practice
• Norfolk Redevelopment & Housing Authority (NRHA) - Setting the Example Since 1940
• PepsiCo - Performance with Purpose, The Promise of PepsiCo

BLOG

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse

Honorable Mentions:

• Boeing Commercial Airplanes - “Randy’s Journal”
• Euro RSCG Worldwide PR - Four Part Brain Series
• Kaiser Permanente – “Dispatches from Haiti”
• Shift Communications-– PR Squared: Todd Defren on PR, Social Media and Life

BRANDING CAMPAIGN

General Motors and Weber Shandwick - An American Comeback Story: Resurgent Brands and Great Products Tell the Story of the New GM

Honorable Mentions:

• 1-800-Flowers.com - Operation Undercover
• AirTran Airways with Cramer-Krasselt - Skip The Stampede
• Alpaytac Inc. - Bellator Fighting Championships Brand Building
• Coyne PR/Breastcancer.org - One Mission, One Voice
• Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited - A Force to be Reckoned With
• Edelman/Pantone - Pantone Color of the Year: Bringing Next Year's Hot Hue to the Masses
• GE - GE's healthymagination Consumer Launch
• GolinHarris - Legends of McRib
• JELL-O - "Give it a Giggle" Tour Spreads Happiness Across America
• King County Library System - Take Time to Read
• MS&L - Celebrating Heart Health Month with Metamucil

CAUSE RELATED MARKETING

MWW Group & Samsung Mobile - Samsung Mobile March to a Million In-School Education & Recycling Program

Honorable Mentions:

• Aflac - Aflac Duck Wingman Bead Helps Kids Find Courage Against Cancer
• Booz Allen Hamilton - The Real Warriors Campaign
• Disney Parks - Disney Parks Celebrates the Volunteer Spirit with "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day"
• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies - Helping Diaper "Every Little Bottom"
• Macy's Inc. - Macy's National Believe Day
• NSF International - Making Safety a Top News Story

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Cone Inc. and Jiffy Lube International - 2010 Maintenance Partners for Life

Honorable Mentions:

• Coca-Cola HBC Croatia - Our Beautiful Sava
• Cooney/Waters Group - Mobilizing Trusted Community Stakeholder and Grassroots Support in Los Angeles to Address Infectious Disease Threat Among Hispanic Adolescents
• Foundation for Eye Health Awareness and Weber Shandwick - Think About Your Eyes Campaign Launch
• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Kimberly-Clark’s Huggies - Helping Diaper "Every Little Bottom"
• RF|Binder Partners, Inc. - Setting Opportunity in Motion in America's Communities: Bank of America's Neighborhood Excellence Initiative

CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Deveney Communication - Louisiana Office of Tourism BP Oil Spill Response

Honorable Mentions:

• Aflac with Kaplan Thaler Group, PainePR and Digitas - Japan Earthquake / Aflac Duck Loses Voice
• Allison & Partners - SOS Children's Villages-USA: Communicating with Donors and Media in the Aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake
• American Airlines and Weber Shandwick - Bomb Threat Response: American Airlines Tweets with Passengers Aboard Flight AA24
• CommunicationWorks - Minimizing Damage, Maximizing Advantage
• Howard Brown Health Center and PCI - Creating a Lifeline for a LGBTQ Health Center
• NEI and Burson-Marsteller - Digital Crisis Management for U.S. Nuclear Industry during Japan Crisis
• U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery - Deploying COMFORT to Bring Hope to Haiti
• Weber Shandwick New York - Not Such Easy Going in the Big Easy

EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS

Northwestern Mutual - Leaving A Legacy: Million Minutes Project

  Honorable Mentions:

• American Airlines and Weber Shandwick - Fuel Smart: American Airlines Employees Make a Difference
• Beehive PR with Deluxe Corp - I'm In It to Win It for United Way
• Central Arizona Project - Safety for Life
• Deloitte - Greening the dot
• Discovery Networks Latin America/US Hispanic - DLA/USH's Internal Communications Tools
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) - The Politics of Relocating an Office
• Turk Telekom Welcome 2011

EVENT MARKETING

• MWW Group & Bowling Properites Association of America - 2010 Celebrity Bowling Hall of Fame Campaign • Cohn & Wolfe with Buick - The Regal Remix: Flipping the Script to Reach a Younger Prospect

Honorable Mention:

• Chase Card Services & Ketchum -  Chase Sapphire Creates MAD Cardmember Experiences: MAD MEN Partnership
• Cone Inc. – Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives Sheryl Crow Breast Cancer Awareness Concert
• Cramer-Krasselt - Tork Cleans Up with Guinness World Record
• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Nestlé RAISINETS - RAISINETS City

EXTERNAL PUBLICATION

The Boeing Company and Methodologie Inc.- AERO Magazine

Honorable Mentions:

• Consumer Electronics Association - CEA’s Innovation Movement Video Brochure for Capitol Hill
• Makovsky + Company - Commemorating 30 Years of Specialized Thinking
• NYU Langone Medical Center - Innovation – 2010 Research Report
• Office Depot Foundation and SCORE® - Business Planning Tools for Non-Profit Organizations – Second Edition

FINANCIAL INVESTOR RELATIONS

General Motors - Introducing the New GM

Honorable Mentions:

• Lambert, Edwards & Associates - A Healthy SNAK of Increased Sales, Distribution and Stock Price
• OfficeMax Inc. and FD - Maximizing Communications of 5 Year Growth Plan at OfficeMax

GLOBAL PR

GE - GE ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid

Honorable Mention:

• American Airlines and Weber Shandwick - American Airlines and the oneworld Alliance Win the Battle for Japan Airlines
• Cohn & Wolfe - AIDS Treatment for Life International Survey (ATLIS 2010)
• Euro RSCG Worldwide PR - Wyclef for President
• Financial Times - Pioneering the Metered Model
• LinkedIn - LinkedIn's Global Professional Buzzwords
• Ogilvy PR Worldwide, Beijing - Pambassadors
• Waggener Edstrom - Year of IE9: Launching a More Beautiful Web
• Weber Shandwick New York - Honeywell-Nobel Laureate Lecture Series

GREEN PR

Hormel Foods with Burson-Marsteller - Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Communications at Hormel Foods

Honorable Mentions:

• The OutCast Agency - The Birth of a Cleantech Brand: Bloom Energy
• Paine PR - P&G Future Friendly making Conservation Second Nature

INFLUENCER COMMUNICATIONS

Intel & Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide  - Intel Advisors

Honorable Mentions:

• Conover Tuttle Pace (CTP)  - Restoring the Spirit of Pinehurst No. 2
• GM Western Region Communications and Weber Shandwick Los Angeles - Chevy Best of Tours
• Huntington Bank - Huntington's Small Business Platform
• Southwest Airlines Company - Mosaic: A Southwest Airlines Community Affairs & Grassroots Publication
• Tourism Australia - Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure
• U.S. Army with Weber Shandwick - Building an Army of Advocates  
• Weber Shandwick and MilkPEP - got milk? Breakfast BlogHer Program

INTERNAL PUBLICATION

iolo technologies - iolo insider

Honorable Mentions:

• Diageo North America - The Main Ingredient
• Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) - Morning MoCA Member Newsletter

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

EA SPORTS, Fleishman-Hillard & ESPN - Madden NFL 12 Cover Athlete Voting Campaign

Honorable Mentions:

• Conover Tuttle Pace (CTP) - Zenyatta's "Quest for Perfection"
• Hawaii Visitors & Conventions Bureau  - HVCB's 2010 "Perfect Moments" Market Saturation Campaign
• Northwestern Mutual - A Foundation for Life
• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Initiative Media and Bayer Health Care Pharmaceuticals - Girlfriends for Folate

MEDIA EVENT

GolinHarris - 2011 McDonald's All American Basketball Games Create Arch Madness in Chicago

Honorable Mentions:

• Cone Inc. - The American Cancer Society Launches the Choose You Movement
• Cone Inc. - Yoplait Original Yogurt "Calcium in Every Cup" MyGetTogether Party with Nancy O'Dell
• Disney Consumer Products - Disney Store Times Square Grand Opening Celebration
• U.S. Census Bureau - A New Portrait of America, First 2010 Census Results

MEDIA RELATIONS

Navistar International Corporation - A Boss Saves Jobs, Helps the Community

Honorable Mentions:

• General Motors and Weber Shandwick - An American Comeback Story: Resurgent Brands and Great Products Tell the Story of the New GM
• IFC- Portlandia
• Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG)  - IHG’s Check it Free Promotion
• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and The Government of Mexico -  From Bad to Great: Promoting Mexico’s Environmental Leadership Amidst a Drug War

MULTICULTURAL CAMPAIGN

Hill & Knowlton - Merck Asma en Español: Creating an Asthma Resource Center for the Hispanic Community

Honorable Mention:

• Alpaytac Inc. - Bellator Fighting Championships: Hispanic Community Cornerstone for Growth
• Burson-Marsteller/The Board of Elections in the City of New York - Mark It. Scan It. Vote the New Way - Preparing NYC Voters for Paper Ballots
• Euro RSCG Worldwide PR - Meeting the Eye Health Needs of Culturally Diverse Groups
• Flowers Communications Group – McDonald’s McCafé  Launch Summer Festival & Concert Series
• Howard Brown Health Center and PCI - Creating a Lifeline for LGBTQ Health Center
• Weber Shandwick Chicago  - Degree Women Fine Fragrance Collection Latin GRAMMYs Program

ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS

NEI and Burson-Marsteller  - Digital Crisis Management for U.S. Nuclear Industry during Japan Crisis

Honorable Mentions:

• Chrysler Group LLC  - Dodge Rock 'n Roll Half-Marathon
• Denison University - TheDEN
• O'Malley Hansen Communications - Sara Lee Deli: Solving the Mama Saga
• Siemens Industry Inc. - Plantville, a Siemens initiative
• U.S. Census Bureau  - 2010census.gov

ONLINE PRESS ROOM/MEDIA CENTER

Disney Consumer Products - Online Press Room

Honorable Mentions:

• Baylor Health Care System - Online Newsroom
• Eucomed - Online Media Centre

PODCAST/VIDEOCAST

Carmichael Lynch Spong with WebmasterRadio.fm - Untying the Purse Strings of America's Most Powerful Consumer

Honorable Mentions:

• American Society for Microbiology (ASM) - This Week in Microbiology
• Chrysler Group LLC - Under the Pentastar
• Cone Inc. - Tune Up with Jeannie & Christina, Yoplait Light Two Week Tune Up with Live Webcast

PR ON A SHOESTRING

• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and MaggieMoo's Ice Cream and Treatery - Tax Day "Sundae Stimulus" • Sealed Air Corporation - Bubble Wrap Protects the Captain

Honorable Mentions:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse
• Goodyear - Goodyear Assurance "Fuel Max: Border to Border"
• Illinois Tollway - Drive Now. Text Later.

PRESS RELEASE

Berman & Company - Unintended Consequences of Reusable Bags

Honorable Mentions:

• Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario with Impact Public Affairs - Insurance Brokers Urge Ontario Government to Ban Credit Scoring to Protect Consumers
• Mediabrands - IPG Media Lab Launches Retail Experience Center

PRO BONO

GLOBALHealthPR & Spectrum - The Progeria Research Foundation A Needle in the Haystack: “Find the other 150”

Honorable Mention:

• Adfero Group - Action to Cure Kidney Cancer (ACKC)
• Bausch + Lomb with Lions Club International - Fighting Childhood Blindness: The Pediatric Cataract Initiative
• Chamberlain Healthcare Public Relations - Kids Kicking Cancer Breath Brake Public Service Campaign and Smartphone App Launch

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Waggener Edstrom Worldwide - Year of IE9: Launching a More Beautiful Web"

Honorable Mentions:

• Cone Inc. - Purina ONE beyOnd "1 Million in ONE Day"
• The Hershey Company - Pieces Candy Launch Event
• Inner Circle Labs - Zite Gets Personal
• RED PR - CND Shellac Launch

PSA

U.S. Census Bureau: 2010 Census Greg Biffle PSA

Honorable Mentions:

• Concepts Inc. & The Campaign for Disability Employment - The “I Can” PSA Campaign
• R/P Marketing Public Relations - The Green Chair Campaign for Donate Life Ohio

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute - Amphibian Rescue PR Campaign

Honorable Mentions:

• Burston Marsteller/The Board of Elections in the City of New York - Mark It. Scan It. Vote the New Way – Preparing NYC Voters for Paper Ballots
• McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations - Friends of Gaile Owens Campaign
• NYU Langone Medical Center - Organ Donor - Concept Trial
• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Taiwan - Taiwan Pavilion at Expo 2010
• Widmeyer Communications - Pool Safely: Simple Steps Save Lives

RE-BRANDING/RE-POSITIONING

Grow Marketing - Birkenstock Renaissance

Honorable Mentions:

• First Degree - KeepAmericaFishing: The Voice of the American Angler
• Porter Novelli Public Services, Washington DC - SOYJOY Second Chances

RESEARCH & MEASUREMENT

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Kimberly Clark’s Huggies - Helping Diaper “Every Little Bottom”

Honorable Mentions:

• Euro RSCG Worldwide PR - Championing Eye Health Education with the 2010 Employee Perceptions of Vision Benefits Survey
• KD Paine & Partners - SAS

SATELLITE MEDIA TOURS

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) - Holiday Inn Launches "Honeymoon on Us" with a SMT by Reality Star, Melissa Rycroft

Honorable Mentions:

• GE - GE Optima 430s 1.5T Product Launch SMT
• Porter Novelli Public Services, Washington, DC - SOYJOY Super Bowl SMT with Leslie Bonci
• Weber Shandwick Chicago - Degree Ultra Clear SAG Awards SMT

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

U.S. Army with Weber Shandwick - Sharing the Army Strong Story

Honorable Mentions:

• Berman & Company - Teachers Union Exposed
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Preparedness 101:  Zombie Apocalypse
• Chamberlain Healthcare Public Relations for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. - Health Seeker: Simple Steps, Healthier Together
• M Booth - Ameda "I Breastfeed Because" Campaign
• U.S. Census Bureau - 2010 Census Using Social Media for 2010 Census Awareness

SPEECHES

Early Learning Division Ontario Ministry of Education  - "I wish I was a Messenger"

Honorable Mentions:

• Sprint Nextel - M2M Connected Transportation Initiative

TRADE SHOW/EVENT PR

Padilla Speer Beardsley - Automation Fair: The Premier Automation Industry Event

  Honorable Mentions:

• Disney Consumer Products - Toy Story 3 Takes Over American International Toy Fair
• GE - GE at CES
• Kingdom Quality Communications - Get Fit for the 5K

VIDEO PROGRAMS

Consumer Electronics Association - CEA's Innovation Movement Video Brochure for Capitol Hill

Honorable Mention:

• Chrysler Group LLC - Under the Pentastar
• Disney Consumer Products - Disney Fairy Tale Weddings by Alfred Angelo
• Gibraltar Associates - NGVS Now Natural Gas Vehicles: Driving America's Future
• Hill & Knowlton  with Astellas Pharma US Inc. - Science WoRx: Virtual Science Pro
• Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) - Whole Home DVR Made Easy
• Widmeyer Communications - American Energy Innovation Council: A Business Plan for America's Energy Future

WEB SITE MARKETING

Zocalo Group & Dell - The Dell Inspiron Storybook Online Experience

Honorable Mentions:

• Siemens Industry Inc. - Plantville, a Siemens initiative

WORD OF MOUTH/VIRAL

The Hershey Company - S'mores Snacktivity Suite

Honorable Mentions:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse
• CooperKatz & Company Inc. - Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet Day
• MWW Group & Nikon - Nikon Film Festival Social Campaign Championing D-SLR Video

WOW!

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse

Honorable Mention:

• Barb Clapp Advertising & Marketing LLC - FOP/IAFF Billboard
• Cone Inc. - Yesterday's News Do-Gooder Design Challenge
• Deloitte - Greening the next generation
• Deloitte - Planet Saver Programs
• GE - GE ecomagination “Powering the Grid”
• Henson Consulting - "Hearts a Bluhm" in Chicago in February 2011
• KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese - Project CHEDDAR EXPLOSION: The Launch of KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese CHEDDAR EXPLOSION

LARGE PR FIRM OF THE YEAR

APCO Worldwide

Honorable Mentions:

• GolinHarris
• Ketchum
• Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide 
• Weber Shandwick
• Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

MIDSIZE FIRM OF THE YEAR

MWW Group

Honorable Mentions:

• Carmichael Lynch Spong
• Cone
• Coyne Public Relations
• Euro RSCG Worldwide PR
• Zeno Group

SMALL PR FIRM OF THE YEAR

Linhart Public Relations

Honorable Mentions:

• Alpaytac Inc.
• Henson Consulting
• INK PR
• Lambert, Edwards & Associates
• Warschawski