Winner: Doubletree Hotels and Cohn & Wolfe
Campaign: Doubletree Hotels "Teaching Kids to CARE" Program
Doubletree Hotels' internal CARE philosophy stands for Caring, Attentive, Responsive and Empowered. To take that message outside the hotel company, Cohn & Wolfe created
its "Teaching Kids to CARE" program to educate children about giving back to the community. The "Teaching Kids to CARE" program, with two school sessions in the spring and the
fall, boosted community involvement, as well as awareness of Doubletree's commitment to the environment and conservation.
A "fill-in-the-blanks" press release helped each Doubletree property customize its outreach efforts. The pieces speculated on how much each community would benefit if thousands
of children across the country planted trees on Arbor Day. The tailor-made releases from participating hotels helped to generate more than 80 million media impressions and totaled
nearly $1 million in advertising equivalency.
Cohn & Wolfe and Doubletree distributed toolkits to each of the 150 participating hotel locations. These included a timeline and checklist for organizing the programs with
local elementary schools; a lesson plan on planting trees and recycling; live native tree seedlings; a lesson plan to teach kids about the positive experience of helping others;
and communications materials to work with the media and the public.
The children involved in the CARE program planted more than 10,000 seedling tree. Broadcast coverage of the two school sessions reached more than 200 markets and generated 300
television hits in key Doubletree markets. The overall campaign generated an ROI of more than 3:1 for Doubletree.
Honorable Mentions
Nintendo Unveils Plan to Arm Woodland Animals: GolinHarris In its tongue-in-cheek press release, GolinHarris used the colorful imagery of animals defending their habitats with
firearms to promote the science fiction/action video game, "Star Fox: Assault." The video game was reviewed by more than 115 outlets, including US News & World Report and The
Washington Post, receiving upwards of 35,000,000 media impressions.
Dodge Dakota Pickup Pucker-Up: Clear!Blue and Chrysler Group A year after its debut in the marketplace, the 2005 Dodge Dakota was in need of a publicity makeover to boost sales
and reinvigorate consumer interest. Using the 2005 Chicago Auto Show as a platform, Chrysler teamed up with Clear!Blue to send out a press release teasing its reality TV-
inspired, Valentine's Day-themed contest.: Whoever "locked lips" with a bright red Dodge Dakota for the longest amount of time would drive away a winner, car included. Thanks to
the press release, which was layered with seasonal themes and fresh visual opportunities, the event itself was a stunning success. The Dakota saw no shortage of love, either: The
winner kissed the car for a full seven hours and 43 minutes before taking it home for keeps.