Winner: Warschawski
Since its founding in 1996 by PR/marketing veteran David Warschawski, the firm bearing his name has grown into one of the most viable operations in the industry. Last year in
particular was a banner one for Warschawski: It picked up numerous prestigous accounts, such as The Athlete's Foot, Century 21 Real Estate and Marble Slab Creamery, while
collecting laurels like a PRSA Silver Anvil Award and the Sabre Award. From 2005 to 2006, Warschawski saw its gross revenue increase by more than 65% and its net revenue grow by
more than 85%.
2006 Campaign Highlights
- When client Medifast moved from the American Stock Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange, Warschawski secured 291 media placements and over four billion impressions for
this story, helping the company nearly double its earnings.
- To publicize the launch of DEWALT's new 36 Volt battery-powered tools, Warschawski created an event in Orlando, Florida, to introduce the media to these new products. The
event, which garnered over 27 million impressions, showed DEWALT's CEO cutting through a wall with one of the new tools to enter the stage.
- For KMS, Warschawski sought to re-launch its hair care brand by spearheading an "I am KMC California" contest to identify the new faces of KMS California. The contest, which
was featured in such publications as Teen Vogue, Elle, Allure and In Touch Weekly, culminated in a red carpet event in New York City's Nokia Theatre where 18 finalists competed to
be selected as the new faces of KMS California.
- TO PROMOTE UNDER ARMOUR'S FIRST FORAY INTO FOOTWEAR, WARSCHAWSKI OBTAINED MEDIA COVERAGE IN OUTLETS SUCH AS USA TODAY, FORBES, BUSINESSWEEK AND ESPN. PRN
Honorable Mentions for Small PR Firm of the Year
AIRFOIL PUBLIC RELATIONS, INC, AIRFOIL PUBLIC RELATIONS SMALL PR FIRM OF THE YEAR -- A small firm with big ideas, Airfoil has worked with behemoth companies such as eBay and
Microsoft, which seek out the firm for its accessibility and its ability to craft creative, customized campaigns. One example: Their 2006 Good Coffee Day campaign with Starbucks
offered free cups of joe to commuters across Detroit, drawing in 18% of Starbucks customers in the city that day.
FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD, THE POWER OF VALUE ADDED COMMUNICATIONS -- The Financial Relations Board (FRB) helped create investor relations as a function of communications, and
it remains among the best in the business. When 24/7 Real Media was suffering from poor investor trust in 2006, FRB was able to reassure even the most insecure investors, helping
achieve a $10 stock price more than a year before 24/7 Real Media's target date.
SHIFT COMMUNICATIONS -- In a world that is increasingly online, SHIFT Communications has been consulted by every newswire service on how to meet new challenges. In 2006, SHIFT
developed a template for Social Media News Release, an updated version of the press release that offers sections for features such as graphics, mp3s, and RSS feeds, allowing
reporters and publicists easy, user-friendly access to a company's latest information.