Company: The Harbinger Group, Chicago, IL
Company Description: The Harbinger Group is a full-service marketing communications firm with a long-standing reputation for building and executing actionable marketing strategies that increase brand awareness and advance understanding. We work as an extension of your team to design a roadmap that exceeds your goals, with the highly personalized approach your business deserves.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Non-Profit / Charity
 Nomination Title: 2021 and 2022 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching & Leadership
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated PR campaign or program, or written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- Optional: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
2021 campaign: Feb. 23, 2021
2022 campaign: Feb 15, 2022
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 230 words used.
For more than 30 years, Golden Apple, the leading Illinois nonprofit committed to preparing, honoring and supporting exemplary educators who advance educational opportunities for students, has honored Illinois teachers and school leaders with the Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching & Leadership. The program was initiated to recognize Illinois educators for their extraordinary impact in their school communities. Golden Apple calls for nominations from around Illinois of both teachers and school leaders, who are selected through a highly competitive award process.
During the 2021 and 2022 school years, teachers faced challenges including returning to the classroom amidst a global pandemic and providing social-emotional support to their students during times of unrest in the United States. At the beginning of each of these school years, nearly or more than 2,000 teaching vacancies went unfilled, leaving critical gaps in support for students and the need for teachers to take on bigger roles within their schools.
The Harbinger Group (THG) was tasked with driving awareness of our client’s work to elevate the teacher and school leader professions. THG highlighted the critical roles educators have in our society, and showcased how Golden Apple addresses the teacher shortage in Illinois. This was done by leveraging the organization’s annual Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching & Leadership – despite the pandemic and competing educational and breaking news during the time of our campaigns.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 165 words used.
The Harbinger team promoted Golden Apple Awards finalists and award recipients through campaigns in 2021 and 2022 which began with an announcement of the award finalists. The award recipients were notified via surprise visits at their school, held later in the spring. THG orchestrated each announcement on behalf of Golden Apple and included media/community relations and digital marketing. Each award recipient was surprised with the award in their classroom or school, after having gone through an intensive process of applications, classroom visits and interviews during the finalist stage.
THG leveraged the inherent human-interest stories behind each nominee and finalist. Press releases were distributed, followed by hyperlocal media pitching and digital marketing tactics. We encouraged journalists to interview the teacher and Golden Apple’s president, to hear directly from the teacher and increase awareness of Golden Apple and its work to elevate the importance of educators statewide and the teacher shortage. This strategy included leveraging extensive, highly-targeted earned media promotion, paid social media advertising and e-mail marketing.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2021. Even if your initiative started before 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 165 words used.
Print/Online/Broadcast Media Relations
Prior to and during the award finalists and awardee surprise visit announcements, The Harbinger Group pitched stories to a targeted list of local media outlets throughout Illinois, focusing primarily on markets in which awards finalists work and live. We pitched the media to cover the personal and professional stories of the educators at the finalist stage and later their selection as award recipients, which is revealed during surprise visits at their schools.
Social & Digital Media
For the surprise visit announcements of the awardees, we created individual video posts for each surprise visit and used Facebook advertising to boost each video immediately within the awardees’ local communities. Each video was then posted to Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to increase the reach across social media channels.
Results of the campaigns:
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438 pieces of earned media coverage secured
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12,500,000 estimated online views of secured media coverage
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19,000 social media shares of media coverage
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577,000 engagements on client’s social media channels
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