Company: Harvest Hosts, Vail, CO
Nomination Submitted by: 5W Public Relations
Company Description: Harvest Hosts is a membership program that provides access to a network of wineries, farms, breweries, museums, and other unique attractions that invite self-contained RVers to visit and stay overnight. For a yearly membership fee, Harvest Hosts’ members are invited to stay at hundreds of interesting locations around North America and experience new opportunities to explore and enjoy RVing.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Travel & Tourism
 Nomination Title: Harvest Hosts Releases Dream Job for Beer Lovers Everywhere
- 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
- 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:
October 27, 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 236 words used.
a. Faced with an important company milestone, hitting 500+ breweries/distilleries in the Harvest Hosts network, Harvest Hosts came to 5W with an ask to help make an impact around this news, which typically would only see minimal coverage with select industry trade outlets. The team considered how to make this announcement stand out and reach a wider consumer audience, driving awareness for Harvest Hosts memberships with a new demographic. In addition to the company’s awareness, Harvest Hosts always strives to drive recognition and value for their Host locations – and it was important that this milestone also help support the small businesses that were now part of the 500+ brewery network.
b. Historically, these announcements are not a priority for major travel and consumer media outlets to cover, so we needed to find a creative way to drive relevancy and help a broader audience understand the impact of Harvest Hosts’ model. With thousands of small breweries around the country, these small businesses also face challenges with profitability. By adapting a company milestone campaign to incorporate a unique job listing, the goal was to garner more attention for Harvest Hosts, particularly in this growing category. In doing so, more breweries and distilleries across the country would learn about Harvest Hosts and look into (or sign up) to also become hosts – growing their own potential businesses while expanding this category within the Harvest Hosts network of hosts.
- 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 233 words used.
a. To create timeliness, we selected National American Beer Day on October 27 to launch the campaign. We knew we also needed a newsworthy hook and direct call to action to drive applicants, new users and potential hosts to Harvest Hosts. The job listing was born – Harvest Hosts and 5W created the dream job of traveling the country in an RV tasting microbrews from more than 500 locations across North America. 5W drafted the job listing and Harvest Hosts set up a job posting on their website and LinkedIn, making it an extremely turnkey and low-cost initiative to launch. And the name itself? Crowdsourced from the Harvest Hosts company-wide slack channel.
b. As part of the initiative, we included quotes and testimonials from local brewery Hosts in the press release and shared photos in media outreach to drive further attention for these small businesses across the country as well.
c. In terms of goals – one of the main goals was to drive media coverage. Aiming to breakthrough to top tier, national consumer publications and broadcast TV that typically would not cover a milestone announcement in addition to the industry trade publications. Outside of media coverage, the goal was to attract quality candidates for the position. The team aimed to garner about 100 applications – a goal which was far exceeded, garnering more than 1,000 total applications for the AleBlazer position.
- 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 196 words used.
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The campaign garnered 84 media placements – 17 unique US online articles (with 7 syndications), 7 international online articles, and 53 broadcast placements – bringing the total media impressions to 485,950,824. Highlights include:
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Denver Business Journal:This Vail-based company wants to pay someone to go on a 2-year brewery tour Syndications include:KUSA (NBC Denver, CO) Online
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Food & Wine:This Company Will Send You on a Two-Year RV Trip to Visit Breweries Syndications include:Yahoo! Life;Yahoo! Sports
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Thrillist:This Company Will Pay You to Travel the Country in an RV & Visit Breweries
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Travel + Leisure:This Company Will Pay You to Take a 2-year Road Trip to More Than 500 Breweries Across North America
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In addition, beyond traditional PR results, the campaign saw in just two weeks:
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27,000 pageviews for the job listing on our site (13k users)
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1000+ applications before we shut down the listings (dates from 10/27 to 11/5)
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Other job listings have benefited from overall awareness and interest
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Host Recruiting Brand campaign had a 34% increase in search volume interest on Google
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Search term “How do you become a Harvest Host” increased by 117% on Google
- 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):
Total 51 words used.
We have provided a link to the AleBlazer press release announcement on October 27, 2022, strategically falling on National American Beer Day.
Additionally, we have attached a screenshot of the AleBlazer job application hitting 1,000 applicants on Lever (Harvest Hosts job platform), displaying the real-life impact of the AleBlazer campaign.
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