2023 HSMAI Adrian Award Client Wins
November 15, 2023
Madden Media is thrilled to share that eight of our clients scored a total of 10 HSMAI Adrian Awards for the fantastic work we did together over the past year. Out of the over 800 entries received, the HSMAI Adrian Awards are all recognized these clients for their creativity and innovation in advertising, digital marketing, and public relations in the hospitality and tourism industry.
We’re proud of our clients’ well-deserved accolades, and it’s been a pleasure working on outstanding destination marketing projects throughout the past year. Here’s to more success and collaboration in the future!
Gold
- Visit Buffalo Niagara (President’s Award)
Silver
- Grand Canyon West (President’s Award)
- Visit Glendale
- Discover Atlanta (President’s Award)
Bronze
- Visit Idaho
- La Quinta (President’s Award)
- Destination Door County (two awards)
- Visit Port Aransas (two awards)
Visit Buffalo Niagara, Travel + Leisure Feature
As the reopening of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Visit Buffalo Niagara and the AKG worked together to plan a FAM tour that centralized not just on the museum itself, but also highlighted other key attractions across the city. VBN secured key press that aligned with not only the arts scene, but would be able to showcase the destination’s comprehensive offerings. Key coverage included a full destination feature in Travel + Leisure that showcases the rich presence of art, culture, and history that the city of Buffalo proudly offers. Visit Buffalo Niagara’s public relations efforts were awarded the top prize in the Public Relations/Communications – Feature Placement Online or Print Consumer Media category, and was awarded the President’s Award in its budget range.
Grand Canyon West, Mobile App
Grand Canyon West and Madden Media created a DMO app to build brand awareness while providing visitors with information to help them experience the attractions and learn about the tribe. The app provides a visual representation to show Grand Canyon West’s location in relation to the National Park, as well as how far apart certain attractions are from one another within the destination to help visitors be better prepared for the experiences. The app also provided an outlet to keep guests entertained and informed while they waited in line to access attractions. Since launch, the app has been downloaded over 22,000 times and contributed to an over 146% year-over-year increase in revenue. Grand Canyon West took home the Silver Adrian Award in the Digital – App category and was awarded the President’s Award for its budget range.
Visit Glendale, Where Champions are Crowned
Hosting Super Bowl LVII, presented a huge opportunity for Visit Glendale, but not without presenting a variety of challenges. Having all eyes on our city offered us a unique opportunity to position ourselves as the premier sports and entertainment destination in the country. Paid media efforts blew awareness goals—impressions were 17 times higher than our goal, clicks to VisitGlendale.com exceeded the goal by more than 800%, and first-party lead goals were exceeded by 43%. Public relations efforts, which included a media event in Denver, CO, garnered notable placements in Sports Travel Magazine, the Lady Who Travels, Hook and Barrel, and Travel Market Report. In conjunction with the Denver media event, we secured an appearance on popular Denver morning television broadcast Great Day Colorado. Visit Glendale received the Silver Adrian Award in the Integrated Campaign – Experiential Marketing category for its budget range.
Discover Atlanta, 50 Fun Things to See & Do in Atlanta
Across all iterations of the “50 Fun” program, elements of the Atlanta scenery and culture are infused–combining descriptive copy with fun interactive elements, eye-catching colors, and rich imagery and iconography to create an interactive platform that can be engaged with via multiple mediums. The program culminated with a launch event at Atlanta’s Fox Theater to unveil the new program, including print, web, and app iterations of the “50 Fun” program. Local influencers were in attendance to help generate buzz for the program, and these partners continue to promote the various mediums of the program to date. The “50 Fun” program was awarded a Silver Adrian Award for the Integrated Campaign – Business to Consumer category, and was awarded the President’s Award in its budget range.
Visit Idaho, Expanding Travel Horizons: Idaho’s Cultural Connections
Visit Idaho and Madden aimed to represent the cultural stories around the state by promoting heritage tourism and education opportunities and by aligning as an ally to groups who’ve lived here since before Idaho was Idaho. The campaign included working directly with tribal members to share stories of cultural sites, collaborating with the great-great-great niece of Sacajawea on a guided tour of tribal homeland, highlighting Native American artists, and spotlighting historical sites, even ones with difficult stories, like the Minidoka National Historic Site, where Japanese Americans were relocated during World War II. Visit Idaho was awarded a Bronze Adrian Award in the Advertising – Corporate Social Responsibility category in its budget range for this campaign.
La Quinta, Love La Quinta
We aimed to create a sense of unity and pride within La Quinta, ensuring that residents felt a deep connection to their city as they emerged from a challenging period. To achieve this, we launched the Love La Quinta and Uncovering The Gems campaigns—two sister campaigns that ran in tandem to another to achieve the same goal. These initiatives were not just marketing strategies—they were a heartfelt response to the need for a renewed sense of belonging and togetherness in our community. The Love La Quinta campaign, with its vibrant branding and the addition of a heart to our logo, symbolized our commitment to showing love for our city. It was a visual representation of our desire to unite the community under a common banner of love for the City of La Quinta. Uncovering The Gems, on the other hand, delved into the stories of local leaders and entrepreneurs. By showcasing these individuals, we aimed to inspire others and emphasize the remarkable qualities of our community. The city of La Quinta was awarded a Bronze Adrian Award for the Integrated Campaign – Reputation Management category, and was awarded the President’s Award in its budget range.
Destination Door County, Art in the Door
Destination Door County elevated the artists of Door County through an opportunity to create custom artwork to be used in future Destination Door County campaigns. They tapped into the local art community of Door County to promote the destination, developing a juried art competition that was voted on by the general public. In total, they received 99 submissions from local artists, and our expert jury selected eight finalists. Their works were posted on Destination Door County’s social media channels and website to be voted on by the general public with four winners earning the grand prize. After over 5,000 votes, the 4 grand prize winners were announced. Destination Door County received a Bronze Adrian Award in the Digital – Contest/Sweepstakes category in its budget range.
Destination Door County, Feelings Campaign
Destination Door County developed a strategic campaign focused on travel intent and employed messaging and imagery that prompted travelers to envision themselves in Door County. They created a versatile, multiyear campaign that differentiated Door County’s communities by bringing awareness to the many different experiences while sustainably managing visitors to the destination. We turned Door County’s messaging into an aspirational and inspirational brand lifestyle experience, touching all seasons and experiences the 19 communities have to offer. While the exact feelings Door County elicits are unique for everyone, it was clear the destination elicits a strong positive reaction—we captured this essence with a clean, minimal aesthetic that successfully reached audiences with powerful creativity. The “Feelings” campaign was awarded a Bronze Adrian Award for its budget range in the Advertising – Brand Campaign category.
Visit Port Aransas, Respect our Island Home
To highlight Visit Port Aransas’ commitment to environmental stewardship, Madden developed a brand extension in the form of an animated sea turtle named Flynn; asking travelers to “respect his island home” to embody their brand pillar. The sea turtle is the primary “spokesperson” for the campaign—featured prominently on the “Respect Our Island Home” landing page and advertisements. Flynn will also be highlighted on collateral and merchandise with a QR code driving users to the “Respect Our Island Home” landing page, which includes educational information about the island’s environment and conservation best practices. The Respect Our Island Home campaign was awarded the Bronze Adrian Award for the Trending – Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) category.
Visit Port Aransas, Salty Stories
Port Aransas has more to offer than just sand and surf. The island is a living, breathing community, inviting visitors to fall in love. The Salty Stories campaign elevates Port Aransas as a destination with a culture as colorful as the characters that live there. the campaign encourages travelers to seek out the unique personalities and businesses that make Port Aransas such a special place. Using a combination of interviews with community members and stunning videos of the destination, the storytelling series engages viewers and strengthens the connection between visitors and Port Aransas. This connection cultivates respect and admiration for residents, who in turn feel represented in the campaign. “Salty Stories” was awarded a Bronze Adrian Award for its budget range in the Advertising – Brand Campaign category.
