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Business to Business
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Travel & Leisure
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Feld Entertainment
Mrs. Butterworth's
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida
Zumba
Florida Marlins
Homewood Suites
Homewood Suites Development
"M&M"® Black & White: Rebranding
Everyone knows and loves M&M's. So how do you attract attention to a mature brand and reverse years of flat sales? You reinvent yourself. M&M's unique selling point is in its color. So what would happen if you took that color away? rbb helped M&M's and America find out when Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve served as the platform to announce that M&M's were going all black and white. All lines of M&M's lost their trademark colorful packages and colorful insides. At the same time we launched the great color quest - a contest to find the six bags of color that would signify the return to colorful M&M's once again. For more information contact tina.elmowitz@rbbpr.com.
AMResorts – "Flu-Free Guarantee" Campaign
After the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested foregoing non-essential travel to Mexico based on reported outbreaks of the infamous "Swine flu aka H1N1 virus," fear of travel immediately ensued especially among American tourists who accounted for the majority of travelers to the country. Hospitality companies including AMResorts, with Mexico-based brands Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts and Secrets and Dreams Resorts & Spas, began to experience severe economic dislocation. Fueled by additional media speculation, hotel occupancy levels were slashed by more than half from the same period the year before. With more than 70 percent of its resorts located in Mexico, AMResorts, along with rbb Public Relations, jumped into action within hours of the WHO announcement to create and execute an integrated crisis communications plan that would minimize the negative impact. Within days, a multi-brand, consumer-focused program called the "Flu-Free Guarantee" was developed. It made a promise to guests rooted in the company's confidence that its resorts, were safe and flu-free. Should a guest contract the swine flu at any AMResorts' property, they would receive their vacation back times three. According to Lisa Ross, rbb's president, "the strategy behind the 'Flu-Free Guarantee' was not to react to the crisis, but to challenge it head-on, transforming concerns into affirmative outcomes. While others were running from the media, we encouraged our client to proactively communicate and trust that this was the most effective way to promote a message of confidence to its customer base."
An aggressive national media relations campaign helped spread the word and convey AMResorts' assurance that Americans could, in fact, travel safely to Mexico. To enhance its impact, AMResorts enlisted direct competitors to adopt the promotion, echoing their confidence in Mexico and helping to speed the country's overall tourism recovery. The results? Still in the midst of swine-flu mania, the occupancy rates across AMResorts' 11 properties had increased 140 percent following the WHO announcement. Resorts reported continued increases, with some properties reaching occupancy levels of 96 percent by within one month. 85 hotels eventually joined the movement AMResorts and rbb started, helping to repair Mexico's reputation and assuring travelers the country was flu-free. Mexican officials honored AMResorts' CEO Alex Zozaya with a major national award. The PR industry also took notice, awarding rbb and AMResorts a Silver Anvil and Silver SABRE for this Travel and Tourism PR campaign.
Costa Maya
The Port of Costa Maya, Mexico's fastest-growing tourist destination and cruise port, was hit by Hurricane Dean. Approximately 50 percent of the Port's infrastructure was damaged by the category five storm. The successful, speedy recovery of the Port was ultimately bound to the return of ships and passengers to the area. rbb Public Relations along with the Port's marketing team, quickly began executing a plan to gain the cruise industry's confidence in Costa Maya's ability to fully restore the Port within one year and bring passengers back as soon as possible.rbb's industry knowledge and relationships within the travel and tourism sector served the Port well by significantly increasing awareness among key decision makers and consumers. Additionally, rbb increased Costa Maya's presence at key industry events and further capitalized on partnership with credible and prominent entities like Mexico Tourism Board to help instill a sense of confidence in the Port's commitment to recover quickly. An aggressive communications plan targeting consumer and trade media further supported the Port's goals. The result? Two months ahead of goal and less than one year after its catastrophic destruction, the Port reclaimed 99 percent of its cruise lines and 63 percent of re-routed calls. The Holmes Report awarded rbb a Silver SABRE Award in the Travel/Tourism category for this campaign. For more information contact lisa.ross@rbbpr.com.
