Volvo Cars Of North America Wins "Product Brand Development Campaign of the Year" at the 2003 PR Week Awards
Company Receives National Acclaim for Publicizing Volvo's 75th Anniversary Event and Volvo's "Two Million Mile Man;" PR team generated more than 800 million media impressions
IRVINE, CALIF. (March 7, 2003) - Volvo Cars of North America's Public Affairs staff, based in Irvine, Calif., was selected last night by PR Week magazine as having managed the nation's "Product Brand Development Campaign of the Year" for its efforts last year publicizing the company's 75th Anniversary Event.
PR Week recognized Volvo, its Minneapolis-based consumer and brand public relations firm Haberman & Associates and its New York-based production firm Fitzgerald Brunetti Productions, March 6, 2003, in New York as part of the publication's annual "PR Week Awards" program. The awards honor the most outstanding communications initiatives over the past year in a variety of categories.
Volvo generated more than 800 million media impressions in 2002 for Volvo's 75th Anniversary Event, which was held March 27 at Times Square Studios Ltd., hosted by "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart and featured music by Sugar Ray and Suzanne Vega. The more than 275 media and 150 executives in attendance witnessed the event's guest of honor, retired science teacher Irv Gordon, become the first person to drive two million miles in the same car, a 1966 Volvo P1800. Gordon turned his historic mile driving down Broadway onto the event's main studio stage.
Media that featured Volvo's anniversary and Gordon's milestone included national organizations such as the New York Times, CNN, NBC's "The Tonight Show," USA Today, NBC's "The Today Show," the Los Angeles Times, and Fox News Network - as well as hundreds of local television and radio news stations and daily newspapers nationwide.
More than 1,000 public relations professionals attended the ceremony. The "Product Brand Development Campaign" category recognized "the achievement of the ongoing development, reinvigoration, or re-launch of an established consumer brand (either a product or service) through the use of public relations." Almost 100 companies competed in this category for top honors. According to PR Week, one judge noted that Volvo won the award because their initiative was "a big idea with great execution. It was smart on strategy."
"The PR Week Awards is considered the Oscar Awards of the public relations industry," said Roger Ormisher, vice president of public affairs for Volvo Cars of North America. "It's an incredible honor to be recognized with such a prestigious award. What makes it even more special is that it celebrates two important moments for us: the marking of our 75th anniversary and the historic milestone of one of our most enduring and endearing customers, Irv Gordon."
Volvo is teaming once again with Haberman and Associates and Fitzgerald Brunetti Productions to develop a national product brand development campaign at Times Square Studios Ltd. On April 16, 2003, the company will host the first Volvo for life Awards Ceremony at Times Square, a prestigious event to honor everyday heroes doing extraordinary things in communities nationwide.
For more information, visit www.volvoforlifeawards.com
# # #
Contact:
Sören Johansson, Volvo Cars of North America, 949-341-6719, sjohan44@volvocars.com.
