IABC/SC Honors Flock and Rally with Two 2018 Palmetto Awards
Flock and Rally, the women-owned integrated communications firm based in Columbia, S.C., was honored with two 2018 Palmetto Awards by the South Carolina chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC/SC). Founded in 2010, the firm serves clients across the state of South Carolina and beyond.
The firm and its project partners earned 2018 IABC/SC Palmetto Awards for the following campaigns:
The University of South Carolina: Give 4 Garnet Campaign
The University of South Carolina brought on Flock and Rally to assist with campaign strategy, messaging and graphic design for its first-ever “Give 4 Garnet” day-of-giving campaign, with the mission of raising $3 million to support the University’s programs ranging from scholarships and internships to study-abroad and research opportunities.
Held on April 18, 2018, the giving campaign ran for a total of 18 hours and one minute, during which time a total of $3.7 million was raised via gifts from 5,200 supporters, surpassing the campaign’s monetary goal by 20% and its donor goal by over 15%. The campaign received 20 million social media impressions, with 17.1 million on April 18 alone, along with 1 million social media impressions for the #Give4Garnet hashtag.
The Flock and Rally team shares this IABC/SC Palmetto Award of Excellence in Marketing Communication with the University of South Carolina Office of Annual Giving and the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, as well as project partners Cait Maloney Creative and film/video production company Dust of the Ground.
Total Eclipse Weekend Columbia, S.C.
http://www.totaleclipsecolumbiasc.com
Due to its unique position as the 3rd largest city in the U.S. on the center line of the “path of totality,” Columbia, S.C. would see the longest period of 100% total eclipse for a metro area on the entire East Coast on August 21, 2017, making it one of the top 5 eclipse viewing destinations in the country for the “Great American Eclipse” of 2017.
As a response to this one-time opportunity, the Total Eclipse Weekend Columbia, S.C. tourism campaign was founded by regional leaders to create economic impact in the greater Columbia, S.C. region by motivating local attractions, cultural organizations, restaurants, etc. to host more than 120 eclipse-themed events across the long weekend of Aug. 18-21, 2017, thus giving travelers from all over the nation and the world plenty of reasons to choose Columbia, S.C. as their destination for witnessing the eclipse. This integrated communications campaign would have a regional, national and even international scope and serve the secondary purpose of taking the opportunity to raise awareness of the Columbia, S.C. area as a vibrant, authentic destination filled with cool things to do all year-round.
What resulted was unprecedented media exposure for Columbia, S.C., at nearly 60,000,000 estimated press coverage views, and a massive influx of an estimated 400,000 visitors traveling to view the eclipse within the Midlands region Aug. 18-21, 2017. Economic impact in Richland County alone (where Columbia is located) is estimated at $48 million. Statewide economic impact estimated at more than $269 million, per a multi-state, post-event survey by the S.C. Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT), which calculated an estimated 1.6 million people traveling to and within S.C. to view the total eclipse. View the campaign website at http://www.totaleclipsecolumbiasc.com.
The Flock and Rally team shares this IABC/SC Palmetto Award of Merit in Marketing Communication with the Total Eclipse Weekend Columbia, S.C. steering committee (co-chair Merritt McNeely; co-chair Tom Falvey and the South Carolina State Museum team; City of Columbia Councilman Howard Duvall and the City of Columbia team), Kelly Barbrey and the Experience Columbia S.C. team including then-communications director Andrea Mensink, Renee Chow, Kelsey Carmichael and Holly Heaton; Lee Snelgrove and One Columbia for the Arts & History; Miriam Atria, Jayne Baker and Capital City Lake Murray Country; as well as project partners Cait Maloney Creative and Period Three web design.
The Flock and Rally Team
Flock and Rally is led by co-founding partners Debi Schadel and Tracie Broom, who serve senior account manager functions while providing creative strategy and overall project management services across the agency’s clients. Flock and Rally’s full-time, in-house team is rounded out by VP of marketing Merritt McNeely, senior integrated communications manager Meg Stith, and integrated communications managers Ashley Cady, Rachel Carter, Bianca Wyatt and Hailey Covell, as well as press archivist Denise Stahl Shealy and an array of professionals who lend their talents to the firm’s projects, including artist Cait Maloney. Flock and Rally works with clients in sectors ranging from tourism, lifestyle, hospitality and nonprofits to education, tech, business, economic development and more. Learn more about Flock and Rally at http://www.flockandrally.com.
IABC/SC
The South Carolina Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators aims to connect communicators across the Palmetto State and improve the effectiveness of internal and external information exchange. IABC/CS achieves this by linking organizational, business communicators to a global network of communication professionals that that develop, establish and adhere to the highest professional standards of equality and innovation in organizational/business communication. For more information, visit https://www.sc.iabc.com
About Flock and Rally: Integrated Communications for a Brave New South
Flock and Rally, founded by partners Debi Schadel and Tracie Broom in Columbia, S.C. in 2010, is a full-service, women-owned integrated communications firm, offering branding, marketing, public relations, social media services and more to clients across South Carolina and beyond. Flock and Rally’s mission is simple: to rally our community around great ideas. Flock and Rally is certified as a federal DBE, as a Richland County SLBE and as a City of Columbia LBE. For more information, visit www.flockandrally.com.
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