As CEO of BRG, my intent when launching our blog was to provide clients and visitors with useful information verses straight commentary.  BRG Spark is a collaborative effort internally vs. being my “soapbox.” However, I realize there are moments in time when it’s the perfect platform for me to thank our amazing clients and recognize the great team at BRG . . . so, please indulge me! 

Recently at our industry’s most prestigious awards ceremony, BRG and our long-term client, Home Safety Council, received the coveted Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).  For those of us in public relations and marketing communications, this is a red carpet moment and the equivalent of taking home the Oscar. 

And so it is with great pride and gratitude that I share this honor with Home Safety Council, who has continued to place their trust in us for eight years (they were our very first client), as well as the extraordinary team of talented professionals at BRG dedicated to this account.  We have forged a true partnership with our friends at Home Safety Council, and it’s a collaboration that continues to produce award-winning campaigns year after year. 

We took home the silver in a competitive category - Reputation/Brand Management, Nonprofit Organizations.  The winning program, Safe Haven Campaign, is a comprehensive, integrated reputation building and home safety education initiative created to further establish the organization as a leading national home safety advocate and information resource.  To date, campaign results have exceeded expectations. 

Highlights include:

1.  765 million media impressions and more than 8,000 placements during 2008.  National coverage included ten broadcast segments across every network (Good Morning America, the CBS Early Show and seven segments on the TODAY Show).
2. The June issue of Good Housekeeping featured a 16-page section dedicated to home safety that reached 26 million readers throughout the nation.
3. In 2008, the Web site experienced more than a 22 percent increase of unique visitors compared to 2007 and 1.5 million safety materials were downloaded.  As a result of organic SEO efforts, Home Safety Council achieved #1 Google rankings for all top keywords and number of pages indexed through Google increased by more than 100 percent.
4. More than 2,000 safety professionals attended Webinar series events and more than 10,000 pieces of educational material were distributed.  5,000+ fire and life safety professionals signed up to the receive Home Safety Council’s newsletter.

Quality work for great clients . . . that’s what it is all about!