Christie Strikes Publicity Gold
at Beijing Olympics
Christie Digital's high performance digital projectors helped China to wow the world at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Christie's digital projectors created spectacular special effects for the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2008 Olympics. Herman & Almonte Public Relations also "won gold," in terms of global publicity.

HAPR conducted an aggressive campaign that netted extensive feature coverage in print and broadcast, including interviews for its top executives. Editorial coverage included a wide range of technology, entertainment, A/V, and professional industry trade publications as well as consumer media throughout the U.S. and Canada. An extensive cover story appeared in a top industry publication. International coverage included China, the Asia/Pacific Rim, and Europe.

Through this widespread coverage, HAPR helped Christie, recognized as a leader in digital projection technology, to assert its dominance in the professional A/V, events, entertainment and cinema marketplaces, strengthening its global brand.

Ongoing PR Helps "Go Barging"
Cruise to Booking Success
Go Barging, Europe's premier luxury barge cruise operator, reported strong bookings for its 2008 season. A substantial number of the company’s passengers were from North America, where HAPR has been conducting an ongoing public relations campaign targeting U.S. and Canadian travel agents and sophisticated, affluent consumers.

HAPR's strategy of pursuing both short- and long-term media coverage, has generated strong buzz, not just for Go Barging, but for the concept of a luxury barge cruise vacation, as well. Since HAPR launched Go Barging’s campaign in 2007, more articles about luxury hotel barging have appeared in consumer and travel trade publications than ever before. Go Barging has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Canada’s Globe and Mail, and The Toronto Star, whose travel writer personally experienced a unique cruise on Italy’s Brenta River and the Venetian lagoons. Articles about the company and its cruises have also appeared in consumer travel magazines and on websites such as Travel & Leisure.com and Frommer's. And all the leading travel trade publications routinely cover news on Go Barging.

Public relations will continue to be a central part of Go Barging's North America marketing program to ensure that its brand remains top-of-mind among its target markets.

Film Competition Lures YouTube Generation and Reaps Record Ticket Sales for Clearwater Festival
By creating and launching the first annual Clearwater Environmental Short Film Competition (CESFC) while continuing to target the Clearwater Festival's core audience, HAPR helped the annual Clearwater Music and Environmental Festival reach out to a wider audience. Public relations activities successfully promoted a three-prong message covering the Festival's zero footprint initiatives, alternative energy programs, and community activism in support of the environment.

"How do you reach out to a new generation while holding onto your core audience?" is one of the big dilemmas in public relations. This year’s Clearwater Festival event, in its 40th year, focused on appealing to, and educating, a younger audience, to ensure the Festival's continued popularity and longevity moving forward into the next generation.

HAPR ramped up its outreach to the Internet generation by creating and launching the short film competition, which called upon filmmakers, musicians, songwriters and singers to express their concerns and interests for the environment through original music and song in a three-minute video entry. Submissions were posted on the world’s most popular video website, YouTube, where it was viewed by thousands of people, helping to spark interest in the Festival and its environmental messages, and directing the viewers to the Clearwater website. The competition was publicized nationwide, and regional and local media that reached a vast majority of the Festival's audiences covered its winners.

An aggressive campaign to traditional print and broadcast media helped to generate feature articles in regional newspapers and environmental magazines, and generated scores of radio interviews for the Festival musical performers who promoted the annual 2-day event. The result was another successful year in which the Festival's message was heard clearly by an expanding circle of supporters, and had the largest sale of tickets on its opening day.