Tossing the Dough: Adams & Knight's Audacious Claim
You don't see this every day: a highway sign boasting about pizza and a tourism campaign that's a runaway hit. Adams & Knight, a marketing guru headquartered in Avon, Connecticut, has crushed the competition to snag a Gold Effie Award for their bombastic ‘Pizza Capital of the U.S.’ campaign. For folks out there, an Effie isn't just any trophy—it's the crown jewel recognising campaigns that fuse strategy, creativity, and solid business results. Quite the testament to gutsy moves, wouldn't you say?
The Marketing Alchemy That Turned Heads
Adams & Knight, alongside the Connecticut Office of Statewide Marketing & Tourism, shoved some of the globe’s big names like DDB Colombia and Havas New York off the podium. We’re talking the only gold award in the Travel and Tourism docket—the crème de la crème over 27 other golds out of 128 awarded this cycle. The brass behind the agency, Jill Adams, brandishes their win as evidence of their ‘innovative ideas’ and effective client partnerships. Not the typical marketing fluff, this was an integration masterclass worthy of a textbook or two.
“Ever since the agency’s founding, our passion has been to deliver innovative ideas that spark tangible results for our clients.” — Jill Adams, CEO of Adams & Knight
Strategy: Beyond Just a Slice of Pie
‘Pizza wasn’t the goal; it was just the hook,’ Michelle Bonner, VP of Public Relations, mentioned, driving home how a simple yet audacious idea got parked at every layover. Their strategy—a clamor inducing ‘Welcome to Connecticut: Home of the Pizza Capital of the U.S.’ sign on a highway—was part of a broader, knit-together campaign that hauled in billions of impressions and found itself tossed into Colbert's monologue highlights.
- 19+ billion earned media impressions
- 4,000+ earned media placements
- A moment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
- 68% spike in Google searches for ‘Connecticut pizza’
- 37% jump in long-haul visits to Connecticut
- Largest uplift in brand perception Connecticut had seen
Winning Hearts, Grabbing Eyeballs
The folks at Adams & Knight didn’t just whip up a catchphrase—they concocted a dynamic megaphone sculpting Connecticut's image. The result? A PRWeek Gold and 7 HSMAI Adrian Awards also adorning their mantle. Felicia Lindau, SVP and travel marketing supremo at the agency, attributes the synergy of strategies for consistently delivering stellar outcomes.
“The best tourism campaigns don't just grab attention—they grab hearts,” proclaimed Anthony Anthony, keeping in mind the full circle Connecticut’s narrative spun around. Their campaign boldly pronounced the outlandish, and in doing so, penned a story too captivating to skim over.
Setting the Bar in Tourism Campaigns
Now, as we look at the crowded arena of tourism marketing, Adams & Knight didn’t just emerge from nowhere. Their penchant for steering away from the mundane fuels their success. From nabbing the Gold Effie to being revered at various other contests like PRWeek, their clients benefit from an approach that’s both holistic and daring—a mix not every agency’s equipped to handle.
So, the message, blunt and unvarnished: sometimes, a little risk throws one hell of a party. Who knew, right? What's important to the greater investor collective isn't just the numbers. It's about creating noise that resonates, capturing attention, and crafting stories that don’t fade away. Adams & Knight just aced the playbook—slice by slice.
