Bromley/MS&L Takes PR Week Awards.

At the recent 2001 PR Week Awards in New York City, Bromley/MS&L was recognized for its client work with both Western Union and Boy Scouts of America in the categories of Non-Profit Campaign and Multicultural Marketing Campaign of the Year. Bromley/MS&L was the only Hispanic public relations agency to be bestowed multiple nominations. The prestigious PR Week awards program annually honors the industry’s best public relations efforts based on effective research, objectives, planning and final results.

In addition, Bromley/MS&L won top honors at the Texas Public Relations Association’s (TPRA) annual Silver Spur Awards. The Boy Scouts of America campaign, entitled ¡Scouting! Vale la Pena, was awarded top honors in both Community Relations and Media Relations Campaign of the Year. Western Union’s international Helping Hands campaign won Marketing Campaign of the Year.

Bromley’s triple wins at the statewide Silver Spur Awards mark the first time any single agency-Hispanic or mainstream-has won three major campaign awards at TPRA’s annual contest. The Silver Spur Award is TPRA’s highest recognition for superior public relations achievement and no secondary awards or certificates are presented.

On the global level, Bromley/MS&L was recognized in Manning, Selvage & Lee’s annual awards program recognizing the best work from MS&L offices worldwide. Western Union’s Helping Hands program won Corporate Campaign of the Year and Boy Scouts of America received an honorable mention. Only eight grand prizes and seven honorable mentions were selected from the more than 90 MS&L offices found in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

The Western Union campaign, recognized for its marketing and multicultural strategies, helped establish a global community relations initiative to empower Western Union consumers to make positive changes in their lives. Through community partnerships, outreach materials, workshops and special events, the Bromley/MS&L program provided resources to Central Americans living in the U.S. in areas such as health, money, schools, immigration, job opportunities and workers’ rights.

Western Union’s Eugenio Nigro, marketing director for Latin America and the Caribbean, says the Western Union Helping Hands program was developed to help bring to life its Spanish tagline, “Western Union es Confianza” (Western Union is Trust). “Helping Hands helps people to help themselves,” says Nigro. “To date, our program has assisted not only thousands of newly-arrived immigrants to the U.S., but also 7,200 people a day in Nicaragua and thousands in El Salvador.”

The ¡Scouting! Vale la Pena campaign was recognized for its efforts in reaching the Hispanic community and media on behalf of a non-profit organization. Bromley/MS&L succeeded in designing a synchronized public relations and advertising outreach campaign to boost awareness of Scouting and the values of Scouting among Hispanic youth, parents and community leaders in South Texas.

“The development of the ¡Scouting! Vale la Pena campaign was strategically planned and executed,” says Phil Bevins, director of external communications for Boy Scouts of America. “Our pre- and post-survey results proved that utilizing public relations for this grassroots effort helped significantly meet and exceed our goal in increasing awareness and membership among Hispanics.”