British Virgin Islands Tourist Board wins 2002 Magellan Publicity Award

The British Virgin Islands Tourist Board recently received notice that it has been awarded a bronze level 2002 Magellan Award for its “Nature’s Little Secrets” Publicity Campaign in North America. The BVI Tourist Board was given this award by the League of American Communications Professionals, based in San Diego, California, after being nominated by the BVI Press Office at FCB NY.

The BVI’s campaign was judged for the clarity of its communication goals, target audience definition, key messaging, execution and results. According to the organizers, this year’s Magellan Awards Publicity Campaign drew an unprecedented number of entries representing a broad range of industries and organization sizes. Nearly 200 entries were submitted, making the competition exceptionally difficult.

The competition was judged by a field of communications professionals affiliated with the League of Communications Professionals whose expertise spans a broad spectrum of PR functions, ranging from corporate and product communications for Fortune 500 organizations to non-profit publicity expertise. The core of the competition was centered on the judging of the overall publicity campaign within its select competition class. Competition classes were primarily determined according to company size, annual revenue, and campaign formats.

“The Nature’s Little Secrets campaign has been the cornerstone of the BVI Tourist Board’s global marketing communications program for over a decade. The Board is thrilled that the BVI’s commitment to this campaign’s consistent execution has been recognized by media experts.

The campaign has resulted in thousands of media print and broadcast placements on the BVI in North America. The Board is especially pleased with this award because we competed against several top PR agencies which have much greater staffing and financial resources than we do,” said Kedrick Malone, Director of the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board.

Later this month, the Board will also be receiving awards from the Hospitality, Sales and Marketing Association International for its advertising, marketing and public relations programs. The Board is also planning on entering its work in several other international marketing competitions.

“These types of awards and competitions are important because we are competing against our industry peers who help set the bar of achievement. The BVI Tourist Board needs to function at the highest level possible to maintain its competitive edge in a very competitive industry like tourism,” added Mr. Malone.