RALEIGH, N.C. (June 11, 2012) — French/West/Vaughan (FWV), one of the nation’s leading independent public relations and brand communications agencies, received two coveted 2012 Bronze Anvil Awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for superior performance in the design and execution of an individual tactic within a broader public relations program. Winners of the award were recognized during the 2012 Silver Anvil Awards Evening, held June 7 at the Equitable Tower in New York City.

FWV received Bronze Anvil Awards in the “websites” category for The V Foundation for Cancer Research redesign, as well as the “word-of-mouth” category for its Melitta Private Café Collection Escape campaign.

The V Foundation for Cancer Research is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer. The Foundation tasked FWV with redesigning and programming the jimmyv.org site, making it easier for visitors to make a donation, read or watch Jim Valvano’s famous ESPY speech, or to find or register for an event. In addition, FWV produced a video for the featured content zone that emphasized key reasons to donate to TVF and what the organization is all about. FWV also constructed easy access tabs for donors coming to the site from mobile devices for ESPN’s Jimmy V Week for Cancer Research, which together with the site redesign increased online donations 12 percent over the same four-month period a year prior.

Melitta USA charged FWV with developing a new, “buzz-worthy” promotion for Melitta’s Café Collection coffee that would engage centers of influence in the Philadelphia market just before the holidays, and core objectives were to increase brand affinity, reach and purchase intent for the collection, while providing an indulgent, one-on-one “Private Café” experience to individuals throughout the city. During a three-day period, FWV’s street team directly engaged tens of thousands of people and, coupled with traditional advertising, the promotion helped grow Café Collection dollar sales by 35 percent versus the prior year (Source: Nielsen).

“It is without question that the PRSA’s heralded Bronze Anvil Award sets the industry standards in spotlighting practitioners’ best efforts and results in proactive, tactical public relations planning and implementation,” said Tanya Morah, APR, 2012 Bronze Anvil chair and associate professor of communications at Wilberforce University. “Judging teams from around the country have meshed their individual expertise, experience and know-how to award these outstanding organizations that demonstrate communication effectiveness and bottom-line contribution.” 

“We are honored to receive two Bronze Anvil Awards from the largest organization of public relations professionals and students in the nation,” said FWV Chairman & CEO Rick French. “These esteemed awards are a testament to the committed and talented team of professionals that I am proud to call my colleagues.”

The Bronze Anvil Award was created by PRSA in 1969 to recognize outstanding public relations tactics — the individual items or components that contribute to the success of an overall program or campaign. Bronze Anvil Awards are possible in 65 categories and subcategories, including Media Relations, Newsletters, Websites, Feature Stories, Press/Media Kits, Podcasts, Word-of-Mouth and Blogs.

Entries are judged by teams of PRSA members — and others who have specific category expertise — across the country. Only one Bronze Anvil Award and up to two Bronze Anvil Awards of Commendation may be earned in each category or subcategory. No Bronze Anvil is awarded in those categories where the judges feel the entries do not rise to standards set forth for the award by PRSA.

About French/West/Vaughan
French/West/Vaughan is the Southeast’s leading public relations, public affairs and brand communications agency, independent or otherwise. National and international clients represented by the agency include Melitta, Wrangler, Justin Boot Company, the International Gemological Institute, RBC Bank and Moe’s Southwest Grill restaurants. The agency also offers award-winning advertising, graphic design, media planning and placement, and digital and social media marketing and monitoring services for a wide range of clients. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., FWV also has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Tampa and Dallas. For more information, please visit www.fwv-us.com.     

About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

With more than 31,000 members, PRSA is the largest organization of public relations professionals and students. PRSA is comprised of 111 local Chapters organized into 10 geographic Districts; 14 Professional Interest Sections that focus on issues, trends and research relevant to specialized practice areas, such as technology, health care, financial communications, entertainment and sports, and travel tourism; and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which has more than 300 Chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. PRSA is headquartered in New York.