Welcome Samantha and Courtney
A warm welcome to the PR and Social Media department’s newest Account Coordinators — Samantha Stanyon and Courtney Williams.
In their new roles, these Peace College alumna will be helping with media and blogger relations, event management, tradeshow coordination, press materials and blog writing, and social media efforts.
Sam is not a newcomer to the agency; she interned with us in the Fall of 2011. While in college, Sam was a new business development intern at Nextaff and did some event planning work on campus. Bright, determined and resourceful, Sam graduated with a BA in Communications Studies and a concentration in PR.
A May 2011 graduate with a Communications degree, Courtney completed five internships while in college. She interned at Largemouth Communications, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Walt Disney World, Burning Oak Studios, and Rick Rountree Communications. Courtney comes to us with some great media relations and writing experience, and an eagerness to learn more about what the agency has to offer.
We are glad to have them on board!
RPRS Honors HM&P with Five Awards
We recently came home with five awards from the Raleigh Public Relations Society’s (RPRS) annual Sir Walter Raleigh Awards banquet. The agency was recognized for its successful implementation of strategic public relations, social media and event planning on behalf of Butterball, LLC, BASF Plant Science’s NutriDense® Silage brand, and Precise® Pet Products.
What we won:
- Silver Award in the public relations writing category for the organization and distribution of Butterball’s 2010 Holiday Donations announcement. The donations announcement helped to increase the client’s visibility throughout the holiday season.
- Honorable Mention in the organizational identity and promotion category for the agency’s leadership and support of the Precise Holistic Complete product launch.
- Honorable Mention in the special events category for the coordination of Butterball’s Millionth Bird Events, celebrating the production of the millionth whole bird produced at two facilities and using that milestone to honor a local veteran.
- Honorable Mention in social media for the promotion and outreach efforts of the NutriDense Silage Web Moo.0 Contest.
- Honorable Mention in the audio/visual presentation category for the Precise Pets Products Brand “American Ingenuity” video.
Congratulations to all the folks who participated in these efforts and for continuing to provide clients with great work! Check out the release on the Sir Walter Raleigh Awards.
New Account Executive: Kayla Bourgeois
We have a new addition to the Account Management department, Kayla Bourgeois. In her role as an AE, she will develop and implement marketing strategies as well as manage the day-to-day advertising and communications activities for several clients, including Georgia-Pacific Professional and Barton College.
Kayla brings with her comprehensive experience in project management and digital media – a great combination. Before joining the agency, Kayla served as a project manager at Centerline Digital where she gained extensive knowledge across all media. She also worked as a broadcast technician at WRAL-TV and a video editor and quality assurance engineer at Oasys Mobile. Most recently, Kayla developed an initiative called “Rebuild Raleigh” to help raise money for the rebuilding efforts of Raleigh after the April 2011 tornadoes.
Please welcome this Appalachian State grad to the Howard, Merrell & Partners family! Check out the release on Kayla.
New Client: Southwest Windpower
We have been named the agency of record for Southwest Windpower, the world’s leading supplier of distributed wind systems. Southwest Windpower’s CEO Dixon Thayer “handpicked” us because we are “more than a typical ad agency”. Our full-service capabilities are exactly what Southwest Windpower needs.
We have been tasked with providing Southwest Windpower with strategic, integrated brand support and tactical execution in advertising, tradeshow coordination, collateral development, media planning and buying, website development, public relations, event planning, social media marketing and market research.
We have started by helping Southwest Windpower understand buyer emotions, and helped establish the importance of wind energy to a growing homeowner segment that wants both clean energy and independence from rising utility rates.
Check out the release for more information Southwest Windpower Announcement
New Account Supervisor — Mariana Pinner
Welcome to Mariana Pinner — a new Account Supervisor in the PR department.
Mariana comes to us with both corporate and agency experience. She has worked in-house at SAS, as well as at a number of agencies in Massachusetts including PERKETTPR and PAN Communications. Mariana has conducted marketing and PR activities with clients and companies in the pharma, tech, and biotech industries.
In addition to having deep knowledge and experience managing and implementing core public relations tactics, she has also conducted crisis management efforts, worked with investor relations teams, executed community relations and guerilla marketing work, devised channel marketing and business development strategies, and touched social media.
A UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, Mariana is glad to be back home in North Carolina.
Winners Once Again!
What nice way to continue to celebrate our 65 years of existence – walking away from the 2011 Addy Awards as the clear winner. We garnered an impressive 20 Addys, including Best of Show for the CORDURA® brand and a Judge’s Choice for Fuhgeddaboudit Pizza.
We were awarded the Best of Show award for the CORDURA® brand Durability Experience, an interactive website module that is rich with sound and animation. It educates users on the many places CORDURA® fabric can be found. The Addy judges said, “The site had that ‘Oh Wow’ factor,” “We chose it as the Best of Show, not just for the amount of work that went into it, but also the strategy and the thought process,” the judges explained. “This was new, something we’d never seen before. The transitions alone made it worth watching.”
The award-winning work was a great representation of the agency’s capabilities. Howard, Merrell & Partners received honors for a website, posters, collateral material, a microsite, a t-shirt design, interactive-banner ads, an ambient video, direct response pieces, as well as a fully integrated campaign. This creative work was conducted for a number of the agency’s clients: Georgia-Pacific Professional (both the Dixie and enMotion brands), Component Hardware Group’s Flame Gard brand, Invacare, Serious Robots, the CORDURA® brand and Fuhgeddaboutit.
Check out more details in the release AddyAwards201
Welcome: Sarah Umstead Walker
Another Tarheel has joined Howard, Merrell & Partners!
We recently hired Sarah Umstead Walker as an account executive in the Account Management department. Sarah brings with her experience working with clients in the agriculture industry as well as solid knowledge of writing and client relations. Both these attributes make her well suited for the BASF Plant Science’s NutriDense® brand team, which has already benefited from her energy and her knowledge. More »
Our People
We hate to see good employees leave the agency, but occasionally they do. Unfortunately, a young professional left us just a few days ago. She sent a goodbye email to the staff that made me smile when I read it. I am proud to work along side some great people, who are not only creative and smart, but make working here interesting and fun. More »
HM&P Wins Four Inspire Awards for PR Work
Congrats to the Butterball and Georgia-Pacific Professional teams who were honored last night at the North Carolina Public Relations Society of America’s Inspire Awards ceremony. More »
Management Supervisor, Paula Johnson
She’s back!
After 15 years, Paula has re-joined Howard, Merrell & Partners. Now she is a Management Supervisor in the Account Services department. In her new role, Paula guides the strategic branding and communications efforts for a number of clients including Texas Farm Products (they make Precise dog food) and the Component Hardware Group.
A lot has changed in the communications industry since Paula worked here a decade a half ago – technology, methodologies, mediums, etc – and the agency adapted accordingly adding departments, capabilities and professionals with certain skills sets. But some some things at the agency will never change. We still hire great people, do great work, make clients happy, win awards judged by our peers, and stand by our commitment to providing great client service.
At the agency, Paula will leverage her deep understanding of branding and her strategic mindset, to provide her clients with quality service and support. She brings with her some great background working with a variety of industries including: agriculture, animal health, and chemicals. Before re-joining Howard, Merrell & Partners, Paula worked for Rumrill-Hoyt, Saatchi & Saatchi, NDW Communications and Quarry Communications.
We welcome her back.
