Farmington Hills, Mich. (April 27, 2023) – The Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP) has awarded Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications a Platinum International Hermes Creative Award for its strategic publicity campaign around the launch of the Detroit Refugee Network (DRN), a coalition of corporate, civic and community leaders to welcome and provide support services to refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine and other nations as they resettle in Detroit. The DRN is led by Samaritas, a Tanner Friedman client and one of Michigan’s largest nonprofit human services organizations.
The campaign sought to announce the formation of the DRN and raise awareness about the unique and critical needs facing refugees as they flee their home countries and resettle in Detroit in order to meet a $1.13 million fundraising goal. Donations would assist the DRN in providing a full range of services, including housing, education, transportation, legal service support, ESL learning opportunities, utility assistance and employment services. included the creation of press materials and the management of a press conference with DRN co-chairs Kelli Dobner, Samaritas’ chief advancement officer and Detroit’s First Lady, Dr. Sonia Hassan, with support from partners including Laura Grannemann, vice president of the Rocket Community Fund, a key provider of financial and other support, as well as the voice of those impacted by this work: Afghan refugees who’d found a home in Detroit.
This also included the development of key messages, conducting media training with refugees who were identified to speak at the press conference and participate in interviews, leading media outreach efforts and coordinating interviews with media during and post-event. The event was held in the courtyard of a Detroit apartment complex housing Afghan refugees and was followed by providing journalists with access to the homes that the participating refugees are making in the city.
The campaign resulted in widespread local, regional and national media coverage by print, TV and radio outlets and increased momentum in support of the charitable program.
The Hermes Creative Awards honor communications work across the globe in more than two hundred categories, including Print Media, Public Relations/Communications and Electronic/ Social/Interactive Media. In addition to strategic tactics like advertising, publications, podcasts, websites and videos, categories also include strategic campaigns and media placements.
Consisting of several thousand creative professionals who contribute their unique talents to public service and charitable organizations, the AMCP administers and judges the Hermes Creative Awards and has reviewed more than 200,000 entries from more than 100 countries since its formation in 1994.
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