Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)

Budget: Please include total budget vs. total actual cost. How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?

Project Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the project and your company efforts to demonstrate good corporate citizenship in the areas of community involvement, environmental, or socially responsible practices.

Objectives and Goals: What did organization set out to achieve in undertaking this project in CSR? What were the goals you set to measure your success?

Results: How did you measure the effectiveness of your efforts and what direct and tangible results did you achieve? Please be as specific as possible and share the full impact of your efforts in CSR.

Leadership: Please list the individual in a leadership role responsible for the project and how would you characterize their commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility in the travel and tourism industry?

Goals: Clearly state your marketing goals and audience. What did you strive to achieve using this piece or program?

Results: Which of your original goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the piece or campaign? Entrants should provide quantifiable results of their tactics or campaigns. (for example, click through rates or ad equivalency)

Budget: Please include total budget vs. total actual cost. How much revenue has the piece or campaign generated and how does this compare to your goal? What was the return on investment?

Situational Analysis: Please provide a brief background on the original initiative and how it evolved as conditions changed from pandemic to recovery.

Goals: Clearly state your goals. What did you strive to achieve with this initiative and how did your goals change over time?

Results: Which of your goals did you achieve and how? How did you measure the effectiveness of the initiative?

Objective(s): What problems did the sales, marketing & guest satisfaction, or revenue optimization technology aim to solve?

Innovative use of technology: The extent to which new directions are charted or old challenges are resolved by using the technology in a new way.

Implementation & creativity: How was the technology implemented so that it was easy to use, solved a manpower problem, streamlined a function, or fueled recovery?

Results & Evaluation: How did the technologiy move the department or business foward to achieve goals, revenue or otherwise?

Goal: How did you demonstrate that you are committed to advancing diversity in your organization through your marketing?

Initiatives: Describe the promotion. What was your organization's message and how does it foster diversity? How was the target audience channel developed/pursued?

Results: Please describe how your organization was purposeful in advancing diversity through this initiative. Please describe the metrics you used to judge success. What were the forecasted and actual outcomes described in your Key Performance Indicators (KPI)? What impact did the initiative have on your organization and for your customers?

Goal: How did you demonstrate that you are committed to advancing diversity in your organization through your campaigns?Over the last year, TURNER and Discover South Carolina worked together to generate media awareness of Black and Gullah Geechee culture throughout the state of South Carolina, whose time-honored traditions and heritage have shaped the state’s Lowcountry for more than 200 years. Our goals were to: • Create awareness of the Gullah Geechee and Black culture within South Carolina by reaching 150 million potential visitors through media coverage • Secure at least 20 stories featuring the Black/Gullah narrative • Conduct informational interviews with locals with ties to Gullah Geechee culture and utilize those spokespeople for media coverage For background, the Gullah Geechee people are the descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved and brought to South Carolina to work on the coastal rice, Sea Island cotton and indigo plantations. Because the Gullah Geechee people’s enslavement was on isolated coastal plantations, and sea and barrier islands, these people uniquely retained many of their indigenous African traditions. These traditions are reflected in their foodways, arts and crafts, and spiritual traditions. They also created Gullah, a creole language spoken nowhere else in the world. Black owned businesses are a staple of South Carolina tourism, and in the past, they have not received their well-deserved spotlight. To overcome this lack, we developed a wide-ranging strategy that would highlight amazing Black owned businesses and Black South Carolinians, as well as the historical and current significance of the Gullah Geechee people in the state.

Initiatives: What was your approach to this campaign and how was the organization purposeful in advancing diversity through it? What types of data did you use to support your plan? How many locations were involved in the campaign? How did you effectively reach diverse audiences? What was the message? TURNER’s efforts to spearhead diversity and highlight previously overlooked narratives was achieved by utilizing a series of strategies including: • Diversified targeted journalists o Identified and worked with journalists of color, as they have a personal connection to these narratives o Sought to raise awareness not only on a larger national scale but also in South Carolina’s target drive markets while the pandemic limited air travel • Conducted informational interviews with South Carolinians with ties to Gullah Geechee to gain a deeper knowledge of the culture, including: o Sallie Ann Robinson owner of Daufuskie Island Gullah Heritage Tours o Michael Smalls, a 7th generation basket-sewer at Gullah Sweetgrass Basket Creations o Tia Clark, owner of Casual Crabbing with Tia • Hosted a Virtual Culinary event that showcased the delicious and diverse flavors of Gullah Geechee cuisine. Lead by South Carolinian Chef Kevin Mitchell taught the 9 media attendees how to create Anson Mills Benne Seed And Berbere spiced seared black sea bass with coconut braised peas and greens. The overarching goal was to demonstrate how many of the dishes that are considered classic Southern favorites are derived from Gullah culture.

Results: What metrics are you using to evaluate diversity (soft and/or hard metrics)? Were you successful at meeting forecasted goals? Was it limited to a specific promotion or across multiple creatives? What impact did the campaign have on your organization? How did this campaign change your brand’s perception amongst travelers?As a result of our strategies, we created a campaign with results that highlighted and uplifted Black South Carolina and the Gullah Geechee culture. Results exceeded the goals set forth for the program: - Reached 172 million potential visitors through media coverage - 29 stories featuring the Black/Gullah narrative highlights included - Media coverage for all locals interviewed including mentions in articles such Dana Given’s Food & Wine article A New Yorker's Journey to South Carolina to Retrace Her Gullah Roots and DeAnna Taylor’s Travel Noire feature How To Spend 48-Hours In Black-Owned Charleston, SC. Tia Clark will also be featured on Chef Carla Hall’s new Discovery Plus Show Foodways with Carla Hall, which will premiere in 2022

Entry TitleAmplifying Black South Carolina and The Gullah Geechee Culutre

DivisionDiversity Marketing: Campaign - Diversity Marketing: Integrated Campaign

CategoryDiversity Marketing: Campaign