Company: Graham & Associates, Inc.
Company Description: Graham & Associates is renowned for award-winning strategic national and international PR, communications, branding, and social media programs for travel and hospitality, consumer lifestyle and real estate clients. Founded in 1996, Graham & Associates is based in San Francisco, California and serves clients throughout North America.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications Campaign of the Year in North America

Nomination Title: Graham & Associates, Inc. - Cavallo Point – the Lodge at the Golden Gate Launch Campaign

Tell the story about this nominated communications program (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Overview: Cavallo Point – the Lodge at the Golden Gate, poised to open in the
summer of 2008, was to be the biggest development in local hospitality news in
ages. A remarkable restoration of a former military base, Fort Baker, and within
the Golden Gate National Park, the lodge was to be an upscale urban retreat.
However we faced many challenges. The economy was spiraling downward and the
lodge opened late—in July—missing big summer travel stories. Cavallo Point also
had expansive guest offerings—a learning program, cooking school, restaurant and
spa. So many elements meant a complex message mix potentially confusing to
target audiences.

Planning & Execution: Our objective was to generate a burst of awareness and
excitement for opening and drive reservations, but we needed to offset
confusion. A series of timed, themed campaigns throughout 2008 highlighted one
element at a time avoided information overload and established sustained media
interest. Regional markets, crucial for locals booking weekend/midweek getaways,
were reached via media/blogger relations and events. The Western United States
and national U.S. markets were reached via traditional and online media/blogger
relations.

We developed a pivotal positioning statement used across all communications:
“San Francisco Bay Area’s first national park lodge: an upscale and
environmentally sustainable ‘base camp’ where San Francisco’s urban edge meets
the coastal wildlands of Marin County.”

Results:
1.            Accolades: Travel + Leisure named the lodge one of America’s new national      
(green) landmarks—an honor that set off a flurry of 72 hits. Preferred Hotels
named it “Hotel of the Year”; Murray Circle was Michelin-starred; and the North
Bay Business Journal awarded it the Top Real Estate Project of 2008.
2.            Articles/blogs: With a January 2008 feature in Corporate & Incentive Travel,
plus hits in Meetings and Conventions and Association News, groups business
(critical revenue stream) was booked before opening. Early big hits in the
Washington Post and on Daily Candy.com ignited national and local attention. Top
newspapers, New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco
Chronicle and ABC, NBC and CBS ran coverage. Coveted magazines, National
Geographic Adventure, Condé Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, did stories. Graham
tracked 521 articles generated in 2008. 
3.            Message reach: Total circulation was 402,591,505.
4.            Ad equivalency: An ad equivalency on just 16 of the 521 articles was
$804,217: a 7.88 times return on investment.
5.            Web traffic: DailyCandy and San Francisco Chronicle features published on the
same day resulted in a 564-percent jump in site traffic.
6.            Sales: The lodge reported sell-out periods in the fall: phenomenal for a new
property, especially given the economy and late opening. Murray Circle was an
immediate hit.
7.            Client satisfaction: The client is thrilled with the results. The programming
director said: “…Thank you all for your great work. Last night I cracked open
the December issues of Gourmet and Sunset and Cavallo Point was in both!!! Last
week, it was in the New York Times...!!”

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://thestevies.com/IBA09Attachments/GrahamAssociates/Stevie2009OutcomesMonitoringEvaluation.pdf

Press releases:

http://www.cavallopoint.com/media_releases.php

Press coverage:
The campaign resulted in over 521 pieces of editorial coverage. Total
circulation/readership of this coverage was 402,591,505.

Below are links to select articles to show a sampling of press coverage we
secured as a result of the Cavallo Point Lodge Launch Campaign. For a full list
of articles, please see the Clip Log, which was emailed separately with other
support materials.

New York Times
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/travel/23CheckIn.html?scp=1&sq=%22cavallo%20point%22&st=cse

Los Angeles Times
http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-cavallo28-2008sep28

USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2008-09-04-cavallo-point_N.htm

Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082201586.html

Travel and Leisure
http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/must-see-green-american-landmarks/6

San Francisco Chronicle and its site, SFGate.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/31/FDOF14P0N4.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/27/LVOE11PCEO.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/25/CMV610FETB.DTL

Marin Independent and its site, MarinIJ.com
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_9398360
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_10661812

Daily Candy.com
http://www.dailycandy.com/san_francisco/article/36835/Get+to+the+Point

Food & Wine (print and online)
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/hotel-cooking-schools

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this nominated communications program:

Graham & Associates, Inc.
Cavallo Point – the Lodge at the Golden Gate Launch Campaign

Company Bio

Graham & Associates is renowned for award-winning strategic national and
international PR, communications, branding, and social media programs for
travel and hospitality, consumer lifestyle and real estate clients.

Founded in 1996, the agency is known for its campaigns that were among the
first to create and establish new categories that today are etched into the
tourism vernacular—namely  “luxury camping” and “pet-friendly travel.”  It has
built its reputation on highly creative and results-driven work. Graham &
Associates, based in San Francisco, California serves clients throughout North
America.