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Devaney & Associates a Two-Time Winner at Public Relations Society of America 2019 Best in Maryland Awards

Devaney & Associates a Two-Time Winner at Public Relations Society of America 2019 Best in Maryland Awards


Devaney & Associates received two awards from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), Maryland Chapter at the 2019 Best in Maryland award celebration held December 4.

Best in Maryland Award: U=U Maryland Website

Devaney & Associates and Chase Brexton Health Care received the Best in Maryland honor in the Website category for the Baltimore City Health Department’s U=U Maryland website (uequalsumaryland.org). The website is the cornerstone of a campaign designed to raise awareness around the fact that people living with HIV cannot transmit the disease sexually if they follow their treatment plan and maintain an undetectable viral load. In other words, undetectable equals untransmittable (U=U).

Devaney & Associates built the website using input from state and city health leaders; HIV specialists from the state’s leading health care systems; community HIV health care workers; and members of the HIV activist community, and then beta-tested it across a diverse sector of Baltimore City residents.

After the final site was unveiled at Baltimore City’s World AIDS Day 2018 celebration, it captured the attention of the Prevention Access/International U=U campaign and its founder, Bruce Richman. In an email to the U=U Maryland team, Richman praised: “You’ve done an amazing job making the [U=U] message clear and celebratory—and your website is truly the best I’ve seen in the U.S.”

Go to UEqualsUMaryland.org to view the work and learn more about this health care breakthrough.

Award of Excellence: Vectren “Don’t Be That Guy” Public Safety Campaign

Devaney & Associates also took home an Award of Excellence in the Public Service Campaign category for our work with Vectren, a natural gas and electricity provider serving Indiana and Ohio.

Public Service Campaign Vectren

The award-winning campaign—“Don’t Be That Guy”—featured an animated character (That Guy) who ignores all the basic rules of natural gas safety, much to the dismay of those around him. Using a combination of pre-roll video, display, and digital radio advertising, the campaign drove users to an educational microsite where they could learn the facts about natural gas safety and take a safety quiz for the chance to win a weekly sweepstakes.

The campaign resonated with audiences, delivering a 66% video completion rate and a .10% blended clickthrough rate, beating industry benchmarks. Post-campaign surveys proved that the campaign helped increase audience awareness, with up to 86% of the audience understanding the key messages.

You can view the campaign and our case study here.