Bonfire Communications Wins Silver Anvil Award in PRSA's 2008 Competition

SAN FRANCISCO—June 6, 2008—The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) announced Bonfire Communications, an organizational communications agency specializing in employee engagement and strategy implementation, is among its winners for the 2008 Silver Anvil Awards competition.

The Silver Anvil, symbolizing the forging of public opinion, is annually awarded to organizations that have successfully addressed a contemporary issue with exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness. In the over 50 years that these citations have been made, more than 1,000 organizations have been awarded Silver Anvils for excellence in public relations.

Silver Anvil Awards recognize complete programs incorporating sound research, planning, execution and evaluation. They must meet the highest standards of performance in the profession.

This year, Bonfire was honored with a 2008 Award of Excellence for the work developed for gRide, the Genentech enterprise-wide transportation campaign.

gRide is an innovative transportation internal brand driven by series of programs that has increased employee adoption and participation in alternative ways of getting around the campus and to and from work. Based on a simple registration and self-tracking process, gRide allowed employees to choose their mode of transportation, connect with co-commuters, and earn rewards based on frequency of use. A playful brand framework featured a series of icons representing their options, from BART to bikes, raising awareness of alternatives and resources across multiple communication vehicles.

“Our strategy was to change employees’ transportation habits in order to meet corporate goals. We designed a fun and easy communication campaign that shifted their deeply ingrained perceptions around alternative commuting,” said Kate Helber, Campaign Director at Bonfire. “By understanding their concerns, we were able to appeal to employees and address their needs in targeted ways. To date, the gRide program has increased participation by over 9%, increased registration and reporting by over 50%, and employee testimonials attribute gRide to improving the quality of their lives.”

The gRide campaign was judged in the Internal Communications for Business with more than 10,000 employees.