With a storied history since 1907, Fairmont is a key part of parent company Accor’s Luxury portfolio while dazzling the senses and imaginations of guests for more than a century. H&S will be the global brand communications agency and we can’t wait to show you what we have in the works!
Last month, our very own Chief Brand Officer, Veronica Rodriguez, hosted the panel ‘Twice as Good: Women of Color Smashing the Concrete Ceiling and Building Their Own House,” in honor of Women’s History Month. It was an incredible discussion filled with profound and insightful feedback from four female industry leaders. See below for some of our favorite takeaways from this truth telling discussion.
Join us for our next Coffee Break featuring H&S Chief Brand Officer Veronica Rodriguez as she hosts a panel called,
“ Twice as Good: Women of Color Smashing the Concrete Ceiling and Building Their Own House.”
Throughout the one-hour, virtual discussion, we will be highlighting the stories of women of color from across the media, spirits, fashion and tech industries. Each with a unique perspective and journey towards success.
As most Americans continue to lean in on the belief that getting a good education and securing a job at a great company will result in reaching the American dream…climbing the rungs of the socio-economic ladder remain difficult for marginalized communities, particularly women of color. With the ongoing generational challenges BIPOC women are facing in education, business and the workplace; many have decided to stop trying to fit into a pre-set mold and instead, began finding their own way. Now investing in themselves and leveraging their village, women of color are “smashing cement ceilings” and “building their own house.”
Below are details for this upcoming panel and we hope to see you there!
Veronica Rodriguez, Chief Brand Officer at H&S Communications- Veronica leads the brand engagement, StudioHS and cultural transformation practice at H&S. With over 20 years of strategic integrated marketing experience, Veronica oversees research and analytics, brand strategy, influencer and experiential marketing efforts across the agency’s roster of clients. Her efforts help to advance the integration of research and insights with talent relations, influencer relationship-building, digital content and experiences – resulting in award-winning brand campaigns that intersect culture, diverse consumer passion points, perspectives and purpose. Prior to joining H&S, Rodriguez oversaw multicultural marketing at Edelman and digital strategy at Marina Maher Communications where combined, she delivered best-in-class results for world leading brands including Diageo, Heineken, Kimberly Clark, Kraft Foods, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, United Airlines, and Verizon, among others.
Sidra Smith - writer and award-winning producer Executive Producer, Essence Studios. From developing film and TV projects around the 50-year-old brand’s IP to launching Essence Studios OTT platform - featuring original scripted and non-scripted series, virtual summits and concerts; Sidra has helped to modernize the franchise platform. From the onset of COVID-19, Sidra and her team have produced hundreds of hours of content including virtual events like Essence Wellness House, Essence Festival, Afropunk, Show Me Your Walk: The HBCU Commencement Celebration, The New Voices Fund Pitch Competitions, Dear Black Men, Black Girls Shaking Shit Up: The Girls United Virtual Summit and the Essence Entrepreneur Summit. To cap off the year, Sidra Smith served as the Executive Producer of Sylvie’s Love, now showing on Amazon Prime Video, where she worked closely with Amazon, the producers Nnamdi Asomugha and Gabrielle Glore and director Eugene Ashe to make the film a “Hot Amazon Release”.
Kendall Reynolds – CEO and design director of luxury show brand Kendall Miles Designs. As a third-generation entrepreneur born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, Kendall has always been the type to forge her own path. Starting Kendall Miles Designs as a passion project from her college apartment at the University of Southern California, Kendall completed her degree in International Relations while simultaneously teaching herself how to design footwear. Subsequently, Kendall received formal training at the world-renowned accessories design university, Ars Sutoria in Milan, Italy, before spending two years in NYC establishing a fashion industry network.
Jennifer Gomez, creative storyteller, tech entrepreneur, co-founder and chief marketing officer of oneKIN, an award-winning, mission-driven, retail tech company building an ecosystem of tools to help small + POC-owned businesses thrive. This Spring, the company will be launching twiineTM , a livestream shopping app that allows users to seamlessly interact with small businesses via live shopping events, build community and access exclusive deals. Prior to stepping out on faith and becoming an entrepreneur, Jennifer served as the head of integrated marketing for StyleHaul; and built her career with some of the nations most notable media, sports and beauty brands including L’Oreal USA, Major League Baseball and Time, Inc.
Tyler Phillips, Director of Culture and Lifestyle Partnerships. With over 16+ years of experience in marketing communications for global brands that ranged from beauty and lifestyle companies to spirits. Over the past nine years, Tyler has overseen iconic brands such as BACARDÍ rum, D’USSÉ and Bacardi portfolio of brands including Grey Goose, Bombay Sapphire and Martini. In her role she’s worked to transform brand perception, drive desire, bridge connections and engagement with media, influencers, celebrities and diverse consumers.
Booking.com is issuing a “Love Letter to America” by uplifting an area that was hit hard during COVID-19 - New York City. H&S created the first-ever overnight bookable experience in scenic landmark and epitome of charm, Bryant Park Winter Village, during Valentine’s weekend to enliven the hearts of New Yorkers and travelers nationwide, and reaffirm their love for the Big Apple.
“Booking.com is launching a new campaign that sends love letters to destinations across the U.S., and inviting all Americans (and a few “familiar faces”) to write their own inspiring love letters to their favorite cities. While we’re all stuck at home and can’t travel for the time being, these letters are a small way to remember these wonderful destinations until it’s safe to go to them again.”
“The Love Letter to New York will form part of a series of Love Letters to America that Booking.com will be issuing to destinations across the U.S.—especially those that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. Meanwhile, it will also invite Americans to pen their own love letters to their favorite cities, even though they may not be able to travel to them right now.”
The push to power racial justice and close the inequality gap is one of H&S Communications key civil rights goals 2021!
Today, we lock arms with @ColorOfChange, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization and agency partners @BBDO to launched The Pedestal Project – an Augmented Reality (AR) experience on Instagram that allows users to place statues of racial justice leaders atop empty pedestals where confederate statues once stood.
Color Of Change has advocated for the removal of contentious statues for many years. Now, The Pedestal Project uses technology to see a world where statues finally portray worthy idols for future generations. Today, we launched by honoring three incredible racial justice leaders: John Lewis, Civil Rights leader and Former United States Congressman; Alicia Garza, Co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Author, and Principal at Black Futures Lab; Chelsea Miller, Co-founder of Freedom March NYC.
Join the Movement: Visit Color of Change, sign this petition to have all racist Confederate symbols in public spaces removed
Spread the News: Visit @ColorofChange on Instagram to see & hear why change is needed. Snap a pic/video, tag @ColorOfChange and share your post
Rally Your Community: Join us for a live virtual event at the Color of Change YouTube Channel.
In late-January we helped our client Bacardi launch Conga Feat. You, reimagining the iconic song from the 80’s for this generation. We were honored to be a part of the process from the very beginning - from capturing exclusive BTS content to engaging influencers to leading the global press roll out. Check out the music video and grab a mojito and shake your body baby do that Conga! #CONGAfeatYOU #DoWhatMovesYou
We are only in January, yet OMEGA is already making one of the biggest watchmaking announcements of the year: the Speedmaster Moonwatch Master Chronometer! The eight new models will house the Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 3861 which ensures the Moonwatch will be unaffected by the most extreme magnetic conditions. This watch provides the highest standard of precision and performance in the Swiss watch industry and comes in various styles including stainless steel, 18K Sedna™ gold, or 18K Canopus gold™.
In October 2020, rockstar Lenny Kravitz announced his partnership with our client Steinway & Sons to create a one of a kind grand piano known as, The Kravitz Grand. This was such an exciting moment, and our friends at Architectural Digest received an exclusive first look unveiling the piano in the November issue. This limited-edition piano combines European style with an edgy African motif—truly a work of art!
In fall 2020, H&S had the honor of launching Belvedere Vodka’s newest platform, Made With Nature. Belvedere Vodka is simply Polska rye and purified water, distilled by fire – no additives or added sugar. The brand believes in being natural and simple, which is so beautifully told through this incredible ad creative. And this is just the beginning for Belvedere.
BACARDÍ® rum is breaking ground in the spiced rum segment with the exciting relaunch of BACARDÍ Spiced – an aged rum blended with natural flavors and spices for a bold, yet smooth taste.
Just in time for fall festivities and sports-watching season, the world's most awarded rum brand has drafted BACARDÍ Spiced into its robust rum portfolio as its reenergized power player to take on the competition.
We’ll be adding this flavor packed spiced rum to all our fall cocktails this season. Try out some of the team’s favorite and easy Rum, 2, 3 recipes below!
Spiced & Cola
2 parts BACARDÍ Spiced Rum
4 parts cola
METHOD: Fill a highball glass with cubed ice. Pour in the BACARDÍ Spiced Rum, followed by the chilled cola. Give it all a gentle stir. Garnish with a lime wedge..
Spiced & Ginger
2 parts BACARDÍ Spiced Rum
4 parts ginger ale
METHOD: Fill a highball glass with cubed ice. Pour in the BACARDÍ Spiced Rum, followed by the ginger ale. Give it all a gentle stir. Garnish with a lime wedge.
View this post on InstagramH&S Director Anina Bose chats with Media Veteran Jaz Ortiz
A post shared by Harrison & Shriftman (@harrisonshriftman) on
H&S’ newest client, STAEDTLER-Mars Limited, is working with Michaels to launch the latest addition to the FIMO clay family in the USA - Leather-Effect.
The FIMO Leather-Effect clay can be used to produce crafts that look and feel similar to leather. H&S’ influencer team worked to coordinate the first ever FIMO Leather-Effect sponsored Michaels Community Classroom event with influencer partner, @kailochic (Kara Whitten), to show the clay in action.
A recording of the event is available at www.michaels.com/classes, and stay tuned for plenty more free, FIMO Leather-Effect sponsored Michaels Community Classroom events happening in the coming weeks!
Sign up for the next one at the sign-up link here. Happy crafting!
The man of the hour, NFL star Patrick Mahomes stunned on the August cover of GQ sporting an OMEGA Seamaster Aqua Terra GMT.
Thank you to the GQ team and everyone who was involved in this amazing story!
Excerpts from The PR Net,
In the mindset of American travelers—many just want to get away to the beach or visit their friends and family. We predict that domestic travel will top international as travelers get acclimated and COVID comes under control.
Max Buccini, Vice President at H&S
How can we maximize local travel while Covid is still an issue?
Domestic travel and more 'close to home' destinations will be the first areas to bounce back as U.S restrictions start to lift. Our client Booking.com found that more than half of Americans feel comfortable enough to plan domestic travel in the next 6 months. Most travelers are looking to rest, relax, and unwind, so short, quick trips to hike in nature, or visit a beach are going to be the most popular options.
Are there any elements within the travel industry that will thrive post-Covid – for example, the ultra-luxury market?
As a travel and lifestyle agency, our experiences ranges from brands like Booking.com all the way up to the luxurious such as Ian Schrager and Tropic Ocean Airways. Understanding where the industry stands right now, we are seeing some hesitations from consumers for mass transit. This is will lead to a slight rise in rental car demand or charter flights, as Americans in particular are just looking to get outdoors and reunite. In the mindset of American travelers—many of whom have been quarantined and socially distancing—many just want to get away to the beach or visit their friends and family. We predict that the trend for domestic travel will still top international for a little while as travelers get acclimated and COVID becomes further under control.
Two key trends we’re seeing both in travel, and also in a much wider context, are sustainable travel and equitable travel – that is, travel aligning with social justice. How you are responding to these trends?
Prior to COVID-19, there had been a rise in more mindful travel – especially in regard to sustainable lodging, and decreasing the negative effects of over-tourism, and this is likely to continue under the current climate. In fact, Booking.com even presciently predicting last year that 'second city' travel in 2020 would be a major trend and introduced new filters to help search for accommodations with sustainable practices.
What are some destinations that will be hot once travel reopens?
We have a unique advantage working as both the Agency of Record for Booking.com North America and Mama Shelter. While our focus for Booking.com remains keyed in on domestic travel, we are also getting a court-side view of how travel is unfolding internationally as Mama Shelter begins to reopen some of their properties. In both areas, travelers are looking to stay closer to home, so there will be a much larger demand for domestic destinations. Recently, Booking.com found the top domestics destinations for U.S travelers are: Orlando, FL, Myrtle Beach, SC, Miami Beach, FL, New York, NY, Las Vegas, NV. Mama Shelter’s reopening were also met with fantastic reception from their local markets, proving that there is an appetite for people to travel.
How are marketing & PR campaigns pivoting successfully during Covid?
As an agency with clients in the travel and hospitality industry, we have certainly had to be mindful and adjust some of our plans and approach. PR professionals must monitor daily to assess the current climate and be in touch with their contacts regularly to check and see if they are open to receiving pitches. Its always better to start a conversation, rather than send a pitch and come off as tone deaf, and so before we could launch a campaign, we had to ensure we had ears who were receptive. An example of a great campaign was Booking.com’s aspirational Wish List. The new data released by Booking.com offered some optimistic trendlines from consumers on the future state of travel here in America and across the globe. The number of “wish lists” created by users on Booking.com still shows a strong belief in the power of travel—even to hard-hit COVID areas like New York City. Demonstrating a true spirit of resilience across demographics, this hopeful outlook appears to bridge the divide of global borders.
We are proud to stand with Stacey Bendet and our friends at alice + olivia as they #ShareTheMicNow with Julee Wilson. When the world listens to women, it listens to white women. For far too long, Black women’s voices have gone unheard. Not anymore. Let’s listen to their stories, their lives and their calls to action.
Be sure to follow along on Instagram, Wednesday, June 10th at 1pm EST!
OMEGA is committed to the protection of the ocean through their partnership with GoodPlanet Foundation and its founder, filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The collaboration has lead to award-winning documentaries and life-saving conversation projects, but the critical work continues.
To celebrate World Oceans Day, OMEGA is offering free access to a screening of Yann’s film PLANET OCEAN.
We have a list of classic films and newer releases to add to your queue featuring Volkswagen. Models from the iconic car brand have made cameos in variety of movies, some you can guess and some you didn’t know about! The ten films listed below are available for rent on most streaming services, so settle in and see if you can spot these beloved cars.
The Love Bug (1968)
A down-on-his-luck racecar driver and his mechanic discover a white 1963 Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own.
Footloose (1984, 11)
When a teenager gets pulled over for listening to rock-n-roll in his yellow 1972 Volkswagen Beetle, he realizes his small town is overdue for some change.
Pretty in Pink (1986)
A high school misfit drives her light pink 1959 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia to the prom – a perfect accessory to her homemade, puffy-sleeved dress.
Happy Gilmore (1996)
The transformation of a hockey hack into a pro golfer takes many hilarious turns, including an attack with a white 1972 Volkswagen Super Beetle.
50 First Dates (2004)
An art teacher suffering from short-term memory loss drives a sunny yellow 1973 Volkswagen Thing as she goes on dates around Hawaii.
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
A dysfunctional family comes together as they road-trip to California in a yellow 1971 Volkswagen T2 Microbus.
Horrible Bosses (2011)
Three disgruntled employees plot revenge against their oppressive bosses from a silver 2011 Volkswagen Jetta.
BumbleBee (2018)
When a teenager discovers a beat-up yellow 1967 Volkswagen Beetle in a junkyard, she unwittingly brings an extraterrestrial civil war to Earth.
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (2019)
An actor's stunt double drives a baby blue 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia as he struggles to find meaningful work in the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age.
Between Two Ferns: The Movie (2019)
In his quest to earn a show on network TV, a comedian drives his 2006 Volkswagen Passat wagon across the country, interviewing celebrities along the way.
Sharing a fun Memorial Day fact! Did you know Steinway & Sons produced specially-built pianos for the American troops during World War II? Called the Victory Vertical or G.I. Steinways, the pianos were proudly manufactured in the U.S. before airdropped onto battlefields to provide a bit of relaxation. We hope you have a relaxing Memorial Day, too!
