MEDIA RELEASE

Turning website traffic into retail sales has earned Kinoshita Communications LLC an international Hermes Creative Award, the PR communications agency has announced.

The award was based on the evaluation of the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals’ judges and recognizes outstanding achievement in traditional and emerging media.

Kinoshita Communications LLC was hired by The Shops at Mauna Lani for a six-month campaign to increase shopping center traffic and retail sales.

Objectives included raising visibility on mobile devices, getting more impact from social media efforts, increasing website traffic and getting better rankings for top keyword phrases.

Kinoshita Communications designed, implemented and managed an integrated cross-platform campaign that included Facebook and Google advertising, pay-per-click (PPC) management, location-based offers, outreach to travel sites and custom web applications that seamlessly integrated with Facebook, Twitter and Constant Contact.

In less than six months, the campaign generated an 83 percent increase in social media traffic to the website. The shopping center rose to the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 positions for important Google keyword search phrases, including “Big Island Shopping Center.” Overall, new business leads and shopping center traffic increased as a direct result from campaign efforts.

“We’re very proud of this work which continues to produce positive
results for The Shops at Mauna Lani,” said Laura K. Kinoshita, president of Kinoshita Communications. “An investment in a company’s website pays dividends for years to come. We faced arigorous schedule and produced outstanding results. Our campaign metrics far exceeded industry standards and I think the judges recognized that fact when they bestowed this award.”

The Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition comprising more than 4,700 entries from the United States, Canada and several other countries.

It is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, an international organization consisting of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and freelance professionals.

AMCP judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.

Winners were selected from 179 categories grouped under advertising, publications, marketing/branding, integrated marketing, public relations/communications, electronic media and pro bono.

About 19 percent won the Gold Award, the honor which was granted to Kinoshita Communications.

A list of winners is available at http://www.hermesawards.com/winners-search

Kinoshita Communications is a marketing, public relations, SEO & advertising web firm that helps organizations meet their goals, increase online traffic and generate more visibility, engagement, new business leads and sales.

Business owners can read a detailed case study of The Shops at
Mauna Lani: Driving In-Store Traffic with Social Media and Content Marketing, as well as download a 25-page workbook that provides instructions on some of the methodology used during this campaign, at: http://info.laura-kinoshita.com/120807/