On Saturday, July 17, Peter Mayer Public Relations and its partner Sandy Hillman Communications received “Best PR Campaign – Agency More than 5 Employees” during the 52nd Annual Press Club of New Orleans Awards Ceremony. The Press Club, and more than 10 other press clubs from around the country, recognized the agencies’ work to promote The National World War II Museum’s three-attraction expansion. The expansion includes the Solomon Victory Theater, the Stage Door Canteen, and The American Sector – a Chef John Besh restaurant, which opened in November 2009.

The PR campaign for the expansion featured many hundreds of national, regional, and local news stories, including a feature during ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast of the Saints and Falcons game four days prior to the opening, a 6-minute live interview on the Today show featuring opening ceremony headliners Tom Brokaw and Tom Hanks, a mention on the Late Show with David Letterman, TV coverage in more than 60 markets across the country, three consecutive days of national articles by the Associated Press, and an
AP Television News feature. In total, the campaign generated nearly 1.3 billion gross impressions and more than $14 million in advertising equivalency value.

Since the grand opening the Museum has seen record visitation, setting a single-month record of more than 43,000 visitors in April, and more than doubling its fiscal year visitation this year as compared to last – shattering its budgeted estimations by 123 percent.