The Houston Business Marketing Alliance’s (HBMA) 2022 Lantern Awards of Texas recognized several of Pennebaker’s clients for their outstanding creative and strategic marketing communications work. Today, we spotlight Nine Energy Service, BKV Corporation, and Dräger who received the top awards in social media, public relations, and integrated marketing communications, respectively.

Nine Energy Service (Nine) is dedicated to supporting their employees professionally and personally, which includes providing one of the most generous and competitive benefits packages in the oilfield services industry. As part of Nine’s recruitment efforts in 2022, the company sought to drive awareness and education on the importance of evaluating compensation packages holistically.

We worked together to build a strategic social media campaign that targeted prospective employees of all ages, genders, and career levels through witty, memorable messaging that would resonate and leave a lasting impression of the company’s values. We bypassed the tensive recruitment narratives that are common in oilfield services and borrowed a cue from the company's name. Narrowing in on nine crucial points, we highlighted an employee benefit that “puts cash back in their pocket.”

The HBMA recognized Nine’s paid social media campaign for its messaging and creative strategy, but more specifically for its phenomenal engagement and performance, which was closely monitored and adjusted in real-time based on audience behavior, surpassing all pre-set KPIs.

Social Media:

Campaign Landing Page:

BKV Corporation (BKV) is a different kind of energy company—one that acknowledges the impacts of climate change and is paving the way for the safe and profitable production of net-zero natural gas. In 2022, BKV produced its inaugural sustainability report and wanted to leverage this report as its first external communications positioning campaign. Prior to this, the company's PR efforts consisted mainly of distributing press releases.

The amplification strategy for BKV’s 2021 Sustainability Report centered on positioning BKV as an energy company that is making a change today. We developed the "The Force of Now” concept—because tomorrow is gone and 2050 is too far away.

The foundational messaging and creative for this concept extended across all external communication vehicles yet was strategically curated for each audience and platform. For example, the style of the report is approachable and easy to understand, featuring campfire stories that emphasize how BKV is relatable and transparent in its approach. We amplified these campfire stories via social media in a campaign series to generate organic engagement and via sponsored content to communicate the deatiled story for earned industry media opportunities.

The HBMA recognized BKV’s strategic amplification efforts for developing a concept that successfully spanned multiple communication vehicles, generated all-time highs in organic engagement, and countless earned media opportunities.

2021 Sustainability Report:

Website:

Digital Advertising:

Social Media:

Dräger developed a one-of-a-kind trade show experience at the annual FDIC Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana, that showcased the company’s strategic approach to generating brand and product engagement in a highly competitive marketplace. The goal was to draw attendees in so they could interact and witness first-hand how Dräger products are purpose-built with firefighters in mind.

The integrated campaign was centered around the creation of a small fictional town, Drägertown, designed specifically for firefighters. It included a variety of shops that were used to creatively feature its products in a highly interactive way, such as a gas station to showcase its gas detection systems, a barbershop to feature its respirators, and an esplanade where visitors could test out SCBAs with product experts. The best way to describe the experience is Disneyworld for Firefighters.

To drive awareness and anticipation, Dräger blanketed downtown Indianapolis with large Dräger blue banners encouraging attendees to visit Drägertown. We executed a four-week social media campaign, as well as a targeted email campaign to registered FDIC attendees, to unveil and promote key booth elements.

The HBMA recognized Dräger’s FDIC integrated marketing communications program based on receiving the highest attendee experience score from FDIC, the total number of qualified leads, and exceptional strategy in designing a marketing program that included every customer interaction.