“Potential travelers have many destinations to choose from, so highlighting Butler County in new and unique ways is important work that helps local communities thrive, and we will continue to find ways to innovate and tell all of the incredible stories in Butler County through our marketing efforts,she said.
Travel Butler County received three first place RUBY (Recognizing Uncommon Brilliance Yearly) awards and a RUBY Awards Citation of Excellence (second place) for a promotional video on Butler County attractions and experiences.
Rawlinson said Travel Butler County received first place RUBY awards in three different categories. The first award was given in the “Travel Guides and Planners” category and the win was for the “2024 Butler County Insider Guide.”
Travel Butler County also won first place in the “Innovation in Travel Marketing” category for “A Solarbration of Totality” for their collaboration with The Donut Dude during the Solar Eclipse.
“That particular collaboration ended up in a wide variety of incredible media coverage including in the Associated Press (AP). So, that story ended up being syndicated worldwide,” Rawlinson said.
“We partnered with The Donut Dude to come up with an idea to show the progression of totality through donuts. So, in the box, there was the progression as well as what he called ‘Galaxy Cake Donuts’ that were these black, sparkly, pretty cake donuts,” she said.
Another first place RUBY awards win was for print advertisement for a campaign called “This But That,” which highlights unique experiences in the county. For example, it will show things such as Pyramid Hill is a sculpture park, but you can also drive around in an Art Cart.
“Or, we have these giant, beautiful murals that are museum worthy, but on walls. So, it’s a juxtaposition of interesting things and a fun way to highlight attractions and things around Butler County. We won for one of our print ads from that series,” Rawlinson said.
Ohio travel businesses submitted their best work for the 2024 RUBY awards and there were more than 220 entries. A lot of destination marketing organizations and attractions, including zoos and museums submit entries, annually. Eight marketing professionals volunteer to serve as judges. Judges independently scored entries in 17 different categories based on concept, creativity, and results. Winners in each category were celebrated at a RUBY Awards luncheon during the Ohio Conference on Travel.
“There were only five awards that earned near perfect or perfect scores, or what they call ‘Flawless’ scores from the judges. Out of all the submissions in every category at every budget level, there were only five, and Travel Butler County’s Insider Guide was one of those,” Rawlinson said.
Collectively, in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Travel Butler County has received 11 RUBY awards (first place awards) across a variety of different categories.
The RUBY Awards, sponsored by Ohio Magazine, are the Ohio Travel Association’s way of honoring those throughout the state who have found the most innovative ways to market their destination, experience or business. The RUBY Awards were presented at the 2024 Ohio Conference on Travel at the Renaissance Downtown Toledo on Oct. 3.
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