New Orleans & Company’s Plus One Campaign Awarded a Best of Show – MOSAIC for Diversity and Inclusion at the American Advertising Federation’s 2023 American Advertising Awards
The award-winning campaign features groundbreaking virtual reality component never before used by a destination marketing organization

New Orleans & Company, in partnership with Dentsu Creative, was awarded a Gold Addy for Best of Show - Mosaic at the American Advertising Federation’s 2023 American Advertising Awards for its Plus One campaign. The Mosaic award speaks to the diversity and inclusion that was an integral part of the campaign. The Plus One campaign also has a cutting edge long-form virtual reality (VR) version, marking the first time a destination marketing organization has used VR.

Plus One tells the story of New Orleans’ unique creativity through its people. The commercial features a who's who of New Orleans personalities gathered for a special dinner inside an elegant home on St. Charles Avenue. The dinner party features talented chefs, musicians, artists, activists, civil rights icons and members of vibrant, tight-knit New Orleans communities.

The VR component allows people to immerse themselves and view New Orleans through the eyes of its culture bearers. In the eight-minute video, viewers can experience the sights and sounds of the dinner party; Galactic’s Stanton Moore playing inside an empty Orpheum Theatre; Big Chief Demond Melancon – Chief of the Young Seminole Hunters- teaching a young spyboy how to dance; shrimping in Chalmette with My Nguyen – matriarch of the Vietnamese fishing community; and Brandan “BMike” Odums painting inside his gallery, Studio Be. All four scenes give insight into their thoughts on what the city and its culture have bestowed upon them and how it has impacted them.

“The people are what makes our city so special,” said Mark Romig, Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Company. “Getting these personalities to come together for the world’s greatest dinner party was such a unique experience that only could be done in New Orleans. For this campaign to be awarded a Mosaic speaks to the time and effort they each put into this city to make it as special as it is.”

In addition to the Gold Addy for Best of Show – Mosaic, Plus One was awarded two Silver Addys, for Online, Video and Sound – Internet Commercial for any length and up to two minutes.

The campaign also gained national recognition earlier last year. In December 2022, Plus One was named one of the 30 Best Ads of 2022 by AdWeek and the only destination to be featured on the list.

Learn more about this great campaign and the culture bearers featured here. The Plus One VR experience is available on YouTube.

About New Orleans & Company
New Orleans & Company is the tourism and hospitality industry’s official destination sales, marketing and trade organization, responsible for driving over $10 billion of diverse annual business to the regional cultural economy. We attract leisure and cultural travel, business meetings, conventions, weddings, festivals, sporting and special events to New Orleans in a highly competitive global environment. Founded in 1960, New Orleans & Company is committed to celebrating the richness of our culture while creating jobs, building careers, and enhancing the quality of life for every New Orleanian. For more information, visit neworleans.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @VisitNewOrleans.

About Dentsu Creative
Part of dentsu, Dentsu Creative is a global creative network that transforms brands and businesses through the power of Modern Creativity. Led by Global Chief Creative Officer Fred Levron, 9,000 experts across the globe work seamlessly together to deliver ideas that create culture, shape society and invent the future. Dentsu Creative was launched in June 2022 to address a client need for simplicity, which now operates as dentsu’s sole creative network.

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