As I look back at 2018, it was another incredible year at Louis Karno. We ended the year by signing up almost 45,000 people for healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act, a huge accomplishment given the head winds we faced. This was one of those campaigns where, with limited resources and a very short timeframe, we were able to reach almost everyone in the state through digital marketing.
And, while that capped a great year, it was not the only thing we did. You see, Louis Karno is new style of agency. We build teams to solve client’s problems and help them reach their goals. With our partners at Jackson Jackson & Wagner, one of the most respected firms in the country, we launched and conducted some significant research projects. We also consulted with a variety of organizations facing potential crisis points. Our firm also helped Laconia Housing launch a major new housing project in the Lakes Region, and conducted a major research project for the MacAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.
On the travel front, we designed and oversaw two major ads and marketing efforts for Azores Airlines, helping the carrier to relaunch its brand in the US market in the face of increased completion. To move beyond traditional ads, we delved into sponsored content and new media partnerships.
We continued our long running and successful partnership to introduce Portugal to the American traveler, and the numbers were pretty stunning, with almost 700,000 Americans visiting Portugal in 2018 – a new record and more than 3 times what it was when we started. We also kicked off support to the Madeira Promotion Bureau – hoping to do for Madeira what we did for the Azores 15 year ago. A media trip to NYC showed us we have potential, and already, we have Madeira on top of a T+L list of places to visit in 2019.
So looking ahead, the road is still a bit blurry. We see the role of traditional media in decline, and a great deal of uncertainty as Facebook faces a host of changes, and new ideas in the media continue to surface, from voice activated speakers like Alexa, to siloed media offering streaming programming.
But, where the communications frontier moves, we will be there too, and we welcome 2019!