Celebration of a Regional Icon Highlights Hispanic Heritage Month
The Project
In case our name doesn’t give it away, the CS team is certainly big on our cultura and all it encompasses. Even more so when it comes to our work! It’s part of the reason we were especially excited to help the XII Travelers Memorial of the Southwest build awareness of their most recent project.
The organization tasks itself with celebrating the rich history of the Paso del Norte region that consists of El Paso, Southern New Mexico and Northern Mexico. They accomplish this with monumental bronze statues dedicated to various men and women who traveled through the area over the past five centuries.
The fourth in the series would be dedicated to Mexican president Benito Juárez and installed at Chamizal National Memorial. The dedication itself was nearly 60 years in the making as a response to Mexico’s installation of an Abraham Lincoln statue. It stands near Parque Chamizal in Ciudad Juárez, the city namesake of the revered president just across the border from El Paso. While Juarez and Lincoln never officially met, they were quite fond of one another and assisted each other during their presidencies.
Sculptor Ethan Taliesin Houser poses with his sculpture “Benito Juárez – Child to Man”
Additionally, the unveiling date of September 25 would mark the 58th anniversary of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Mexico President Adolfo Lopez Mateos meeting. The historic event took place atop of Stanton Street Bridge, an international bridge that connects El Paso and Juárez to this day, to shake hands and officially end a century-long border conflict. The resolution of the dispute also resulted in the creation of Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez’s Parque Chamizal (Chamizal Park). Previously, both parks made up the disputed land that was part of the border conflict.
Lastly, it also happened to occur during Hispanic Heritage Month. As such, the installation of Juarez’s statue and related symbolism would serve as a monumental endeavor and deserved substantial coverage for awareness as well as attendance.
The Approach
A project with such a rich history certainly required a thorough and well-planned public relations endeavor in order to do it justice. Even more so to ensure the topic stayed top-of-mind with our media outlets for as much coverage as possible. Aside from building awareness of the historic moment, we wanted to ensure the community knew they were invited to attend as well.
As such, our timeline for outreach started significantly sooner than standard PR efforts. This approach helped to inform media contacts about the historical topics of interest that could be covered in addition to the unveiling itself. This was accomplished with an initial news release that covered top-level details about the event and in the weeks that followed, details regarding the historical topics of interest were also shared.
The Results
CultureSpan’s approach worked to not only pique the media’s interest but also in securing coverage from several outlets, with some producing multiple pieces. This included articles and news segments that focused on the history of the sculptor, Ethan Taliesin Houser, and his father who started the series, John Sherrill Houser. The coverage also touched on the project’s history, updates on the sculpture’s arrival and installation, and, of course, inviting the public to attend.
The festivities began with a VIP reception for donors that consisted of themed refreshments such as margaritas from the World Famous Kentucky Club in Juárez. The Mexican fare provided included some of Benito Juárez’s favorite foods, such as mole sopes, chocolates infused with mezcal and more.
When it came time for the event to begin, guests made their way to the seating area where many attendees were already waiting for the ceremony to commence. The ceremony began with various dignitaries from both sides of the border speaking to the event. This was followed by the unveiling itself and a variety of performances from singers, dance groups, ballet folklorico troupes, and more.
In the end, park rangers estimated that more than 500 people were in attendance at the successful event. Thanks to the multitude of news stories and coverage from area outlets, area residents were able to join in the festivities and learn about an important part of our region’s history in time for Hispanic Heritage Month.
We certainly know a thing or two about PR plus marketing and advertising as a whole. If your own efforts could use some upgrades, don’t hesitate to reach out at Gabriel.Acuna@CultureSpanMarketing.com to get a convo going!