AAA and Mediatrope Win Compass Award

16 October 1998

AAA and Mediatrope Win Compass Award for Online Public Relations; Children's Web Site Captures Essence of Traffic Safety

    SAN FRANCISCO--Oct. 15, 1998--AAA and Mediatrope take top honors in the 1998 Compass Awards sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America for the creation of an engaging children's web site on traffic safety. The Compass Awards recognizes outstanding innovation and creativity in public relations.
    "This is the first time that online public relations was recognized. There is enough work in the area that we wanted to be able to evaluate and celebrate what is being done," said Michael Jack, the coordinator of the PRSA awards and an account executive at Porter Novelli.
    Tania Schwartz, Mediatrope vice president commented, "The implications of this award are that web pages are now a key part of a comprehensive public relations marketing strategy."
    Mediatrope played a vital role in CSAA's campaign to prevent child death and injury caused by automobile crashes by creating a cyber version of Otto the Auto, CSAA's principal outreach to young children. Otto the Auto, a talking robot car, visits with children at schools and other public forums to encourage safety. To extend Otto's reach and expand the unique peer-to-peer relationship the character's in-person interactions establish, CSAA asked Mediatrope to build a web site just for Otto.
    The challenge was to create an electronic version of Otto the Auto that would be just as engaging and for youngsters as the friendly talking robot. The resulting web site (www.ottoclub.org) -- A Safe Place to Play features games, animated stories and songs all designed to teach traffic safety. Use of flash animation and a high level of interactivity helps activate the site's young visitors. The web site is one component of a comprehensive traffic safety program.
    "Parents and teachers have long asked for a web site for young children that is educational and fun, as well as non-violent, non-commercial and free to all visitors. The Otto Club is all of these things," remarked Merry Banks, Traffic Safety Director of CSAA. She added, "Mediatrope helped us to make the best possible use of the web to extend the impact of our safety education program."
    Mediatrope Internet Studio (www.mediatrope.com) based in San Francisco, provides web and multimedia services that translate marketing and educational content into distinctive electronic landmarks. Mediatrope's clients include the City College of San Francisco, Cliquot, Inc., the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and LivePicture.
    Established more than 90 years ago, the AAA affiliate of Northern California, Nevada and Utah offers a variety of automotive, insurance, travel and financial services. It is the second largest regional affiliate of the national AAA organization.