Cornett is literally shooting for the stars. The agency’s “Hey Aliens! Look at Lexington” campaign, which engaged scientists to broadcast a tourism message to the theoretical inhabitants of the Trappist-1 planetary system, drew worldwide attention for VisitLex, the Lexington, Kentucky, visitors and tourism bureau.
Special Report: Small Agency Conference and Awards
Cornett launched buzzy campaigns for Lexington, Q Mixers and A&W Restaurants
Cornett is Small Agency of the Year, Southeast, Silver
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Cornett’s “Hey, Aliens! Look at Lexington” campaign drew worldwide attention for VisitLex, the Lexington, Kentucky, visitors and tourism bureau.
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Cornett
The outer-space campaign, created on a budget of less than $75,000, made Lexington one of the most talked-about places on Earth, generating 3 billion earned impressions and an estimated advertising value of $28 million. It was covered to the tune of 1,110 news placements from Italy to Australia—which didn’t fail to mention that the city is home to horses, bourbon, bluegrass and friendly people.
The effort drove increased conversation about Lexington while challenging ingrained misperceptions around Kentucky. Sentiment around the campaign was 88% positive—a 61% increase over the average conversation around Kentucky.
Cornett was behind several other buzzy campaigns last year, including an outdoor campaign for Q Mixers and another clever tourism pitch—this time marketing Dublin, Ohio, in Dublin, Ireland. These campaigns helped the agency grow revenue to $21.1 million in 2023 from $17.6 million in 2022.
Cornett also grew its staff, promoting Jessica Vincent to president and making several key hires by adding a new director of strategy, a brand strategist, a director of performance media and its first head of production.
Cornett won 10 pieces of new business last year, including Q Mixers, GE Appliances and the Lexington Sporting Club, a USL pro soccer team. It retained A&W Restaurants in a competitive pitch.
For A&W, Cornett turned fish into jewelry in a campaign that acknowledged both Valentine’s Day and the start of A&W’s Lenten fish-sandwich season. “Cod Collection” jewelry was created from stones made from the carbon of cremated cod fish sandwiches. The chain then invited lovebirds to make it “o-fish-ial” by entering to win the pieces and celebrate Valentine’s Day with a cod sandwich BOGO deal.
The campaign increased A&W Restaurants’ loyalty program by 25,000 members—an all-time high for a single campaign push.
