Visit Baltimore Celebrates “We’re Ready” Ad Campaign Wins at Baltimore American Advertising Awards

(Baltimore, MD – March 5, 2021) – Visit Baltimore, the official destination sales and marketing organization for Baltimore, is excited to announce that its “We’re Ready” advertising campaign won in multiple categories at the 2021 Virtual American Advertising Awards event hosted by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) of Baltimore. The annual awards competition, formerly the ADDY® Awards, celebrates marketing and communications professionals making their mark in Baltimore. 

Visit Baltimore and partner agency TBC took home the gold in the National Integrated Advertising Campaign category and silver in the National Television Advertising Campaign category. The campaign was also the recipient of Baltimore’s first-ever Mosaic ADDY® Award for advertising that best represents the market’s diversity and multiculturalism.  

“We’re wildly proud of our marketing and communications team and partners at TBC for their impactful work on the ‘We’re Ready’ campaign,” said Visit Baltimore President & CEO Al Hutchinson. “And I would like to thank the City of Baltimore again for supplying the 2020 CARES Act funds that made this campaign possible. It’s no secret that our industry has been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’re proud of the campaign’s ability to inspire East Coast travelers and our local and five-county neighbors to confidently enjoy Baltimore’s many restaurants, museums and attractions while adhering to public health measures and smart precautions. We believe that travel—and especially hometown tourism—will play an important role in the City and State’s economic recovery as our region rebounds from the pandemic.” 

The “We’re Ready” campaign was designed to encourage those along the I-95 corridor and in the Greater Baltimore region to safely explore Charm City as it recovers from the pandemic. The campaign features health precautions in place at local businesses to enhance the health and safety of visitors and guests. In addition to promoting mask-wearing, the campaign encourages visitors to practice social distancing and other safe practices for navigating the city. Audio in the campaign features employees from the highlighted businesses and the voice-over is narrated by Baltimore writer, spoken word artist and speaker Kondwani Fidel. 

“TBC was incredibly proud to partner with Visit Baltimore to produce a campaign that shares some of the inspiring and resilient voices of our city,” says Creative Director at TBC, Jess Brown. “Charm City has endless talent, and we’re proud and humbled to share in celebrating Baltimore’s advertising community and creativity.” 

Now that some restrictions have been lifted in Baltimore, the campaign advertisements will run again this spring to encourage safe regional travel. To learn more about tourism in Baltimore, please visit baltimore.org/covid-19-updates-resources/ 

About Visit Baltimore 

Visit Baltimore is the official sales and marketing arm for the City of Baltimore. The 501(c)(6) organization generates economic benefits for stakeholders through the attraction of convention, group and leisure visitors. In 2019, spending by travelers totaled $6 billion in direct spending throughout the city, supporting 86,827 total jobs and generating $750 million in state and city tax revenues. For more information, please visit Baltimore.org. 

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