Laughlin Constable Public Relations has earned a PRSA Chicago Skyline Award for its work supporting the transformation of Hollywood Casino Joliet.
The agency’s “Hollywood Casino Joliet Transforms Experience” campaign, created for PENN Entertainment, was recognized in the Integrated Communications, Consumer Services category at PRSA Chicago’s Sept. 17 awards gala.
The campaign supported the repositioning of the longtime Joliet casino as a new $185 million land-based entertainment destination featuring gaming, celebrity chef dining and a regional sports hub.
“A campaign like this one is what ‘making it personal’ at Laughlin Constable Public Relations actually looks like – 21 months, dozens of carefully timed decisions and an amazing team that treated this brand’s story as if it were our own,” said Kris Naidl, APR, head of LCPR.
Over 21 months, LCPR executed a three-phase strategy spanning earned media, community partnerships, influencer marketing, internal communications, public affairs and event planning.
The work included a community groundbreaking, a media event with Giada De Laurentiis, a nonprofit gala giveaway, a construction preview and the property’s August 2025 grand opening ribbon-cutting.
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According to the agency, the campaign generated an earned media audience of more than 1.4 billion and included 19 strategically timed storytelling moments. LCPR said approximately 95% of coverage included at least one key message, with near-total positive tonality.
The campaign’s success also extended to PENN Entertainment’s broader Chicagoland footprint. LCPR later supported the opening of the $360 million Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora.
The Joliet campaign had already earned national recognition with a 2026 PRSA Silver Anvil Award. LCPR’s broader awards record includes more than a dozen PRSA Silver and Bronze Anvil Awards, multiple PRSA Chicago Skyline Awards, PRSA Southeast Wisconsin Paragon Awards and an HSMAI Adrian Award.
For LCPR, the latest honor adds another Chicago win to a campaign built around a very local transformation.
