Hopkinsville, KY, about 20 miles north of the Tennessee border, is an idyllic place, known for its all-American downtown with historic buildings, restaurants, art galleries and nearby spirits manufacturers. In fact, a local moonshine distillery located directly on the point of greatest totality during the 2017 solar eclipse took advantage of its prime viewing spot with special-edition spirits and even creative promotional products.

The town is also home to the headquarters of Ebonite International, which manufactures half a million bowling balls and bowling equipment each year. The company offers exclusive behind-the-scenes tours of the facility once a quarter, and the Hopkinsville-Christian County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) recently decided to partner with Ebonite for a tourism marketing push to promote both the manufacturer and Hopkinsville tourism.

The CVB turned to local distributor Williams Advertising (asi/360402), who had worked with them before on promotional products, to help them put together a fun giveaway: a bowling ball-shaped stress reliever, co-branded with both the Hopkinsville tourism and Ebonite logos, to be given out as an exclusive gift for all tour participants. Williams Advertising placed an initial order for 150 pieces of the Bowling Ball Stress Reliever (LSP-BB10) from Top 40 supplier Ariel Premium Supply (asi/36730) earlier this year.

Williams Advertising in Hopkinsville, KY, put together these award-winning bowling balls for their local tourism bureau.

“We collaborate with the CVB often on gift shop and promo items,” says Sarah Whitaker, co-owner of Williams Advertising. “We really have fun with their brand, and we’ve even helped create new imprints across different items to promote Hopkinsville.”

The CVB was so happy with the positive reception of the items and proud of the work they’d done that they entered the piece into the “Specialty Item” category in the 2019 Traverse Awards, hosted by the Kentucky Travel Industry Association and judged by out-of-state tourism experts. It won bronze, and the client just placed an order for another 250 pieces for upcoming tours.

Brooke Jung of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Convention & Visitors Bureau accepted the award at the Kentucky Travel Industry Association’s 2019 Traverse Awards.

“My ultimate goal is to help clients build brand awareness,” says Whitaker. “To work with a client on an item that wins an industry award does just that. It’s so exciting and it further proves that promotional items that are unique and a great fit for client’s program can make a huge impact for their business.”