When we met Joe LoCicero, of Norway, Maine, he was 70,000 miles away from a goal he’d been determined to reach for 15 years: rolling the odometer of his 1990 Honda Accord over to 1m miles. We saw an opportunity to remind people of Honda’s reliability with one very special owner.We called him Million Mile Joe.Through social media, we got people to follow Joe’s journey and cheer for him along the way. As he reached the millionth mile, we got his whole hometown together to throw him a surprise parade in his honor.

The campaign received a great deal of press, but that’s not the only reason for the Million Mile Joe story to be submitted into the PR Lions category. We told a genuine story about an average guy doing something extraordinary, and it inspired people to connect with him. Joe’s accomplishment not only banded loyal Honda owners together but also won the hearts and minds of non-Honda owners. He received more than 6,000 personal congratulatory messages from all over the world via Facebook, email and YouTube, and even handwritten letters through a P.O. box we set up for him.

We introduced 'Million Mile Joe' to our Facebook community, where people followed his progress for 5 months through a series of videos and status updates. We told Joe he would be attending a small press conference after he rolled over to the millionth mile. We invited the local press, alerting them of Joe’s accomplishment and that we would be giving him a new car. Unbeknownst to Joe and the media, we got his hometown together for a surprise parade in his honor. It featured local marching bands, floats, giant banners sporting Joe's face, an airplane banner, over-the-top costumed characters, even a giant, human-powered odometer. At the end, Miss Maine handed Joe the keys to a new 2012 Honda Accord. Joe was surprised.

We told an authentic story, celebrating Joe and his accomplishment in an over-the-top, yet genuine way. We allowed people to follow his journey, cheer him on, congratulate him and share in his happiness. The event made the local news, and was then picked up nationally by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and FOX News. Joe appeared on national television shows like Good Morning America and The Early Show, and was interviewed on more than 21 radio programs. This low-budget social media campaign garnered over 44m earned media impressions in only 1 week. Campaign videos received over 650,000 YouTube views, and Joe became the number 4 top news story of the year in the state of Maine.