Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) are the fastest-growing racial group in the US, yet they continue to be vastly underrepresented and grossly misrepresented in mainstream media, reinforcing pernicious stereotypes and resulting in erasure from the cultural zeitgeist, detrimental socioeconomic outcomes, and recent surges in racism and hate crimes.
As a countermeasure, Gold House created the A100—the definitive award for the 100 most impactful APIs in American society and the only award of its kind to consistently receive mainstream coverage. The list is essential to distilling Asian Pacific contributions and leadership for the masses and celebrating Asian Pacific brilliance and joy.
The 2022 A100, selected by esteemed multicultural judges, span across Activism, Advocacy, and Politics; Business, Technology, and Innovation; Entertainment; Lifestyle; and Sports. Honorees included:
Icons: Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling
Cultural leaders: Bella Poarch, BLACKPINK, Gemma Chan, H.E.R., Jason Momoa, Olivia Rodrigo, Riz Ahmed, Taika Waititi, Silk Sonic, and the Squid Games cast
Business executives: Founders and C-suite leaders of Binance, Block, Coinbase, Doordash, Sweetgreen, TikTok, Twitter, and Sweetgreen
In its fifth year, the 2022 A100 needed to penetrate the zeitgeist like never before. Our goals were to:
Achieve unparalleled media and social coverage, reaching trades and audiences across industries
Creatively partner with established companies to leverage their invaluable storytelling and media channels, including Google.com, the most valuable marketing real estate in the world
Make history with the Gold Gala, an in-person celebration of the A100, that would cement the achievements of the A100 in the public sphere.
To reach our goals, we:
Tastemade across industries through a diverse and storied selection committee:
We brought together top nonprofits, multicultural icons (including Daniel Dae Kim, former Time President Keith Grossman, and GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis), and industry leaders to select the A100, ensuring that honorees were at the forefront of their industries, and importantly, were impactful in the current moment. Notably, the A100 “Legend” award was the first honor Michelle Yeoh received after the premiere of Everything Everywhere All At Once, ahead of numerous awards she has received for that film.
Crafted a compelling narrative around the “New Gold Age”:
To differentiate from previous years and as a contrast to headlines about APIs as “victims”, we centered the storytelling around the “New Gold Age” to capture the cultural changes and era of excellence ushered in by the A100’s achievements. We wove this theme across our social assets, featuring statistics on APIs leading industries and individual honoree headshots highlighting their “gold brilliance”, which we also sent to each honoree for convenient social sharing.
Created outsized impact through partnerships that provided access to unmatched marketing channels:
We partnered with Google and Cashmere Agency to produce a video during Asian Pacific History Month highlighting the A100 with a message of hope, strength, and resilience featuring the iconic Lisa Ling as the messenger. In addition to Gold House and Google’s social channels (over 71M followers), the video was promoted on the most coveted marketing real estate: Google.com’s homepage.
We collaborated with Procter & Gamble on “The Name”, a campaign highlighting the correct pronunciation of the A100’s names. We provided each honoree with social media collateral that showcased the phonetic pronunciation of their name, and produced an Instagram Reel featuring major honorees (e.g., Michelle Yeoh) explaining the pronunciation and meaning of their names, which Procter & Gamble shared with their audiences.
Produced a historic gathering, the Gold Gala, celebrating the A100 and Gold Excellence, resulting in pervasive reach across mainstream press and social channels:
The campaign culminated with the inaugural Gold Gala, which convened 500+ Asian Pacific celebrities, cultural leaders, and business executives to celebrate the A100 in what has become, after just one year, the definitive Asian Pacific gathering. The event brought the “New Gold Age” theme to life, with an 80-feet Gold Carpet, “modern Asian couture” dress code, and awards given onstage to the most impactful A100 honorees.
The evening produced several moments for digital virality.
We secured exclusive “getting ready” pieces with Vogue, Vanity Fair, and NYLON for A100 honorees Michelle Yeoh, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Bella Poarch.
The Gold Carpet featured over 20 major press outlets and a 360 camera courtesy of Meta that produced easily shareable Instagram Reels.
The interactive programming included an innovative game in which guests fulfilled each others’ wishes and award presentations to Michelle Wu, Payal Kadakia, Chloe Kim, and Simu Liu. The evening ended with rousing speeches from Legends Mindy Kaling and Michelle Yeoh, which were the highlight of ensuing social videos and press pieces.
The 2022 A100 and Gold Gala generated the highest amount of press and social coverage for Gold House since its inception, and more importantly, brought the achievements, leadership, and brilliance of the Asian Pacific community to the forefront of the public sphere like never before:
Unprecedented coverage by mainstream media outlets for an Asian Pacific award, resulting in 40+ major press pieces with an estimated 1.1 billion potential audience reach and 35 million views:
2022 A100 launch: Allure, Deadline, Entertainment Weekly, Teen Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and more.
Gold Gala: Vogue [1, 2 (1+ million views), 3], Vanity Fair [1, 2], GQ [1, 2], E! News [1, 2], E! Online [1, 2], E! Style Collective [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], People [1, 2, 3], WWD, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Just Jared, Daily Mail, ABC 7, Nylon, Nextshark, Axios, Apple News, and more.
Unmatched social reach and engagement across Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook, with a cumulative potential audience reach of 3.3 billion (based on follower counts), including shares by prominent companies and individuals with massive followings:
Google (78M);
A100 Honorees: Mindy Kaling (17.8M), Bella Poarch (13.2M), Jay Shetty (12.8M), Valkyrae (6.7M), Simu Liu (3M), Ashley Park (2.5M), Eva Chen (2.2M), the Los Angeles Rams (1.6M), Michelle Yeoh (1.4M), and many others; and
Gala attendees: Liza Soberano (17.6M), Leenda Dong (17.7M), Jeenie Weenie (9.1M), James Reid (7M), Eric Nam (4M), Arden Cho (3.2M), Jeannie Mai Jenkins (2.9M), and many others.
