Recognizing Marketing’s Finest
FORTY-TWO INDIVIDUAL MARKETING EFFORTS EARN AWARDS IN OUR 2021 CONTEST
Judging for tED magazine’s 2021 Best of the Best Marketing Awards Competition took place in late April. Over the course of a week, our four judges weighed the entries submitted for the contest’s 11 categories. Ultimately, 42 entries were determined winners, with two companies—OneSource Distributors and ABB Electrification—taking home the honor of Best of the Best Overall Distributor and Best of the Best Overall Supplier, respectively. Here we present all of this year’s winning submissions, highlighting a different category each week.
PUBLIC RELATIONS/COMMUNITY OUTREACH /
Distributor More Than $700M
Summit Electric Supply
Hatsgiving
As an effort to support local food drives across its footprint during the Thanksgiving holiday, Summit’s “Hatsgiving” promotion gave counter customers a free hat with every counter purchase and a nonperishable food donation. Included in the campaign was an internal communication, a banner in Summit’s email signature block, in-branch posters and counter flyers, a summit.com landing page, a customer launch email, social media posts, and Facebook advertising.
FROM THE JUDGES: “We like this good deed that generated some very good PR and established new relationships with local food resources. Nice job!”
Supplier Less Than $250M
Dialight
The Dialight Foundation Holiday Drive
To help launch and promote the Dialight Foundation’s holiday GoFundMe page, the Dialight marketing team placed press releases on the website, on the newswire, and in four different publications. The team also utilized social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook), garnering more than 12,000 impressions on Facebook alone. Ultimately more than $60,000 (including a $10,000 match
from Dialight Corporate) was raised.
FROM THE JUDGES: “The marketing team did a wonderful job getting the Dialight Foundation name out there—and keeping its name front and center. This was an impressive effort for a really worthwhile cause.”
Supplier More Than $250M
ABB Electrification
ABB Girl Scout Council Partnerships
ABB piloted a program wherein Girl Scouts earned new ABB Girls in STEM patches by working together with their troop—or on their own—to complete a STEM activity. ABB Encompass Women, an ABB employee resource group, hosted Girl Scouts across the United States for 10 virtual (due to COVID-19) STEM events. More than 120 ABB volunteered hours were given, and more than 470 Girl Scouts were in attendance.
FROM THE JUDGES: “Brilliant. Not only doing something for kids in the community, but also planting the seed about this industry for future employees. I also love how they created a patch. That ABB patch will live on.”
PUBLIC RELATIONS/CORPORATE /
Distributor $101M-$400M
Van Meter Inc.
“On the Job” Podcast
To further create a sense of connection and build familiarity and trust with its customers, Van Meter’s marketing team developed a monthly podcast series—each of which was designed to tell the story of an industry professional. Podcast guests shared tips and tricks, industry best practices, stories of near-misses, and more. A blog series was created to complement the episodes, a total of 46 social media posts were made, and the contents of the podcasts were presented in the company’s bi-monthly e-newsletter.
FROM THE JUDGES: “A truly original endeavor with great information—and it has legs: Van Meter could go on talking to industry leaders forever.”
Supplier Less Than $250M
Dialight
Debunking the LPW Myth
To dispel the misnomer that incredibly high lumens per watt makes a fixture the most cost-effective on the market, Dialight created the Debunking the LPW Myth white paper, which also served as the first piece of the puzzle on the new Marketing Collateral page on Dialight.com. In conjunction with posting the white paper, Dialight created a YouTube video that was simultaneously posted on Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook along with three additional social media posts based on the white
paper and resulting media coverage.
FROM THE JUDGES: “Effectively written, helpful information that establishes Dialight as an industry resource.”
Supplier More Than $250M
Legrand North America
PR Partnership with Designer & HGTV Star Leanne Ford to Promote Designer Switches & Outlets
With the goal of launching Legrand’s designer switches and outlets to a broad range of customer types, the marketing team decided on a proactive and multifaceted media outreach campaign, with strategic coverage across national print, broadcast, and digital platforms. Additionally, the naming of Leanne Ford as the official brand ambassador was invaluable in securing a record number of placements in high-quality publications.
FROM THE JUDGES: “An excellent choice for celebrity endorsement, and it really builds the Legrand name. This really represents what corporate PR is all about.”
PUBLIC RELATIONS / CORPORATE – Honorable Mention
Electrical Wholesalers – CT & HZ Electric Supply
GBAC STAR Accreditation
Capital Electric
National Truck Driver Appreciation Week
Service Wire Co.
Covid Safety Campaign
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