Recognizing Marketing’s Finest
Here, we present all of this year’s winning submissions, highlighting a different category each week.
INTEGRATED PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN /
Atlantic Coast Electric Supply
ACES Going Places—Nashville
ACES introduced a customer incentive program wherein commercial account holders earned points for their purchases throughout
2022. Those who qualified earned a spot to travel to Nashville in April 2023.
“Starting in January 2023, the focus was on those who qualified and how we would communicate and elevate the level of customer service and brand awareness through the travel period. This strategic approach not only encouraged consistent engagement,
but also added an element of excitement and variety to the reward system” was written on the entry form.
Details of execution included a digital communications campaign and a print campaign. ACES also developed an itinerary that combined formal and informal activities, incorporated personal touches (welcome gifts, cards for birthdays/anniversaries, etc.), and hired a photographer. Attendees were encouraged to share photos using the hashtags #ACESNashville and #ACESGoingPlaces.
Post-trip communications reinforced positive memories, and a survey collected attendee insights.
The judges called the campaign “a class act” and noted, “Allowing the participants to share their memories built positive impressions beyond those who attended and will likely build interest/demand for any future events. In other words, they probably caused some FOMO!”
Parrish-Hare Electrical Supply
Digital Adoption Campaign
In 2022 Parrish-Hare developed a portal with single sign-on capabilities that enabled users to securely authenticate with multiple applications and websites by using just one set of credentials.
While this feature offered advantages, it also came with challenges, including the fact that clients weren’t familiar with its benefits and no training materials were available.
“To understand and properly address the challenges faced by our accounts payable customers, we sat down with the head of our accounting department to learn about the difficulties our clients might encounter and what digital features would most ease their pain points,” was written on the entry form. They also sat down with selected sales leads to better understand the customer sales journey, the needs of the purchasing departments, and the users that most likely would be interested in utilizing
the digital tools.
Easily accessible PDF training guides, designed with the customer in mind, were then used to train Parrish-Hare’s accounting and sales team first, followed by the clients. The materials were promoted through newsletters, email blasts and campaigns, organic social media, and onsite training.
“The visual of the shopping cart filled with boxes labeled with the Parrish-Hare logo is brilliant and very telegraphic,” said the judges, adding that the “campaign was comprehensive across the web, email blasts, newsletters, and social media.”
NorthEast Electrical
Lightning Deals
Witnessing a noticeable decrease in foot traffic throughout its counters, NorthEast Electrical introduced the Lightning Deals initiative as an effort to get back to basics and drive traffic to the counters.
“Every two weeks, NorthEast starts a new product special to run uniformly at every branch” was written on the entry form.
A team of associates, created to target small- to medium-sized contractors, recommends what products are on special for each period and works with the pricing team to make sure they are highlighting products for which they can get manufacturer support to recoup the margin loss.
All branches were directed to set up a display table with the generic Lightning Deals poster and flyer, and the deals were advertised on the needco.com homepage, in weekly emails, on NorthEast’s SharePoint site, and on social media.
“Great strategy, great solution, great results!” declared the judges, who appreciated the “consistent use of visuals at every touchpoint—from in-store counter displays to the website.”
Van Meter Inc.
Get a Start with Smart Manufacturing
To help create awareness and expo-sure around its Smart Manufacturing portfolio capabilities, Van Meter designed an integrated marketing campaign that targeted existing and potential customers.
“The primary target audience for this campaign was industrial manufacturers across the Iowa, Minnesota, and western Wisconsin markets that were digitally immature in their smart manufacturing journey” was written on the entry form.
After meeting with key stakeholders, industrial automation product experts, and outside sales team members to understand customers’ challenges and goals and identify smart manufacturing solutions, Van Meter conducted market research, developed a marketing communications plan, and leveraged ZoomInfo to position it and Rockwell Automation as the solution provider of choice and create new selling opportunities in key focus areas around modernizing operations through smart manufacturing solutions.
Details of execution include a website landing page, an awareness video, a thought leadership blog content, a research study white paper, an email campaign, regional events, and paid social media ads.
“I love it when things ‘fit,’ ” said the judges. “The incorporation of the summit motif throughout the marketing is visually appealing and offers a subliminal feeling of appropriateness for the messaging.”
Van Meter Inc.
Smart Solutions Summit
Van Meter, partnered with Rockwell Automation, saw an opportunity to host one-day events where they help customers be smart in their digital journey and brought the Smart Solutions Summit to life by executing the event in three different markets in
three weeks.
“Manufacturers are being asked to reach ever-increasing goals with fewer resources. Data and technology are the heart of any thriving business, yet many manufacturers are at a loss on how to create synergy between cutting-edge technology, people, and processes to achieve an ROI” was written on the entry form.
Van Meter met with key stakeholders, smart manufacturing experts, and outside sales team members to understand the value and opportunity for an event around smart manufacturing and digital transformation. Next, the event structure and topics for breakout sessions were identified and industry experts were selected to present keynote and panel discussions.
Then, after curating a comprehensive target audience list utilizing CRM and ZoomInfo, branded slideshows for two individual keynotes and seven breakout sessions were created.
Marketing materials included a variety of print and digital platforms: banners, table tents, agendas, folders, lanyards, name tags, personalized agendas, maps, slideshows, surveys, video, and appreciation gifts.
“They really did the homework necessary to help develop materials and messages that would speak to the audience,” said the judges. “Coupled with an on-target execution using various digital and print media, it paid off with leads, opportunities, conversions, customers, and a new niche helping customers along their smart manufacturing journey.”
Intermatic
PANELGUARD+
When Intermatic launched a new expansion to its PANELGUARD series of commercial/industrial surge protective devices, the marketing team leveraged the strength of the original product line to develop complementary marketing messages and resources to support the new solutions.
“The campaign centered around the tagline ‘From Facility to Fortress,’ which reinforced the enhanced capabilities of PANELGUARD+ while aligning with past creative, which referenced ‘the Return of the Trusted Defender.’ Both messages evoke strength and durability, hallmarks of the PANELGUARD line” was written on the entry form.
In an effort to raise awareness of the solution, drive customers to its configuration page, differentiate the new product from other solutions, and facilitate sales conversation, the marketing team created a variety of digital and print assets/resources—including a digital toolkit, a landing page, technical data sheets, a brochure, videos, and PR.
The judges liked the “Facility to Fortress” concept, calling it “a clever way to communicate the protection power of the product,” and appreciated the visual of the back of a man looking over his facility, noting that it “adeptly conveys that Intermatic empathizes with customers who are charged with watching over their facilities.”
ABB Electrification
Infrastructure Integrated Campaign
To better focus its positioning on the increasing demand for infrastructure investment, ABB needed to pinpoint the main priority areas where its technology and expertise intersect with the megatrends of the country.
“We conducted more than 24 informal internal interviews across various divisions and business areas. Through these interviews, we identified the Venn diagram overlap between ABB technology, initiatives, know-how, and business priorities with the public
and private infrastructure investments” was written on the entry form.
After determining the campaign priorities and grouping them into four categories, the marketing team developed focused messaging that included video and online resources; thought leadership content; a social media takeover campaign; and launch kits that included engagement tools, internal messaging, digital signage, and email signature graphics.
The judges called it “a very com-prehensive campaign across many social platforms” and appreciated “so much helpful information in a wellorganized and well-designed package of resources and materials for internal and external audiences.”
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