Recognizing Marketing’s Finest
Here, we present all of this year’s winning submissions, highlighting a different category each week.
PR – CORPORATE /
Swift Electrical Supply
80th Anniversary Commemorative Brochure & Video
To celebrate its 80th anniversary as a successful family-owned, independent distributor and welcome new customers and partners, Swift Electrical Supply’s marketing team set out to tell the story of the company’s origins and highlight its longevity.
“We worked with District Publishing to garner the support of our supplier partners and service providers by selling ad space to cover the cost of publishing. There was no resistance to this effort. Based on the ads taken, we were able to produce a 50-page publication and video” was written on the entry form.
All employees were involved in the effort by sharing current and historical photos, spelling out the efforts of their departments, and making suggestions about points to include in the story. Hard copies of the final products were shared via mail, sales calls, and industry events, while electronic versions were shared via links in email signatures, on the company’s website, and as news pieces in industry periodicals.
The judges liked how “they capitalized on their 80th anniversary to make it newsworthy” and appreciated how it was supported across several media channels.
Granite City Electric Supply
Women’s History Month
To celebrate Women’s History Month and the company’s 100th year in business, Granite City Electric Supply wanted to highlight and share the stories of some of its female leaders who have helped it reach that milestone.
“We filmed an interview session with our owner, Phyllis Papani Godwin, and edited it into a four-part series that aired once a week during Women’s History Month in March 2023. We then gathered five female leaders within our company and interviewed them in a roundtable session, which we aired as a special feature on our WIRED podcast” was written on the entry form.
The strongest answers in the hourlong interview with Papini Godwin were edited into smaller clips and aired as their own episode as part of the four-part series. Each video was branded with its own unique intro graphic with the same concept in mind. The video clips were posted on YouTube throughout the month and shared online.
“That’s brilliant to celebrate Phyllis’s accomplishments during Women’s History Month,” said the judges. “Well done.”
OneSource Distributors
Hawaii Central Distribution Center (CDC) Opening
In 2023, OneSource made a commitment to customers in Hawaii and invested in a CDC in Kapolei, on the island of Oahu. Doors opened in December 2023.
“Customers in Hawaii have more supply chain challenges than customers on the mainland because of the limited inventory that is available and in stock on the islands. No electrical distributor has had a CDC in the state of Hawaii” was written on the entry form.
Details of the execution included creating a flyer, a landing page, and a “Coming Soon” full campaign about the location that featured artwork depicting the building and surrounding area. A time-lapse camera was set up so people could view the progress of the CDC on the web page, and a grand opening event that included a traditional Hawaiian blessing by a kahu and maile lei untying (which is done in Hawaii vs. a ribbon cutting) was held.
The judges appreciated how OneSource “tipped its hat to local culture” and said that “it’s impressive” that the event was covered on local TV stations.
Sonepar USA
Bright Lights, Brighter Futures
Sonepar’s Bright Lights, Brighter Futures program provides three nonprofits with a lighting retrofit.
“Many nonprofits don’t have the resources to coordinate this important upgrade. Sonepar does. These projects will provide lighting upgrades free of charge to a charitable organization in need, including everything from hardware, audit, installation, and recycling” was written on the entry form.
Sonepar collected nominations (any charity or nonprofit was eligible), which were evaluated by a board of directors. One nomination was selected per Sonepar region (North/Central/West).
When all three projects were complete, each operating company celebrated by sponsoring an on-site event at the charity. This included luncheons and other activities to raise awareness of the charities and publicize their work.
“The linkage from their PR to their business model is telegraphic. The effort is beautiful and supported with clear, compelling messaging,” said the judges, adding, “Involving partners in the installation reinforces their B2B relationships.”
Service Wire
My Service Why
The My Service Why campaign consisted of several short-format videos giving voice to individual employees who share in their own words what they value most about working for the company.
“Service Wire employees know firsthand the benefits of being part of the Service family. We are often approached by employees who have strong feelings about their experience with Service Wire and are eager to share their stories. We recognized the potential benefit of amplifying their stories—for recruiting, reinforcing pride in our workplace, and overall brand awareness” was written on the entry form.
Marketing worked with corporate leadership to identify employees from each Service Wire location who were eager to share their positive work experience. Several short-format videos were produced and publicized via social media. It was imperative that one of the videos be produced in Spanish to ensure representation of this large demographic in the workforce.
Employees were also encouraged to produce their own, original content for social media posts on their private channels using the #MyServiceWhy hashtag in their posts.
The judges liked that “the videos posted on social media give a real personal connection to Service Wire” and described the effort as “impactful and genuine with good results.”
Legrand
Legrand Story
After surveying more than 130 employees and customers, the Legrand Central Marketing team saw a need for a corporate PR campaign that would communicate the Legrand Story for internal and external stakeholders because employees had diverse ways of talking about Legrand, and the organization had new employees and acquisitions joining and needed a better way to explain what Legrand is.
“In North and Central America, Legrand is a company made up of many acquisitions in electrical and digital infrastructure industries. Internally and externally, our audiences are familiar with organizations we acquired like Wattstopper and many of our product brands, but they were less connected with who Legrand was as a whole. Our five divisions manage their product marketing and sales, which leads to challenges in telling a consistent Legrand story” was written on the entry form.
In Q4 2023, the campaign launched with a consistent set of materials with the key simple themes of “We are. We make. We believe.” It included guidelines on how to use resources; digital assets including imagery, videos, and social media posts; and a one-hour training course where employees could learn the full story, hear from leaders how their stories aligned to the Legrand Story, and learn best storytelling practices. These stories from leaders were posted on YouTube for external use.
“Wow! Very strategic way of empowering employees so that they can best build the Legrand brand,” said the judges. “This effort can support the building of the Legrand name across the entire year. Brilliant.”
Tagged with awards, Best of the Best, marketing