FEATURING MARKETER OF THE YEAR AND COLLEGIATE CHAPTER EXCELLENCE AWARD
ROCHESTER, NY, May 17, 2013—Local area business professionals gathered at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School on Thursday, May 16, 2013, to celebrate Rochester’s top marketers with the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA|Rochester). The winners were announced for the 2013 Pinnacle Awards, the 2013 Marketer of the Year Awards, and the Collegiate Chapter Excellence Award. Award-winning communications professional Dresden Engle served as the event emcee.
Rochester area companies and non-profit organizations were recognized for excellence in marketing tactics and campaigns with clear objectives, strong strategies, effective implementation, and results. The newly expanded awards categories included Integrated Marketing Campaign, Special Event, Blog, Direct Mail, Interactive/Mobile Marketing, Social Media Initiative, Business-to-Business Communications, Website, and more. The overall 2013 Marketer of the Year award was presented to two organizations (one for-profit and one non-profit) to the organizations that received the highest overall scores on their campaign entries. “One of the most rewarding aspects of involvement with AMA|Rochester is the Pinnacle Awards and finding out who is named Marketer of the Year,” explained Cathy Rubino Hines, AMA|Rochester Board President. “We are delighted with the increased participation of the marketing community this year and would like to wish congratulations to all the winners and express our thanks to all those who entered.”
This year, 18 businesses and non-profit organizations were recognized as finalists for the campaign categories for the Pinnacle Awards and the Marketer of the Year award: Allendale Columbia School, American Diabetes Association, Bond Financial Network, Brite, Carestream, CITY Newspaper, Eastview Mall, First American Education Finance, Garlock, Globalinx, NVus Designs, Paychex Retirement Plan Services, Roberts Communications, Royale Class, Inc., The Verdi Group, United Way of Greater Rochester, Xerox Corporation, and Zimmet Group.
Finalists for the element categories for the Pinnacle Awards were: 5LINX Enterprises, Inc., Al Sigl Community of Agencies, Brockport Auxiliary Services Corporation, Butler/Till, Brand Cool, Cancer Wellness Connections, Carestream, Dixon Schwabl, EPIC Creative, K2 Communications, PGA, Text100, and The Highlands at Pittsford.
The Marketer of the Year Winners
Marketer of the Year, Non-Profit: American Diabetes Association
Praised by the judges as “simple and clear,” the implementation of a new marketing strategy of “Brand Ambassadors” delivered big dividends for the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure. Beginning with the vision from ADA’s Executive Committee and incorporating the experiential insights of the Tour de Cure cyclists, the leadership team and committee crafted an integrated marketing plan for the ADA’s signature event. The objectives focused on increasing corporate sponsorship, team participation, average team income, and gross income. Utilizing relationship marketing, the brand ambassadors were supported by incentive packages and by a vibrant communications mix that included print, targeted email blasts, direct mail, outdoor and airport advertising, posters, brochures, point-of-sale displays, and social media videos. The results of the marketing campaign exceeded expectations and surpassed the goals, realizing a 42% growth in the number of corporate teams; 44% growth in average team income; 54% growth in sponsorship income; and 31% growth in gross income. As a result, out of 80 Tour de Cure events, Rochester was ranked fifth in the country. As one judge stated, the campaign demonstrated marketing “excellence at every step from concept to planning to execution.”
Marketer of the Year: Brite Computers
With a new product bundle in the market, Brite Computers recognized the need to increase its customer base and solidify a newly-branded position as a hardware, services and security IT consultant company. Brite’s objective was to increase revenue for BriteStart services by 30% and new customers by 10%. The challenge was to explain a complex product. Many of Brite’s prospects had an increased workload in IT without the resources to handle routine maintenance and no bandwidth to effectively watch networks. As a result, the team developed the tagline for the campaign: “Who’s Watching Your Network?” BriteStar rolled out a mini-website which included an ROI (Return on Investment) calculator and a quote request form. This was supported by a blog and twitter campaign to present real world examples of IT issues and how they would have been avoided if the company had engaged BriteStar services. Additional tactics included brochure, website, advertising, blog, email blast, direct mail, and promo items. Brite achieved a year-over-year revenue growth of 43% in BriteStar Services for fiscal 2012. New customer acquisition was 27%. The overall ROI of the campaign was $9.30 for each dollar spent. The judges found that the “tactics tied strongly to strategy” and described the messaging and creative execution as “smart, purposeful, and effective.”
The Pinnacle Awards Winners
Integrated Marketing Campaign, Non-Profit: United Way of Greater Rochester
Special Event, Non-Profit: American Diabetes Association
Direct Mail Campaign, Non-Profit: K2 Communications & The Highlands at Pittsford
Logo Design, Non-Profit: Cancer Wellness Connections
Social Media Initiative, Non-Profit: Dixon Schwabl & The PGA
Video Spot, Non-Profit: Al Sigl Community of Agencies
Branding: Paychex Retirement Plan Services
Business-to-Business Communications: First American Education Finance
Integrated Marketing Campaign: Brite Computers
New Product or Service Launch: The Verdi Group
Special Event: Roberts Communications & Xerox Corporation
Advertising: Garlock
Blog: Carestream Health
Collateral: 5LINX Enterprises, Inc.
Direct Mail/Direct Response: Carestream Health
Interactive/Mobile Marketing: Butler/Till
Online Advertising: Carestream Health & Butler/Till
Point of Sale: 5LINX Enterprises, Inc.
Print Piece: The Verdi Group
Social Media Initiative: Carestream Health
Trade Show Promotion: Carestream Health
Video Spot: K2 Communications & Eastview Mall
Web Site: Brockport Auxiliary Services Corporation
The distinguished judging panel was made up of noted marketers from across the country – from New York City to Salem, Oregon. Judges have a minimum of 14 years professional experience and most have more than 20 years work experience in the field of marketing. The judges were: Randall Ringer, Monica Mattioli, Melanie Brenneman, Katie Bartasevich, Shelley Jack, Laurie Fry, and Mark A. Johnson. With decades of experience, this group was well suited to objectively judge the exceptional entries.
The event was sponsored by the Rochester Business Journal (Title Sponsor), Simon School of Business (Presenting Sponsor), and KJT Group, Inc. Sponsors providing in-kind support included: K2 Communications, Excelsus Solutions, SignsNow, Bob Wright Creative, Kracke Photography, Helendale Dermatology & Medical Spa, Baskets to Remember, and Woodcliff Hotel & Spa.
AMA|Rochester Collegiate Chapter Excellence Award
AMA | Rochester presence in local universities has grown considerably over the years with affiliated collegiate chapters in the Rochester and Buffalo area.
AMA | Rochester annually honors one of its affiliated collegiate chapters with the AMA | Rochester Collegiate Chapter Excellence Award (CCEA). Award criteria is based on a collegiate chapter’s leadership, membership, programs, professional development, community service, involvement with the American Marketing Association at the national level, and involvement with AMA | Rochester at the local level.
This year, the CCEA has been awarded to St. John Fisher College. The marketing club at St. John Fisher College started in May 2010 and the club has continued to grow and maintain a high level of success. The club attended the 2013 AMA International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans and received several international AMA awards including: “Outstanding Chapter Plan 2012-2013”, “Outstanding Marketing Week Events 2012-2013”, and “AMA Saves Lives Video Competition”: Fall 2012 3rd place number of video views, Fall 2012 4th place total videos submitted, Spring 2013 4th place number of video views, Spring 2013 5th place total number of videos submitted. St. John Fisher College’s AMA Collegiate Chapter advisor is Dr. Monica Hodis and the current student president is Christian Gonzalez. As winner of this year’s CCEA, the chapter will win a $1,000 award for future collegiate chapter activities.
The panel of judges was comprised of Jennifer Hamberger, Chief Marketing Officer at Freed Maxick CPAs; Marjorie Stell, Director Strategy and Planning Retail Systems Solutions at Kodak; James Byrnes, Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer at Erdman Anthony; Susan Stoev, Qualitative Research Director at Ipsos UU.
About AMA|Rochester
The American Marketing Association is an international professional society of individual members with an interest in the practice, study, and teaching of marketing. The Rochester, N.Y., chapter of the American Marketing Association was founded in 1950. AMA|Rochester is the premier organization for marketing, education, programming, and networking among marketing professionals in the Western New York region. For more information, visit www.ama-rochester.org.
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Contact: Stephanie D. Buchbinder (585) 737-3402
AMA|Rochester Board Member
President SDB Marketing