What Does it take to Win? — By Ranjana Sterling

We know that awards season can be draining, and it is sometimes difficult to gather the enthusiasm and energy to submit for yet another award, let alone a marketing award.

As marketers, we tend to celebrate our work last. Why is that? Creating amazing work may be its own reward, but having your work seen and recognized by your peers and the A/E/C community can be inspiring, encouraging, and energizing. 

With that in mind, we want to encourage our fellow A/E/C marketers to submit their best marketing and communications projects from the past year for the SMPS Seattle Reign Awards. Never entered a project for a Reign Award? Have questions around what type of projects win? Well, we wanted to take a moment to remove some of the mystery around the Reign Awards submittal process by following up with previous winners on why they entered their project and their advice for anyone who might be thinking of submitting. Here are some of the things to keep in mind if you find yourself hesitant to begin the process: 

• You don’t have to have a large marketing team or budget to win.
• From a perfectly themed farewell party to a major rebrand, project winners can (and do) come from all types of project categories.
• Yes, you can leverage your SMPS Seattle win internally and externally!
• Last, but certainly not least, the most important part of any project is the people and the story behind it.

2017 Best One-Time Marketing Piece: Fun Fact Cities Coloring Book, Degenkolb Engineers

Interviewed by Jessica Congdon, Senior Marketing Coordinator, Schuchart

Why did you enter this project for the Reign Awards?

Degenkolb has a history of marketing communications excellence. We thought this piece represented our community-focused business mindset. All the images were submitted by our employees representing their favorite places in the cities where they work.

How did you leverage your win?

The win was promoted internally through our weekly BD report. We like to use our marketing communications awards to demonstrate the team’s excellence internally and promote the value of branding and communications.

Any advice for those who want to submit a project for the Reign Awards?

Don’t let the deadline sneak up on you. Treat it like you would a submittal for your firm’s technical awards and give it the time it is due.

2016 Best Marketing Collateral: Aloha Party, Weber Thompson

Interviewed by Kellie Fortier, Marketing Manager, Compass Construction

Why did you enter this project for the Reign Awards?

Our team spent many hours working on the Aloha Party as we wanted to give our firm’s co-founder a proper send-off. The theme fell into place naturally, as Scott Thompson and Blaine Weber had met as students in Hawaii and formed a lasting bond that eventually led to the founding of Weber Thompson. Since ‘Aloha’ can mean both hello and goodbye, it was the perfect way to send off one Partner and welcome aboard three new leaders. Because the party’s theme, graphics, décor, food, and spirit were so unified from start to finish, it felt like an appropriate event to submit to the SMPS Reign Awards.

How did you leverage your win?

The biggest benefit of winning an SMPS Reign Award for your marketing team is the ability to brag about it to your colleagues! But in addition to the joy of sharing the win with your team and larger firm, we’ve also used it to win new projects. Our marketing and graphics team will occasionally support graphics, signage, and marketing efforts for our clients, and we are able to tout that we have an ‘award-winning marketing team.’

Any advice for those who want to submit a project for the Reign Awards?

Go for it! Even if you don’t feel that you have a project worthy of winning an award, the process of analyzing a marketing project or campaign can be very valuable in and of itself. The judges want to see that you’re thoughtful about strategy, planning, and execution of your projects, and that you analyze the results and impact of your work. It can be easy in our industry to jump from one project to the next, but it’s essential to reflect on what works and what doesn’t, and incorporate lessons learned so we can become savvier marketers and business developers. Submitting to the Reign Awards can help your team dig deep to do this work. Winning is just a bonus!

2020 Best Brand Experience/Identity and Best in Show: Corporate Identity Rebranding by UMC

Interviewed by Stephanie Babb, Marketing Specialist, Coffman Engineers, Inc.

Why did you enter this project for the Reign Awards?

Our marketing team, with leader input, worked for more than a year on the UMC rebrand and website. It was a marketing undertaking UMC had not seen in its 100 years. The new rebrand generated a lot of pride and excitement within UMC. As marketers, the next logical step was to put it out for scrutiny by our esteemed marketing peers. Being recognized by SMPS Seattle and our peers locally was very important to us as AEC marketers.

How did you leverage your win?

Our marketing team’s goals include elevating marketing as a profession in ways that the company recognizes and can be proud of. After winning two awards in our competitive local awards, we felt more confident going into the National SMPS MCA competition, where we ended up bringing home the National SMPS MCA Award of Excellence in Corporate Identity Rebrand. Being recognized at the SMPS Seattle Reign Awards for Best Brand Experience/Identity and Best in Show and then winning the National Marketing Excellence Award brought not only our marketing team, but UMC as company, a great sense of pride. This is a wonderful step in helping us to realize our team’s goals, as well as gaining recognition for UMC as the awesome company it is.

Any advice for those who want to submit a project for the Reign Awards?

Marketing departments in firms large and small can showcase their creative work through the Reign Awards program. Using the award submission criteria as a guide for best practices for all your marketing campaigns is a great way to keep your campaigns on the right track, as well as giving you the information you need to easily respond to the award submission criteria when the time comes.