How to Craft a Winning Entry: Reign Awards Insights from an A/E/C Marketing Newcomer

Each year, SMPS Seattle hosts the Reign Awards, a program dedicated to celebrating the outstanding work of marketers in A/E/C. This year, Jenna Earle, industry newcomer and Rice Fergus Miller (RFM) Marketing Assistant, and I, Hana Kaneko, Marketing Specialist at RFM, submitted an award entry and celebrated our firm's first-ever win at the 2024 Reign Awards in June.  Being recognized in the One-Time Marketing Piece category for our Gifts for Good Holiday Campaign against some stiff competition was a major milestone for us, and a high point of the year so far. 

Join us as we discuss the strategies and challenges in preparing, submitting, and winning the award. 

Hana: First, we are so excited to have you on the RFM team as our new Marketing Assistant! Despite being new to the AEC industry, you are crushing it. How have your first few months treated you? 

Jenna: It's been great. At first, it was difficult to adjust to the language of AEC, but now I feel like I'm getting my feet under me a bit more, and it has been a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed using my creativity and graphic skills. When I think back to my skill set and knowledge three months ago, I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned. I’ve enjoyed attending conferences and networking events too. The few SMPS events I have attended have been great and attending and winning the 2024 Reign Awards has been a huge highlight so far! 

Hana: It's great to hear that you're starting to settle into your role and the industry. You had a significant role in compiling content and materials for our 2024 Reign Awards submission. Tell me how that process went. As I understand, this is your first-ever award submission! 

Jenna: The Reign Awards submission required us to gather lots of information and data on our behind-the-scenes process, campaign project management, and engagement results (2025 Reign Awards Entry Packet). Since I wasn’t part of the team for the initial campaign production, I had to ask lots of questions to piece together the full story. This process taught me just how much effort, time, and coordination it takes to create a compelling marketing campaign. Even though our campaign aimed to keep efforts and hours minimal, it still took many people and months of effort to produce a two-minute-long video.  

I also learned a lot about graphic storytelling while assembling the project board. I had a lot of fun figuring out how we could tell a compelling story by presenting data and information in a visually appealing way. I ended up reorganizing the entire board mid-way to improve the story flow, which continued to evolve as we refined our data and narrative. The result was a project board which was more organized, easy to read, and visually appealing.  

Hana: I think having your fresh perspective also contributed to highlighting some cool aspects about our campaign which were in our blind spots! What about this campaign stood out to you? 

Jenna: One thing that stood out to me was the campaign messaging and the idea of reimagining holiday gifting. RFM decided to reallocate the funds typically spent on client gifts to non-profits that support child education and development, which I thought was a powerful statement. Using RFM team member’s kids in the video was also unique. The kids portrayed architects and

designers, foreshadowing the importance of nurturing children's education and wellbeing now so that they can succeed in the future.

Hana: What were some highlights from attending the awards ceremony? Were there any other entries that caught your eye? 

Jenna: I loved seeing the diverse and creative projects being recognized. It was inspiring to witness the level of innovation and dedication in our industry. A couple of pieces that stood out to me were Middle of Six's "Wild Cards," which identified difficult proposal ‘characters’ in a humorous, fun, and creative way, and Olson Kundig’s one-time marketing piece, "New Heights” which had stunning visuals as part of their entry. I also thought "Puzzlemania" by DCI Engineers was incredibly innovative and creative. Overall, it was just fun to see what other firms and people in the industry are doing. The quality of the submissions was truly impressive, providing a lot of inspiration for future marketing campaigns. It was also a great way to see trends and best practices in A/E/C marketing.  

Hana: And that’s a wrap on our 2024 Reign Award experience. Thanks for sitting down with me to chat about all things Reign Awards, and I'm so excited to see you grow within the industry. Can’t wait to see you hone your awards submission skills! 

Jenna: Thank you for letting me tag along and showing me the ropes. I can't wait to do it again next year! 

Looking for more tips on creating a winning Reign Awards submission? Past judges and winners previously formed a panel to discuss their tips and tricks for preparing a strong Reign Awards submission. Watch the webinar here.