With the SIPAwards nominations now open here, it’s a good time to offer six winners from last year that I profiled in columns—giving a hint as to what might catch the judges’ eyes.
Education Week Shows Power of Video in Winning Ways
“Education Week wanted to alert the education community and the broader public about the rapidly growing problem of vaping among students, and the related health concerns and management challenges for schools,” wrote Sarah Sparks, assistant editor/research reporter for Education Week, in her SIPAwards entry. In addition to the PBS News Hour video, Education Week and reporter Kavitha Cardoza put together a shorter, more here-are-the-facts video that they posted on their website. In the explainer video, after a cute scene with mothers looking at a vaping cartridge like it just came from Mars, Cardoza comes on and says, “Yep, that’s exactly what I thought. What the heck is a JUUL?” Then we get the explanation.
Read more.
Dished Serves Up an Annual Sold-Out Event for Aging Media Network
 |
There’s probably a course out there somewhere you can take called Event Launching 101 for Publishers. But even better, you can follow Aging Media Network’s prime event example called Dished. The first one-day event took place in March 2018, sold out its 150-person capacity in 90 days and won a 2019 SIPAward for Best New Success Story. Year two this past March sold out even faster, Elizabeth Ecker, director of content for Aging Media Network, told me.
Read more.
How Informa Jazzed Up a Report to a Profitable Tune
In 2018, the Informa Pharma Intelligence editorial and marketing teams collaborated on the release of its annual white paper analyzing the evolution of pharma R&D for the past year. But this wasn’t your typical medical or scientific report. It was more music to their audience’s ears. “Using the evolution of music as the backdrop for the 2018 report, the team set the trends in therapeutics, diseases and company pipelines up against everything from present day pop charts to the birth of jazz,” wrote Informa on their 2019 SIPAward-winning entry for Best Editorial and Marketing Collaboration. “Additionally, the team created an accompanying Spotify playlist based off the white paper to ensure its life extended beyond the initial launch.”
Read more.
Putman Media Wins Big With Its Women’s Recognition Initiative
 |
“In 2016, when Nandita Gupta began her professional career, she was mistakenly assumed by some of her new colleagues to be ‘the new HR girl’ rather than the new process controls engineer… Now, at 26, she is leading the effort at Georgia-Pacific to develop a mentor network that will connect young and rising engineers with experienced employees.” That’s from an e-book program put out by Putman Media titled 2019 Influential Women in Manufacturing, part of Putman’s inaugural Influential Women in Manufacturing (IWIM), a recognition program honoring women. This initiative was honored by SIPA as a 2019 SIPAward winner for Best Product Launch/Relaunch Success.
Read more.
Chesapeake Family Gains STEAM With Winning ‘Social’ Campaign
 |
Instagram isn’t just for celebrities. That’s one lesson from Chesapeake Family Life’s comprehensive 2019 SIPAward-winning entry for Best Social Media Marketing Campaign for its STEAM Maryland 2018 event. STEAM Maryland is a one-day event designed to introduce Maryland students—especially girls—to opportunities in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) careers that they may not even know exist. It is a fun day of learning, observing and experiencing tomorrow’s hot careers. On Instagram, seven total posts for the STEAM Fair reached 1,468 people or 14% of Chesapeake Family Life’s total followers.Read more.
How Access Intelligence Grew an Event’s Attendee Revenue 18%
“Mapping out the email content for the entire marketing campaign from the first to the last email enabled me to really put myself in the attendee’s shoes and think, ‘what is my customer’s journey’?” That quote is from Sarah Plombon, marketing manager for Access Intelligence, in her 2019 SIPAward-winning entry for Best Success Story. For their 2019 Nuclear Deterrence Summit, she created an automated email marketing campaign that drove an 18% increase in year-over-year attendee revenue.
Read more.
