Creagent Marketing and the Guthrie Strategic Planning and Marketing team have been recognized by Ragan Communications for three Employee Communications Awards. The team won the category for Best Employer Branding for their campaign titled “Your Career in Full Color” in PR Daily’s Social Media & Digital Awards. The campaign was also awarded Best Recruitment Video and was runner-up for Best Recruitment Campaign.
Through billboards, direct mail, social media ads, and television commercials, Guthrie was able to successfully share nursing opportunities with the community. The campaign focused on the career benefits and competitive advantages Guthrie offers for their nurses. This campaign was successful in its mission, ultimately increasing the hiring of full-time nurses by ten percent.
“Winning the Ragan Employee Communications Award and PR Daily Social Media & Digital Award for our recruitment marketing campaign was an incredible honor,” said Maria Knapp, Marketing Manager at Guthrie. “It was a testament to the hard work of everyone involved in creating, executing, and managing the campaign. Our success is a direct result of our team’s commitment to delivering creative solutions that resonate with our target audience. Winning these awards has been a major milestone for our team, and I am proud of the recognition we received.”
Guthrie is focused on improving the health and well-being of the communities it serves, while providing an environment of compassion, learning, and discovery.
“We’re extremely proud of these awards, which reflect the hard work that everyone put in on behalf of our client,” said Sean Lukasik, owner of Creagent Marketing. “Our team – including Erin Panosian and Dave Rochelle – worked seamlessly with the Guthrie Marketing department to make this campaign a success.”
Creagent Marketing is dedicated to helping their clients stay on brand while capturing followers and leads along the way. Focusing on design, content development, and comprehensive digital marketing campaigns, the company has been successful in generating content that helps clients reach their customers in various ways. From creating new company logos to building video and podcast series, the team at Creagent Marketing has a wide variety of skills and knowledge. Examples of clients include Arbor Housing and Development, Corning Civic Music, and the Community Foundation of Elmira Corning and the Finger Lakes.
Ragan Communications has been delivering “trusted news, training and intelligence for more than 50 years to internal and external communicators, HR professionals and business executives.”
“It’s an honor to see our work next to some of the other winners like PepsiCo, Capital One, Disney Parks, and John Deere,” added Lukasik. This is the first time Creagent Marketing has been recognized by Ragan Communications.
Every time there’s a new social media feature, a Snapchat ghost gets its wings. This month, Instagram launched a multiple choice quiz option for stories, LinkedIn added “reactions” to its timeline posts, and Snapchat updated its Android app altogether.
I know I know… you’re going to mention that Facebook owns Instagram. But even though the company is the same, the brands are very different. Facebook may be able to copy the most popular IG features anytime, but it’s a lot more difficult to borrow good will. Guess they’ll have to keep hunting.
Carbonation Transformation
MillerCoors is taking a stab at a new marketing campaign by integrating its products into original Hulu programming. Product placement is not a new technique, but it’s a gamble on behalf of all beer advertisers that Adweek says is Hulu’s “most expansive integration ever.”
On the softer side of carbonated beverages, Coca-Cola just bought its way into the coffee business. It’s unclear whether they are just trying to get into a new market or they need more caffeine in their portfolio, but I’m sure investors’ blood pressure is going up either way.
In a world where kombucha beverages and flavored sparkling water are taking up more shelf space, these moves seem a little desperate. But at the end of the day, nothing is more American than drinking Coca-Cola, coffee, and Miller Lite.
You’re reading this on the latest version of the Creagent Marketing website, which means we’ve gone through another internal update. Just like moving into a new home or apartment, designing a new website is an opportunity to de-clutter and focus on only the best stuff. As a website design agency, this is a secondary benefit to our services.
I focus on designing websites for other businesses all the time. So being my own client is an opportunity to assess the approach and process. And ideally make it even better for future clients.
Here are a few things I learned:
Identifying model websites is a MUST.
I always ask my clients to dig up a few designs they really love or specific elements that stand out. The process helps me understand their aesthetic, but it can also be a tool for becoming un-stuck. As I worked on the new Creagent Marketing site, there were times when I was at a loss for how to lay out certain sections. Reviewing other agency sites served as an inspiration. It also provided specific ideas that led me down the right creative path.
Photography is the number one asset.
There was a noticeable difference from the last time I re-designed our website because we had fewer photos to use back then. This time, it was luxurious to be able to dig through several years of pictures. For those businesses who don’t have an extensive library of photos, I suggest budgeting for a photographer as part of a website redesign moving forward. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it makes a huge difference.
One piece of “pillar content” is a great launchpad.
Search engine compatibility and optimization is one of the most important features of any website. An emerging trend is for businesses to generate “content clusters,” or a series of pages and posts around one primary topic. In 2018, I worked on an ebook about travel consumer segments, which became a central piece of content for our new website. In blog and social media posts moving forward, we’ll be able to reference this ebook to increase visitors and leads. This is something I will encourage businesses to attempt in the future. Having a central piece of content helps visitors find and navigate the site. It also establishes a strong, authoritative voice around a specific topic. The benefits are endless.
I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about my work. This process revealed more tools that can be used for future projects and clients. As always, I look forward to implementing these – and many other – lessons into our upcoming website designs.
