2016 RENO-TAHOE AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

What is the Ace Awards?THE ACE AWARDS IS AN ANNUAL EVENT HOSTED BY THE RENO-TAHOE AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION (AMA). THE GOAL OF THE ACE AWARDS IS TO RECOGNIZE AND ACKNOWLEDGE MARKETING EXCELLENCE RIGHT HERE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.

Special Thanks To All Our Amazing Sponsors

Lakeridge Golf CourseThe Abbi Agency

Lakeside InnCircus Circus

Nevada Art MuseumSqueeze InBasecamp

Granlibakken

Aces BallparkSparks Florist

CampoSouthcreek Pizza

Reno eNVy

Without sponsors, none of this could be possible. Thank you to all these inspiring local businesses for helping this year’s Ace Awards be the best YET!

BEST IN:

Brand / Re-BrandA MARKETING OVERHAUL OF A PRODUCT, BUSINESS OR SERVICE AREA AND HOW IT CREATES A MEANINGFUL IMPACT FOR THE BUSINESS OR ACHIEVE A KEY MARKETING OBJECTIVE.

Truckee Base Camp for a Big LifeTruckee Chamber of CommerceOur primary goal was to create the first Truckee Brand Identity, including our community core values, voice, tone, personality, unique town strengths, logo, tagline, font treatment and color palette. The purpose of this project was to unite all communications about Truckee in order to have a united, comprehensive and consistent message for residents, visitors and business owners to leverage. The second goal was to lay the foundation for a new Truckee.com web site.

OUR Center, an LGBTQ Community CenterBiggest Little Group

Create a brand that was identifiable to the northern Nevada LGBTQ community and its allies. Implement brand standards across all mediums for the launch of its new community center.

The brand name “OUR Center” derived from “Build Our Center,” as it was already identifiable and perceived inviting to members and allies. The brand could also be utilized across all of their programming, i.e. “OUR Youth” and “OUR Calendar.”

The Reno PhilharmonicStan Can Design

The primary goal of this campaign was to redesign the Reno Phil brand to better align with its brand positioning statement: "The Reno Philharmonic enriches our community's cultural life in unexpected ways." We also sought to increase top of mind awareness and shed light on everything the Phil does for the community, education, and its cultural impact.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST BRAND / RE-BRAND IS:

Truckee Base Camp for a Big Life

BEST IN:

Event PromotionTHE OVERALL PROMOTION OF AN EVENT THAT EXTENDS THE BRAND EXPERIENCE TO CUSTOMERS AND ACHIEVES MEASURABLE RESULTS FOR THE ORGANIZER.

10th annual NCET Small Business ExpoNevada Center for Entrepreneurship & TechnologyNCET’s goals for the 10th annual NCET Small Business Expo were to: 1. Increase attendance by 5% over 2014’s attendance of 900 2. Attract 300 first-time attendees 3. Recruit 10 new members.

The Expo is designed to answer attendees’ needs for:

1. Quality networking opportunities with other small business owners and people looking to start small businesses

2. One-stop shopping for the wide range so resources needed to start or run a small business All of NCET’s marcom promotes features-and-benefits tied to those goals.

Results 1. ~950 attendees (5.6% increase) 2. New contacts: ~375 3. New members: 14

Virginia Street Bridge Ribbon Cutting April 12, 2016

City of RenoThe primary goal of the Virginia Street Bridge Ribbon Cutting event was to celebrate the opening of the Virginia Street Bridge, which was under construction for the previous 10 months. In addition, several stakeholders were involved in this process and it was an opportunity to recognize the outstanding efforts and collaboration of all of those involved.

In total, the media coverage, the attendance, the participation of dignitaries, involvement and coordination of multiple departments within the City and a very limited budget all make this event a marketing success.

TEDxUniversityofNevadaUniversity of Nevada, RenoThe primary goals for marketing the TEDxUniversityofNevada event were to build a great program of speakers and performers, sell tickets (we sold over 1,100 tickets – selling out the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts) and to promote the event’s TEDx videos once they were posted to YouTube. In just over 90 days the videos for the event received over 350,000 views.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST EVENT PROMOTION IS:

TEDxUniversityOfNevada

BEST IN:

Cause-Related MarketingA MARKETING CAMPAIGN DEVELOPED BETWEEN A BUSINESS AND A CHARITY OR CAUSE THAT DELIVERS BENEFITS FOR BOTH PARTIES. THE CAMPAIGN NEEDS TO DEMONSTRATE RESULTS AND HOW WELL IT WAS INTEGRATED WITH BROADER MARKETING OBJECTIVES OF BOTH ORGANIZATIONS.

#NeighborGoodPaul Klein#NeighborGood was a movement to build neighborhood good through events and outreach that spread goodness. Instead of marketing a message, we created opportunities to experience goodness, which was the very message we were working to share.

Reno Vice Mayor Oscar Delgado enlisted Paul Klein to help him share his brand of working to improve life in neighborhoods. That's when Paul and Oscar created #NeighborGood, a noble cause to build neighborhood good through community events, little free libraries, career fairs, tech talks, and more. The effort created a movement that is still continuing today.

Diaper Duty: A Community-Wide Diaper DriveEstipona GroupEstipona Group's Diaper Duty activated residents from all over the Reno-Sparks area to collect more than 10,000 diapers through grass-roots initiatives providing clean diapers for hundreds of babies in the community. Partnering with local businesses allowed Estipona Group to create mutually beneficial marketing for Estipona Group, the various drop-off locations, and WACCS.

Impact Awards of Northern NevadaBiggest Little Group

Increase attendance by 50% and attract new attendees—New attendance was up by 75%. Raise brand awareness for both the organization (NACE) and for the charitable recipients by leveraging media sponsorships.

The event raised $35,000 for The Solace Tree, a local nonprofit that provides programs and services to grieving children; The SEARCH Foundation, a nonprofit that helps special event, meeting and hospitality professionals who are faced with a life-threatening illness or any catastrophic occurrence; and the Foundation of NACE, a nonprofit public foundation supporting the catering and events industry through scholarships and community grants.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST CAUSE-RELATED MARKETING IS:

Diaper Duty: A Community-Wide Diaper Drive

BEST IN:

Direct MarketingA MARKETING INITIATIVE THAT DEMONSTRATES STRATEGY, CREATIVITY AND RESULTS. IT TARGETS A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE WITH A CLEAR MESSAGE, OFFER AND CALL TO ACTION.

The Weekly Yelp - RenoYelp Reno

Create a compelling opt-in weekly newsletter that recognizes our great local businesses for what they do best, utilizing user generated content shared by passionate local Yelpers, increasing awareness of these businesses, and Yelp amongst, business owners and consumers throughout the Northern Nevada area. We aim to feature 6 businesses, 3 local events, and a sponsor in each issue. At the link you can view several past issues.

Blackbird DeliveryLaxalt & McIver

Create a unique marketing kit for Blackbird, a marijuana delivery business, that highlights their service that connects businesses to the patients. This includes creating personalized promotional marketing pieces for various medical marijuana dispensaries in the Reno/Sparks and Las Vegas areas.

EMPLOYERS 2016 CalendarStan Can DesignThe primary goal of each year's EMPLOYERS poster is to foster brand loyalty in the company's clients while also reinforcing their brand as "America's Small Business Insurance Specialist.“

This year's calendar featured a theme that made it especially well-received. Each calendar month was stacked with the most influential moments in American business history, offering a unique and welcome cubicle distraction for the recipient. Each month also featured trivia that drove the curious to the EMPLOYERS blog for the answers.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST DIRECT MARKETING IS:

The Weekly Yelp

BEST IN:

PrintTHE PRINTED PIECE DISPLAYS DESIGN, CREATIVITY AND A STRONG THE CALL TO ACTION. IT CAPTURES ATTENTION AND INTEREST AND HELPS CREATE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT FOR THE BUSINESS OR ACHIEVE A KEY MARKETING OBJECTIVE.

Reno Lens BookCity of RenoThe book was created as a keepsake in the Citizen Recognition Program, which was launched to recognize exemplary Reno citizens who add to creating a community that people are proud to call home and embody the spirit of the City of Reno. Reno City Council members are using the book as a way to recognize citizens, but it’s also a way to showcase exemplary photography from the Reno Lens community.

NASA – Space Apps ChallengeLaxalt & McIver

The beautifully executed design shows Reno as a place for art, creativity, in a high-tech environment. This event takes place internationally, so conveying the community as a proud location for the event was very important. The image focuses on the illustrative style, using bright colors and cleanly presented information. This piece displays great usage of design fundamentals, while still being stylized enough to show the uniqueness and progressive thinking that Reno has to offer. Hackathons are a fairly new concept, so showing information about the event while still being intriguing for an open audience was vital to the success of the poster.

2015 Artown PosterStan Can DesignThe primary goals of the 2015 Artown Poster was to market and advertise the iconic month-long event and to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the festival's inception. The tricky part, as it is every year, is to do so in a way that elegantly displays the work of featured artist Franz Szony while respectfully presenting the festival sponsors in the same space.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST PRINT IS:

Reno Lens

BEST IN:

Social MediaTHE WAYS A BUSINESS USES SOCIAL MEDIA TO ENHANCE AND BOOST ENGAGEMENT AND AWARENESS WITH PROSPECTIVE / CURRENT CUSTOMERS.

Travel to Rural NevadaTravelNevadaThe primary goals were to use user-generated content on Instagram to increase awareness, engagement, and to inspire Millennials to travel to rural Nevada.

There is an overwhelming misconception that the only worthwhile attraction in Nevada is Las Vegas and the rest of the state is just a barren wasteland. The Nevada Division of Tourism, better known as TravelNevada, has the challenge of changing this perception by boosting tourism to rural Nevada communities. In a state that only has two major cities, with more than 400 miles between them, there are some significant challenges of promoting these lesser-known towns and attractions that lie beyond the neon glow of Las Vegas and Reno.

Flu Goes Viral (Pun Intended)Estipona GroupOur goal was to use the sometimes-viral effect of social media to spread awareness of the need for flu vaccines. Our target audience was existing and new Facebook users. We were tasked by our client, Immunize Nevada, with creating a series of shareable, engaging social media graphics intended to generate conversation about flu vaccine.

Durham Ranch #1meat12ways Influencer CampaignThe Abbi AgencyThe #1meat12ways campaign was developed with an overall goal of regional brand awareness for the Durham Ranch brand. Secondly, Durham Ranch wanted to activate regional brand influencers to drive user-generated content and online awareness of their products. Finally, they wanted to highlight their wide array of specialty meats available and to illustrate the versatility of each one through content development.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST SOCIAL MEDIA IS:

Travel to Rural Nevada

BEST IN:

Public RelationsCOMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS THROUGH PR AND TRADITIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS THAT PROMOTES AWARENESS AND CHANGES PERCEPTIONS OF SERVICES, CORPORATIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS TO CONSUMERS, EMPLOYEES, INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS, THE INVESTOR COMMUNITY AND OTHER STAKEHOLDER GROUPS. THE EFFORTS MUST RELATE TO THE OVERALL MARKETING STRATEGY AND IS NOT JUST A SINGLE TACTIC.

NCJFCJ National PR on Ending Indiscriminate Juvenile ShackingKPS3

The main goal was to support the advocacy movement with an aggressive PR awareness effort in several states to end indiscriminate juvenile shackling in courts throughout the country where this practice is still allowed.

The NCJFCJ passed a resolution on the issue, as juvenile shackling is contrary to the goals of juvenile justice. The objective was to garner at least one story a month in a major news outlet to create awareness of the issue and resolve to stop shackling in courtrooms, with a 60-hour budget over 10 months.

2015 State of the City - September 1, 2015City of RenoEducate and engage citizens by bringing the theme of “A New Day in Reno” to life through the State of the City address. Increase attendees from approximately 100 attendees to more than 300 citizens to attend and/or view the 2015 State of the City address, create a positive vibe on social networks and media coverage of the event.

Flirtey CampaignThe Abbi AgencyAnnounce a series of 'firsts' for independent drone delivery company Flirtey, a Reno-based startup. Position Flirtey's accomplishments as being steps ahead of Amazon, Google, and other startup competitors Bring attention to Nevada and UNR as the premier test site and partners for drone delivery

AND THE WINNER IN BEST PUBLIC RELATIONS IS:

Flirtey

BEST IN:

Web and DigitalTHE WEBSITE DEMONSTRATES EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN, CONTENT, FUNCTIONALITY AND USABILITY. THIS INCLUDES THE OVERALL LOOK AND FEEL OF THE SITE, ENGAGING CONTENT, NAVIGATION AND EASE-OF-USE FOR VISITORS.

Personalized Web ExperienceSquaw Valley & Alpine MeadowsWith our personalization tool, we have the ability to segment our users by location, persona and season passholder status. Once a user is associated with a segment, that user immediately receives a unique experience throughout squawalpine.com. Since our persona-driven campaigns, 7 of 8 target segments have seen a lift over control. In particular, our high-value “family” segment realized a 38% increase in conversion rate and a 41% lift in revenue per user. We've also implemented a dynamic weather trigger campaign that is immediately enabled once we report 4". The campaign was created to increase our database, and after it's implementation, we saw our highest database growth this winter - a 22% increase.

Nevada Discovery Museum Website RedesignNoble Studios – Noble Deeds

This pro bono project had several key goals: to create a new responsive website for the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum, improve metrics and add a content management system for the Discovery's marketing team. The biggest challenge was to help the museum rebrand itself, taking it from a children's museum to a general audience science center.

We launched the site on March 9, 2016 with new features that make it easier for the public to discover classes and events that inspire them through science, math and other subjects. Now responsive, the new site works beautifully across all device types. And, with its first-ever content management system, the Discovery's staff and marketing team have the ability to maintain the website without and HTML/CSS experience. The overall look and feel of the site is geared toward a broader audience than before.

TravelNevada.comTravelNevadaCreate and build brand awareness among the primary target audience segments and increase destination consideration.

Encourage new visitors to include Nevada in their vacation plans while ensuring continued planning activity among repeat visitors.

Deliver content to create relationships, encourage engagement and deliver an authentic Nevada experience to the target audience.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST WEB AND DIGITAL IS:

TravelNevada.com

BEST IN:

Integrated Marketing StrategyA COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN THAT STRATEGICALLY USES A VARIETY OF COMMUNICATION DISCIPLINES, SUCH AS ADVERTISING, PUBLIC RELATIONS, PERSONAL SELLING, AND SALES PROMOTION AND COMBINES THEM TO PROVIDE CLARITY, CONSISTENCY, AND MAXIMUM COMMUNICATION IMPACT.

Toucan Charlie’s Buffet Grand ReopeningAtlantis Casino Resort SpaThe main objectives of the Toucan Charlie’s Buffet integrated marketing plan were to 1) create awareness; both during the closure of Toucan Charlie’s and amplified once reopened, 2) build anticipation with guests, and 3) increase revenue and headcount.

The net result: a 21% increase in budgeted headcounts at the newly reopened restaurant. This was not merely a restaurant upgrade but a complete rebranding effort. The award-winning Toucan Charlie’ Buffet and Grille received much more than a cosmetic facelift. The entire restaurant was gutted, front and back of the house. Both the food line and kitchen as well as the dining room were completely redesigned. To go along with the new décor, an expanded menu and new logo were introduced.

North Lake Tahoe Ale TrailThe Abbi Agency

In order to increase consumers’ engagement with North Lake Tahoe as a brand during the fall of 2015, The Abbi Agency set out to create an interactive North Lake Tahoe Ale Trail map as the campaign centerpiece pairing popular watering holes, such as taverns and breweries, with sporting trails that lead to the doorstep of that watering hole. Additional multimedia assets including videos, photos and visually-driven blog posts, as well as a public relations campaign supported the interactive map.

OnstreamThe Abbi AgencyAfter naming the company, developing the brand, creating the logo and building the website, The Abbi Agency launched Onstream through public relations, content marketing and guerilla tradeshow marketing. The company / brand debuted at the IoT Evolution Expo in Las Vegas with an animated video, an infographic and full media relations and guerilla marketing push. We launched PR campaigns to highlight their funding, partnerships, founder advice, and its products. The company made Dell's list of most innovative IoT startups in 2015, the animated video took home a silver Addy (done in conjunction w/ Orange Tree), and for the 2015 year they had a total of 19 pieces of coverage with and estimated 62K views and 2.23K social shares. A byline in VentureBeat that has to date received an estimated 20.7K views, and was one of the top 5 read articles that month of the publication. The social media efforts and updates recently lead to an investor meeting at the Collision conference, where Onstream pitched in a competition that accepted only 120 of the 16k applicants. Onstream also won the NCET Software Co of the Year award in 2016.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST INTEGRATED MARKETING STRATEGY IS:

Toucan Charlie’s Buffet Grand Reopening

BEST IN:

VideoTHE VIDEO / FILM / COMMERCIAL CAPTURES ATTENTION, INTEREST, DESIRE, AND LEADS TO ACTION. IT HELPS TO DRIVE RESULTS FOR THE BUSINESS OR ACHIEVE A KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE.

David Wise Commercial and VideoNorthern Nevada Medical Center

Northern Nevada Medical Center launched a multimedia advertising campaign featuring local Olympic Gold Medalist Skier David Wise. The campaign was designed to show case NNMC’s Orthopedic and Spine Centers of Excellence, emphasizing that we are the only orthopedics program in the market certified in knee/hip replacement, spine surgery and back pain by the national accrediting organization, “The Joint Commission.” NNMC also wanted to emphasize that they are the only hospital with all private rooms. David Wise was selected because he is a local celebrity who has broad appeal across different genders and ages.

The television and video spots were designed to capture the audience with the energy and excitement that extreme skiing offers, while capitalizing on the civic pride of featuring a local, home-grown Olympic gold medalist. The campaign included television, billboard, direct mail, print, and social and digital media. The campaign has proven to be a huge success and has surpassed our stated objectives. NNMC has performed 589 orthopedic surgeries through April of this year, 108 more than last year at this time.

Wild NightsTravel Nevada

TravelNevada’s primary marketing objectives were to position Nevada as an ideal adventure travel destination for key drive markets in order to encourage spending in the state. The video strategy was focused to encourage the audience to put Nevada in their consideration set when making vacation decisions.

“Wild Nights” was produced to capture the unique, authentic characters in Nevada and how travelers could experience these encounters and go home with more stories than souvenirs. Destination Analysts did a study and video results were as follows: - Approximately 70 percent of survey respondents reported that their first impulse was to take some sort of action.

- The majority of survey respondents found the video ad to be enjoyable, including the following aspects; the ad’s friendly characters, the fact that it depicted that there is more to Nevada than its stereotypes, its humor, the fact that it’s action-oriented and the fact that it was generally appealing to them.

- For half of the survey sample, the video ad stimulates more interest in visiting Nevada.

- Two-thirds of survey respondents feel that the ad is realistic in its portrayal of Nevada

Beyond the VeilHigh Fives Foundation Adaptive Surf Camp

In May 2015, the High Fives Foundation took seven athletes to Maui for an adaptive surf trip.

Being around these positive, motivated, life-loving humans is a constant reminder of why we choose to dedicate our lives to telling stories that feed our souls - stories that give us a lump in our throats, raise the hair on our arms, a tightness in our chest and a tear in our eye.

This film serves to inspire us all to go beyond what we once thought possible, our perceived limitations and open our eyes to what it means to truly live.

AND THE WINNER IN BEST VIDEO IS:

Wild Nights

People’s ChoiceIS IT A POPULARITY CONTEST? IS IT SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION? WHO CARES! IT’S AN AWARD AND PEOPLE ARE VOTING FOR YOU. OUT OF 120+ NOMINEES, YOU REIGNED SUPREME. TO US, YOU ARE MORE POPULAR THAN CAT VIDEOS AND YOU DESERVE THIS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD!

AND THE WINNER OF PEOPLE’S CHOICE IS:

Ending Indiscriminate Juvenile Shackling

LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST:

Influencer of the YearTO THE RENO AMA BOARD, THIS AWARD IS THE ONE WE HOLD THE CLOSEST TO OUR HEARTS. EVERY YEAR, WE ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO SELECT ONE PERSON FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE WATCHED MAKE A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT. THIS IS OUR WAY OF SAYING THANK YOU TO THE SPECIAL PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT GO FAR BEYOND THE REST TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY. IT IS OUR HONOR TO ANNOUNCE… (WAIT FOR THE DRUMROLL)

Mike HigdonINFLUENCER OF THE YEAR

A Very Special ThanksPLEASE HELP US IN THANKING RACHEL KINGHAM FOR HER COUNTLESS HOURS OVER THIS PAST YEAR TO MAKE THE AMA CONTINUE TO THRIVE AS AN ORGANIZATION IN OUR AREA.

Now It’s Time For The Real Fun To BeginWe know it is getting late, but you have made it this far. Let’s bring on the Raffle Prizes!!! We hope to make you more excited than a kid in a candy store.

THANK YOUCONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR FINALISTS AND WINNERS!REMEMBER TO TIP YOUR BARTENDERS AND DRIVE SAFE.