MarCom group puts Spokane’s best foot forward
A common joke about service clubs is that they are comprised of a bunch of old men and their fathers.
Industry groups disband every year due to lack of participation from regenerative energy. Volunteers in our community are fewer and fewer. Groups even bemoan the fact that participants are diminishing in double and triple digits.
So when the leaders of the Spokane Marketing and Communications group recently treated me to coffee, I was curious to know what they were doing so successfully that they’ve grown the number of participants, especially younger professionals and students, a usually tough-to-engage population.
Why such interest? The BBB monitors ethics in the marketplace and resolves disputes, and we often see that unclear marketing and/or lack of communication creates questions, concerns and problems. This is one of those cases where I started out looking for one thing and ended up finding several other intriguing things.
Why is Spokane MarCom growing?
They recruit students who are studying marketing and communications and keep them hooked by giving them the opportunity to intern with the best in the industry. These students are not just sitting at lunch with the head of one of our ad agencies; they’re working on projects together.
They put their money where their mouth is and fund three or four paid marketing and communications student internships. Wow — what an opportunity.
I wanted to experience this success for myself, so I attended the MarCom Awards. There are all sorts of categories to which professionals submit projects, which are sent off to a MarCom chapter in another state for more objective judging. In Spokane’s case, it was Salem, Ore.
Many of the winning efforts are well-known, but others, which are just amazing, are known by few people outside of their targeted markets. One example is a beautiful, glossy magazine called Logan, which offers “fashion and lifestyle for young people with disabilities”— a big winner, where the young woman who inspired the project accepted several awards.
Judges’ comments? “Logan magazine, our second ‘Brightest Spark:’ It deserved mention as perhaps your most unique, one of a kind project that worked on every level – from meeting a unique need to great writing, design and success in pulling it off. You can’t help but feel good just opening it. It became our mascot – we just had to pass it around.”
The thing I found a pleasant surprise was what professionals in another state had to say about not just the projects being judged, but about Spokane, in general.
Here is a “be prepared to feel good about Spokane” example, without any editing:
“So here’s the real prize you won: We’d all like to either move to Spokane, or at least visit. Is it really that wonderful there?? And thanks to your Natural Resource Conservation Service, the wildlife loves it, too.” (The NRCS won more awards that night than most anyone for several educational mailings.)
“We want to see a show at The Fox. We want to meet Logan. We feel safe on your freeways (at least one). Can we join the Spokane Athletic Club to get the magazine? We’d love to attend that private school, St. George’s; but later we couldn’t decide which college to attend because they all beckon us, unless we veer off to the wineries and think we are in Tuscany. If we got hurt, send MedStar. Oh, and we want all your graphic designers to move to Oregon.”
“When it comes to finding the Dussault Award Winner – the best and the Brightest Spark – we asked: What delighted, shocked, surprised, overwhelmed, touched and flabbergasted us after all the plan criteria were met? What do we want to steal (the most)? Your ‘Light Up the Fox!’ campaign hit the mark, not only because it was the textbook campaign, but because it met the ‘it couldn’t be done – but was’ test.” This is an amazing community, and seeing it through the eyes of others made us proud that night. I hope you feel the same way. Congratulations to all the winners and to MarCom for finding out how to engage and attract our future communicators.