The nomination window for the 2019 (13^th annual) Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service has closed, but one special category sponsored by Sales Partnerships will continue to accept nominations through February 1.

The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are recognized as the world’s top honors for business development, customer service, and sales professionals.  Sales Partnerships, Inc., which provides turnkey, outsourced selling solutions and is a sponsor of the awards for the fourth consecutive year, is sponsoring a category called the Sales Partnerships Award for Ethics in Sales. 

There is no entry fee for nominations to this category, which will be accepted through February 1.  The category recognizes organizations for best practices and achievements in demonstrating the highest ethical standards in the sales industry. Entrants can submit specific examples, case studies, practices, etc. that illustrate why the organization being nominated should be considered an excellent example of best practices in sales. This award is based on activities over the past five years (since July 2013). 

Sales Partnerships’ founder and CEO Fred Kessler says, “The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service has grown to be the premier honor for sales professionals worldwide, and it’s proven to be an outstanding platform on which Sales Partnerships can interact with sales leaders in a wide variety of industries.  When we were approached about sponsoring an award for ethics in sales – we immediately accepted. The Sales Partnerships’ Award for Ethics in Sales recognizes companies which, like us, understand that being the best performing sales force also means having an uncompromising focus on selling ethically.”

Submission requirements for nominations to this category include a written essay of up to 650 words, plus any number of supporting materials to provide additional information to the judges.  To submit nominations to this category, nominees should first create an entry-submission account on the awards website, then email their nominations to help@stevieawards.com.

Nominations in the category will be judged the week of February 4 by members of the awards’ Sales Individual & Sales Team jury, and its Finalists announced the week of February 11.

Finalists in all other categories in the program were announced on January 17.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists in all categories will be revealed at the program’s 13^th annual awards gala on Friday, February 22 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Finalists are not required to attend in order to win.

Sponsors of the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships, Inc. and ValueSelling Associates, Inc.

For older businesses that began in the pre-digital era, there’s a race to get up to speed technologically to meet new security and regulatory standards in a data-driven world. Regardless of the service offering, a company needs to design and implement innovation that helps that organization reach its full potential and profits.  

Accedia is a professional IT services company that specializes in technology consulting, software development outsourcing, and development of end-to-end IT solutions for businesses across the globe.   The company’s aspiration is to be a leading IT solutions company where technology experts are inspired to create.

Yana Doshkova, the marketing manager for Accedia, details how much growth the Bulgaria-based firm has seen since they started in 2015.   “Since its establishment, the company has grown to a team of more than 150 people, and it has achieved 388% revenue growth from 2015 to 2017. In August 2018, Accedia also moved into a new office, which has opened so many doors for us.

We’ve doubled the team’s size and implemented a number of new initiatives. The company’s vision for the future is to keep up the fast-paced development, expand in to new locations, and launch its own software solution to help businesses excel in the technology ecosystem.”   They also take part in interactive nature groups, which inspire various kinds of team growth, including developing advanced technology expertise, cultivating product-to-market knowledge, and unleashing analytical and leadership potential.  

What Does It Take?  

Regardless of the company, sector, or industry, maintaining a business focus that supports the organization's values can drive progress. Although Accedia is a relatively young company, its success speaks volumes about how professionally mature it is. Accedia shared six characteristics that they believe are the best predictors of how successful teams or individuals will be:  

1. Reaches for the stars. Strives for continuous personal and professional improvement.

2. Enjoys variety at work. Involves oneself in a sea of different tasks and      responsibilities.

3. Takes initiative. Brings game-changing ideas to the table.

4. Adapts quickly. Jumps headfirst into the unfamiliar without hesitation or fear.

5. Shares know-how willingly. Eagerly shares the exciting things learned.

6. Is always up for a beer. Prizes being friendly and making social connections, whatever the circumstance. Whichever sector you work in, building your career on these tenets will provide you with a solid foundation.

Striving for continuous personal and professional improvement, for example, can help employers notice you, as well as inspire fellow employees to work harder.   Driven by these ideals, Accedia won the Silver Stevie® Award for Company of the Year in Computer Software in The International Business Awards.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Winners to Be Announced in Las Vegas on February 22

Finalists in the 13th Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in disciplines that are crucial to business success, were announced today.    

A diverse group of organizations and individuals around the world are among those recognized in the customer service awards, contact center awards, business development awards, and sales awards categories. Organizations with five or more Finalist nominations include Allianz Global Assistance (Richmond, VA USA), Birevim (Istanbul, Turkey), Chorus.ai (San Francisco, CA USA), Comcast (Philadelphia, PA USA), Cross Country Home Services (Fort Lauderdale, FL USA), Cvent Inc (McLean, VA USA), Dell Technologies (Roundrock, TX USA), Delta Vacations (Minot, ND USA), DHL Express Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) DHL Express Bangladesh (Dhaka, Bangladesh), DHL Express South Africa (Johannesburg, South Africa), DHL Express Kenya (Nairobi, Kenya), Druva Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA USA), EFG Companies (Irving, TX USA), Electronic Arts (Austin, TX USA), FIS (Jacksonville, FL USA), GoDaddy (Scottsdale, AZ USA), GuideWell Connect (Jacksonville, FL), Holiday Inn Club Vacations (Orlando, FL USA), HomeServe USA (Norwalk, CT USA), IBM (Armonk, NY USA), John Hancock Financial Services (Boston, MA USA), Offerpad (Gilbert, AZ USA), Response (Lindon, UT USA), Rimini Street, Inc. (Las Vegas, NV USA), Sales Partnerships, Inc. (Broomfield, CO USA), TCL USA (Corona, CA USA), TTEC (Englewood, CO USA), UPMC Health Plan (Pittsburgh, PA USA), ValueSelling Associates (Rancho Santa Fe, CA USA), Vivint Solar (Lehi, UT USA), VIZIO Inc. (Irvine, CA USA) Wells Fargo Merchant Services - Account Management (Concord, CA USA), WNS (Holdings) Limited (Mumbai, India), and Wyndham Destinations (Orlando, FL USA).

Visit www.StevieAwards.com/Sales for a full list of Finalists by category.

Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among the Finalists will be revealed during a gala banquet on Friday, February 22 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets are now on sale.

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, which organizes several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards® and American Business Awards®.

More than 2,700 nominations from organizations of all sizes, in virtually every industry, in 45 nations were evaluated in this year’s competition. Finalists were determined by the average scores of more than 150 professionals worldwide in seven specialized judging committees.

Entries were considered in 93 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 60 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Business Development Executive of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers.

Beginning today through February 8, the general public may vote for their favorite providers of customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service. Voting is open at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com. Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards in multiple industries will be determined in mid-February and honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on February 22.

One category in the awards will continue to accept entries through February 1.  It’s called the Sales Partnerships Award for Ethics in Sales, and it will recognize organizations for best practices and achievements in demonstrating the highest ethical standards in the sales industry.  Entry requirements for this category are outlined at https://stevieawards.com/sales/categories-1#SalesAchievement.  Nominations in this category will be reviewed the week of February 4, and its Finalists announce the week of February 11.

Sponsors of the 13th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships, Inc. and ValueSelling Associates, Inc.

Even early in the development process, Irish inventor Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh believed she was onto something special: a moldable glue that sticks to virtually any surface and forms a strong, rubber-like material overnight.

With the help of entrepreneur Roger Ashby, she launched FormFormForm Ltd. (based in London, England) and started marketing her flexible new product, dubbed “Sugru,” to retailers in 2009. The challenge was convincing big-box stores they needed yet another glue product on their crowded shelves.

Ni Dhulchaointigh, though, had a compelling way to show just how versatile her product was: thousands of user-generated YouTube videos and pictures on the company’s website. The company even devised a Twitter hashtag (#MySugruFix) for customers to share their creative solutions.

There’s the homeowner who resealed his torn swimming pool liner, the guy who fixed his tattered laptop charger, and even an adventurer who used the silicone-based glue on his ski poles during a trek in the Arctic Circle. In one case, a motorcycle enthusiast used Sugru to stick a camera on his helmet, which he used to film his journey on the open road. To stimulate participation, the company provides discounts to the most impressive social media submissions.

The uniqueness of the product—a pliable glue that can withstand moisture and extreme temperatures and cling to any number of surfaces—was a powerful selling point, but the social media strategy helped showcase Sugru’s usefulness in tackling a broad range of everyday projects. What’s more, it created much-needed buzz around the adhesive during its start-up phase.

Over the past few years, the company’s customer base has swelled. To date, the company has sold more than 14 million single-use packs of Sugru to people in over 175 countries and territories worldwide. Time magazine went so far as to include it on their “50 Best Inventions of 2010” list (12 spots ahead of the iPad.)

“Start Small, and Make It Good”

The idea for Sugru dates back to 2003, when Ni Dhulchaointigh was working toward a master’s degree in product design at the Royal College of Art in London, England. Rather than attempting to develop a whole new product, she decided to work on something that could extend the lives of things people already owned.

Her first prototype for a moldable glue—a substance she describes as foul smelling and slimy—was well short of the mark. She was convinced, however, the idea itself was valuable.

“I knew that by tapping into people’s innate creativity, all kinds of products could be fixed and reimagined,” she writes.

In addition to hiring Ashby, she enlisted two former Dow Corning scientists who served as consultants on her project. Ni Dhulchaointigh set up a small lab to help refine the formula, and she relied on family and friends to provide real-world feedback.

“The company motto has always been to start small and to make it good,” she says.

In 2009, she offered samples to several journalists. When one of them gave the product a glowing review on a popular U.K. news site, it turned the company’s fortunes around immediately. The first product run sold out in a mere six hours. More importantly, she and her business partner, Ashby, started to gain interest from investors who could help them ramp up the operation.

Eventually, the company won over product buyers from national chains, such as Target and the Container Store, moving the entrepreneur closer to her lofty goal of getting Sugru into every kitchen drawer.

The company’s tinkering didn’t stop with its original product, though. FormFormForm Ltd., which now employs a team of 70 people, later introduced a family-safe formula that’s gentle enough for even younger users to try. This latest iteration also proved a winner, earning the 2018 Bronze Stevie® Award for New Consumer Product.

Ni Dhulchaointigh hopes the ability to get kids involved will lead to even more creative ideas for users to share on platforms like YouTube and Twitter.

“Repair inspires creativity," she says. "People are more creative than they think, especially when it comes to saving things they love—and potentially some money at the same time.”

In zwei Wochen ist es soweit. Die Jury der 5. German Stevie Awards nimmt seine Arbeit auf. Auch in diesem Jahr gibt es vier Fachgremien, die sich alle Bewerbungen genauestens anschauen und prüfen, wo die größten Innovationen stecken. Diese werden zum Abschluss auch die Gold-, Silber- und Bronze-Preisträger ermitteln. Jedem dieser vier Fachgremien steht ein Juryvorsitzender vor. Erstmalig sind in diesem Jahr die Frauen hier in der Mehrzahl. 

„Es ist uns gelungen, herausragende Frauen für den Juryvorsitz der German Stevie Awards 2019 zu gewinnen“, freut sich Michael Gallagher, Präsident und Gründer der Stevie Awards. Und so werden neben einem Top-Manager erstmals drei Top-Managerinnen Vorsitzende einer Jury beim umfassenden deutschen Wirtschaftspreises sein. 

Viel Erfahrung in Sachen German Stevie Awards bringt Margrit Schumacher mit, die Juryvorsitzende in der Kategorie „Unternehmenskommunikation, Marketing & Kreative“. Bereits zwei von ihr begleitete Kampagnen wurden mit dem Gold Stevie Award ausgezeichnet: 2017 die „Marketing-Kampagne des Jahres – Finanzprodukte & Finanzdienstleistungen und Finanz-Karten“ sowie 2018 die „Marketing-Kampagne des Jahres – Finanz-Karten“ - jeweils für den Kunden American Express.

Die Diplom-Betriebswirtin ist Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung und Consultant Director bei der Arts & Others Communication GmbH, die ihren Sitz in Bad Homburg hat, und seit 25 Jahren auf Kunden- und Agenturseite im Marketing tätig. Arts & Others ist eine inhabergeführte Agentur mit rund 30 Mitarbeitern, die Kunden aus der Finanzbranche und anderen Bereichen betreut, etwa American Express, Fresenius, Invesco, Mainova und die R+V Versicherung.

Margrit Schumachers Schwerpunkt liegt in der Beratung international tätiger Unternehmen und Marken sowie nationaler Kunden im B2B- und B2C-Bereich. Ihr Markenzeichen sind integrierte Kampagnen, die Online-Kommunikation mit Medienarbeit, Dialogmarketing, POS und Event verbinden. Zu den von ihr verantworteten Projekten gehören beispielsweise der Launch der American Express Centurion Card in den DACH-Märkten, der Aufbau einer E-Learning Akademie sowie komplexe Projekte vorrangig in den Bereichen Kommunikation, Dialog, PR, Bewegtbild und Event. 

Die Jury in der Kategorie „Unternehmen/Organisationen & Kundenservice/Support“ leitet Carolin Buchardt, CEO und Founder der CB Praxisberatung in Heidelberg. Die Diplom-Betriebswirtin war mit 28 Jahren die jüngste Geschäftsführerin in der Energieversorgung und erkannte schon sehr früh, dass man ein Unternehmen nicht nur über die Zahlen führen kann. Im Jahr 2008 machte sie sich mit der Unternehmensberatung „CB-Praxisberatung“ selbstständig. Seither begleitet und berät sie ihre Kunden bei der Gründung, bei Fragen rund um Qualitäts- und Changemanagement sowie den Bereich Human Resources. Ihre vielfältigen Coachingausbildungen und umfangreichen Erfahrungen kommen ihr dabei zu Gute. Als Qualitätsbeauftragte ist sie TÜV-zertifiziert.
Da es bei ihren Projekten immer häufiger Schnittstellen zum Arbeitsmarkt gab und aus ihrer Sicht alle althergebrachten Konzepte viel zu kurz greifen, gründete sie im August 2016 einen eigenen Bildungsträger. Das „CB-Institut“ hat zum Ziel, Unternehmen sowie Arbeitsuchende näher zusammenzubringen. 

Als beratende Expertin ist Carolin Buchardt bei verschiedenen Einrichtungen gelistet und durch zahlreiche Kontakte und Mitgliedschaften in einschlägigen Institutionen gut vernetzt. In der Datenbank der Spitzenfrauen Baden-Württemberg ist sie ebenfalls vertreten.

Vorsitzende der Jury in der Kategorie „HR & Management“ ist Julia Münster, Chief Human Resources Officer bei der diva-e Digital Value Excellence GmbH in München. Sie studierte Internationales Management an der Hochschule Karlsruhe - Technik und Wirtschaft sowie an der ISC Paris - School of Management. Sie spricht neben Deutsch, Englisch und Französisch auch Chinesisch. Ausgezeichnet wurde ihre Arbeit im Personalbereich bereits beim rexx Recruiting Award, bei Great Place to Work, beim Candidate Experience Award, den Human Resources Excellence Awards und dem Personalwirtschaftspreis.

Bevor Julia Münster die Funktion des CHROs bei der diva-e antrat, war sie Personalleiterin bei der Netpioneer GmbH und verantwortlich für die organisatorische und strategische Integration in die diva-e Unternehmensgruppe.

In der Wettbewerbskategorie „Neue Produkte & IT“ ist Marc-Oliver Link der Juryvorsitzende. Der Diplom-Ingenieur (FH) ist Head of Software Development bei der SCHUFA Holding AG in Wiesbaden, die als führender Informations- und Servicepartner für die kreditgebende Wirtschaft und Privatkunden über Daten zu 67,5 Millionen natürlichen Personen und 5,3 Millionen Unternehmen verfügt.

Marc-Oliver Link hat über 30 Jahre Erfahrung in der Softwareentwicklung und der Implementierung innovativer Informationstechnologien und umfassende Kenntnisse in den Bereichen Softwareentwicklung, Webdesign und Online-Marketing. Link ist Experte für viele verschiedene Programmiersprachen, den Einsatz diverser Software-Engineering-Tools und für die erfolgreiche Durchführung von innovativen Softwareentwicklungsprojekten in der Gesundheits-, Finanz- und Medienbranche. Er konnte speziell im Gesundheitswesen sowie in Bereichen der Medienindustrie viele nationale und auch internationale Softwareprojekte (USA, Malaysia, Türkei, Saudi-Arabien, Polen, Schweden, Frankreich, Italien, u.v.m.) erfolgreich umsetzen.

Marc-Oliver Link studierte Ingenieurinformatik in der Fachrichtung Software Engineering an der University of Applied Sciences in Bingen und hat auch den Abschluss „Black-Belt for Leadership“ vom Malik Management Centrum in St. Gallen.

Insgesamt werden wieder über 50 Top-Führungskräfte aus ganz Deutschland Jurymitglieder bei den German Stevie Awards sein. Wer noch Interesse hat, sich aktiv an der Jury der German Stevie Awards 2019 zu beteiligen, kann sich jetzt noch unter https://gsa.stevieawards.com/sa-judge/register bewerben. Die Juryarbeit startet am 28. Januar 2019.

Heute schon mal auf den Kalender geschaut? Welches Datum sehen Sie denn für heute? Und dann schauen Sie mal auf den 23. Januar 2019. Das ist ein Mittwoch - und vor allem aber der letzte Tag, an dem Sie Ihre Bewerbung für die 5. German Stevie Awards einreichen können. Und jetzt zählen Sie bitte die Tage zwischen heute und dem 23. Januar: So viel Zeit haben Sie noch, Ihre Bewerbungen zu perfektionieren …

Sollte Ihnen diese Zeitspanne sehr sportlich erscheinen, um Ihre Bewerbung(en) zu vollenden, hat Michael Gallagher, Präsident und Gründer der Stevie Awards, beruhigende und aufmunternde Worte für Sie: „Wir haben unzählige Beispiele dafür, dass es selbst in zehn Tagen gelingen kann, hervorragende und qualitativ hochwertige Bewerbungen zu erstellen, die die Jury überzeugen.“

Und noch eine gute Nachricht hat Gallagher: „Auch in diesem Jahr verzichten die Stevie Awards wieder darauf, allgemeine Teilnahmegebühren für die Teilnahme an den German Stevie Awards 2019 zu verlangen. Das ist nicht bei allen Wirtschaftspreisen so …“

Das heißt: Wer an den German Stevie Awards 2019 teilnimmt, darf unentgeltlich unbegrenzt viele Bewerbungen in beliebig vielen Kategorien einreichen. Sie zahlen erst, wenn Sie erfolgreich sind: Für jede Nominierung, die einen Gold, Silber oder Bronze Stevie Award gewinnt, wird eine Preisträgergebühr fällig.

Dafür erhalten die Gewinner aber auch eine Menge an Leistungen: Sie …

• dürfen den Stevie-Preisträgerstatus für die Nominierung(en) am oder nach dem 7. März 2019 öffentlich beanspruchen,
• werden in die am 7. März 2019 veröffentlichten offiziellen Preisträgerlisten aufgenommen,
• dürfen die Preisträgerzeichen oder -logos der German Stevie Awards 2019 verwenden,
• erhalten eine personalisierte Gold, Silber oder Bronze Stevie Award-Trophäe,
• haben Zugang zu sämtlichen Kommentaren der Jury in Bezug auf alle Ihre Bewerbungen,
• dürfen Tickets für die Preisverleihung am 3. Mai 2019 in München kaufen
• und bekommen dort die Awards auf der Bühne überreicht.

Übrigens: Die Preisverleihung wird live gestreamt und auch auf Video aufgezeichnet und auf dem Stevie Awards YouTube Kanal veröffentlicht. So erhalten die Stevie-Gewinner alleine durch die Übertragung deutschlandweite Aufmerksamkeit. 

Aber auch wenn Sie keinen Stevie Award gewinnen sollten, lohnt sich eine Teilnahme an den Awards. Denn wenn Sie eine Bewerbung erstellen, dann entwickeln Sie bereits überzeugende Erfolgsgeschichten und die können Sie auch an anderen Stellen Ihres Marketings einsetzen. Denken Sie doch einmal intensiv über Ihre Mitarbeiter und deren Leistungen intensiv nach, werfen Sie einen ganz eigenen Blick auf Ihr Unternehmen, schärfen Sie Ihr Profil und stärken Sie durch die Teilnahme an den Awards Ihre Beziehung zu und zwischen Ihren Mitarbeitern. Denn durch die Bewerbung zeigen Sie, dass Sie die Leistungen der Kollegen sehen und anerkennen …

Zusätzlich profitieren Sie durch die qualifizierte Rückmeldung der Jury. Als Teilnehmer haben Sie Zugriff auf alle Anmerkungen der Jury zu Ihren Bewerbungen. Diese Anmerkungen geben Ihnen Aufschluss über die Stärken und Schwächen Ihrer Bewerbung und/oder Ihres Unternehmens.

Die Jury, die schließlich die Sieger ermittelt, ist wie immer hochkarätig besetzt. Sie besteht aus über 50 Experten aus ganz Deutschland. Die Übersicht der Juryvorsitzenden in diesem Jahr finden Sie hier. 

Die Jurymitglieder dürfen sich auf viele Bewerbungen freuen. Denn die Bewerber dürfen aus über 100 Kategorien auswählen, die in die Bereiche Management Awards, Company of the Year Awards in 34 Branchengruppen, Public Relation Awards, Kundenservice Awards, Human Resources Awards, Informationstechnologie Awards, Marketing Awards, Neue Produkte Awards, Support Awards und Awards für Websites, Videos, Apps, Live-Events und Jahresberichte /Publikationen unterteilt sind. 

Noch dauert es ein wenig, bis die Jurys in Aktion treten. Bis zum 7. März 2019 herrscht dann Hochspannung. Denn erst an diesem Tag werden die Gewinner öffentlich bekanntgegeben.

Entspannt geht es hingegen ganz sicher bei der feierlichen Preisverleihung am 3. Mai 2019 im luxuriösen Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in München zu, wo die Gewinner ihre Trophäen auf der großen Bühne überreicht bekommen.

Und wer jetzt noch Lust hat, zum illustren Kreis der Sieger bei den 5. German Stevie Awards zu gehören, der sollte sich beeilen. Denn der Blick auf den Kalender lügt nicht …

Die Teilnahmeunterlagen und alle Informationen zum Award finden Sie unter www.StevieAwards.com/Deutschland. 

There is a tech side to just about every industry, including fashion. It goes beyond purchasing a new favorite sweater on Amazon. Today, you can scroll through Instagram, click on a photo, zoom in to see a product, and buy it with one click.

AI technology is even finding its way into traditional store shopping. You can go to a store and take a picture of a shirt, pants, or a jacket—and using one of several apps, such as Kim Kardashian’s Screenshop app, you can upload the picture and find similar styles and products all over the world. There are even avatar-based apps, such as Dressing Room, that allow individuals to try on clothing virtually. When ready, you can pay for the item with Apple Pay, which is located in your smartphone’s digital wallet.

Like any industry, the bottom line drives fashion-related businesses, and technological advances are constantly challenging that bottom line. However, the data points collected from searches and purchases are narrowing the gap between product supply and demand, meaning product numbers are more accurate, and fewer materials are wasted. Data are also helping companies predict trends and provide products their customers actually like and want.

As with most business verticals, the fashion industry maintains wholesale production intermediaries. JOOR is one of those companies leading the digital wholesale charge, using analytics within the fashion vertical. Their digital platform connects buyers and sellers online, helping buyers save time and cut costs and leading sellers to better analyze the performance of their inventory.

The company’s model embraces the global shift to mobile-first access and capitalizes on the ease and convenience of streaming handheld devices. Digitizing streamlines the fashion buyer’s process, and as is typically the case when digital technology is implemented, this reduces errors and saves time. The success of JOOR was recognized with a Stevie® Award in Best New Software Product or Service Category.

JOOR was founded in 2010 and is based in New York City, New York, United States. CEO Kristin Savilia is at the helm. She came on board in March 2017 and brought with her 18 years of retail experience and over five years in e-commerce with XO Group (the parent company of popular websites The Bump, The Nest, and The Knot). Even in the hustle and bustle of a technology-driven fashion industry, Savilia—a proactive mother of four—strives for a positive work-life balance.

While she helped lead JOOR to the head of the fashion AI and VR app curve, more technological changes are on the horizon. NextWeb reports the world is ready for the Internet of Things (IoT).

“Apparel items will have digital capabilities that open communication between retailer and customer, such as NADI X, yoga pants with built-in sensors that guide users into alignment by vibrating as they move through the various yoga poses. This example and other IoT apparel items interact with the user to collect data that help retailers understand the needs and concerns of buyers, and then companies can implement solutions to create a more personalized experience.”

In this landscape, individuals will be able to interact with businesses through their yoga pants, informing the companies that made them what they liked best and least. This will allow the companies to make more of those kinds of pants or to offer improved versions, depending on feedback.

That is technology and fashion coming full circle. Try clothes on a virtual reality avatar, search AI apps for any and all styles you like, and then communicate with the product and company directly using the IoT. Companies analyze the data, and the technological personalization and product customization cycle evolves.

In the long run, this seems cost effective and efficient while reducing waste—but it remains to be seen if consumers want to wear yoga pants and other products with AI sensors. Many consumers, however, already talk to Siri (Apple) and Alexa (Amazon), so it might not be too long before this is the product norm.

As recently as 2014, just about everyone (other than Julianne Ponan) doubted her fledgling health food brand would survive—let alone find widespread distribution throughout Europe.

As the owner of Creative Nature, a UK-based company specializing in allergy-friendly vegan snacks and baking mixes, Ponan staked her fortunes on a crowdsourcing effort aimed at raising £150,000 of capital. However, the attempt to capture investors fell well short of the mark.

The failed fundraising campaign was the latest in a series of setbacks for the company, which was losing money at a fast clip. Three years earlier, a 22-year-old Ponan, then working as a financial analyst, was brought in to diagnose why Creative Nature was operating in the red.

At the time, the company marketed a wide range of products, from home goods to natural food products. The latter gave Ponan hope. After all, she knew firsthand the importance of a carefully selected diet. The entrepreneur suffers from multiple food allergies to this day and survived two acute cases of pancreatitis as a young girl.

Ponan says doctors gave her four hours to live after diagnosing the first case of pancreatitis when she was nine. She lived, but it resurfaced at 17, when physicians gave her just a few short years to live.

“After beating it a second time, it still wasn’t smooth sailing,” she recalls. “I contracted pneumonia in my first year at Creative Nature.”

She ended up executing a management buyout of the London, England–area business in 2012, with the goal of growing the superfood segment. It wasn’t just her personal experience she banked on, though. She also saw the continent’s rising obesity levels and the increased prevalence of food allergies as proof this niche market was poised for growth.

The number of Europeans who suffer from chronic allergies tops 150 million, according to the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The group estimates half of the entire EU populace will be impacted by 2025.

“I took over Creative Nature to cater to people like me—people who want healthier snacks without the nasty additives,” she says.

Company Gets Its Big Break

With her business partner, Matthew Ford, the company started focusing on snack bars and baking mixes that were free from 14 of the most common food allergens.

“Most ‘healthy’ snack companies insist on filling their products with tree nuts, peanuts, and seeds, which completely ignores a whole consumer base of allergy sufferers,” Ponan says.

When the crowdsourcing plan turned south and it looked as if the whole enterprise might be a flop, the breakthrough finally came. Creative Nature captured the interest of a buyer at Tesco, a major UK supermarket chain. Virtually overnight, it seemed as if the company’s fortunes were turning around. Still, one major hurdle remained.

“Tesco wanted all our new packaging for launch in just four weeks. This normally would have taken eight weeks to produce,” she says. “Instead of telling them we couldn't launch, we bought self-adhesive labels and spent three weeks hand-labeling around 10,000 tubs—all while continuing to run the rest of the business.”

As it turned out, the two-person team made the launch and used the deal as a platform to propel themselves into more supermarkets. Today, the company, which now has six full-time employees, is stocked in more than 15 countries, including Switzerland and Denmark.

Because of the organization’s compelling turnaround, Ponan earned the Silver Stevie® Award for Young Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

“I’ve known about these awards since starting the business, always dreaming one day I would be able to win one,” she says. “I managed to walk away with a Silver Stevie, so I’m incredibly proud.”

Oncology is the study and treatment of tumors. Although three major fields exist within oncology -- medicine, surgery, and radiation, it’s generally understood as a branch of medicine that treats cancer. What do creativity, brands, design, and advertising have to do with any of that? A lot, as it turns out.

Navicor is an integrated marketing communications agency with oncology at their core. In an effort to make a difference in the world, employees use their creative talents to make compelling brand stories that are inspired by real patients. The Navicor team is comprised of oncology experts, clinicians, and award-winning creative professionals dedicated to launching successful platforms that support life-saving therapies.

It’s the perfect example of a meaningful marriage between the arts and health care.

“We expertly use the data to tell the most compelling brand story, but we also see the people behind the data points on that K-M (Kaplan-Meier) curve,” says Marvin Bowe, managing director at Navicor. “Each one of us is inspired by the patients whose lives we help touch. They’re the reason we get up for work in the morning. Or stay up late at night.”

Bowe profoundly believes in using personal talents to make a difference in the world, which the general public doesn’t regularly connect with creativity and marketing to patients with serious ailments.

Universal Truths

Oncology is the most progressive therapeutic area at the moment. With hundreds of new treatments in development, this field is seeing some of its biggest breakthroughs to date.

Bowe lists his organization’s core values. Although oncology demands specific attention—both surgical and managerial—the list contains items any organization can identify with. To that end, Navicor operates on the following principles:

Most of these tenets are tailored to ensure staff members are getting the support they need. The company also clearly understands the value of having fun while at work.

“Happy employees truly do produce the most creative ideas,” says Bowe.

The company’s history proves that having fun at work can yield huge gains. They participate in walks and 5K runs as a team to help raise awareness and money for cancer advocacy groups. Last year, Navicor raised over $20,000, ranked as the eighth-largest corporate supporter of Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in Philadelphia, and received an award for the most creative idea to raise money.

Doing Great Work

Most people can relate to that feeling of not doing enough for those in need. Cultivating a genuine concern for the lives of strangers and putting that concern into action is an amazing feat.

Garnett Dezember, the CEO and founder of Navicor, expresses the foundation on which he built the organization.

"Cancer is our cause. Cancer has affected each of us, and we use that experience to motivate us daily."

Empathy and the will to use one's talents to help others resulted in Navicor winning the Silver Stevie Awards for Employer of the Year in the 2018 Stevie® Award for Great Employers.

“While oncology is highly scientific, that doesn’t mean your brand communications should be clinical white papers,” says Dezember. “We use some of the best creative strategies to ensure your brand’s message is received, and our industry recognizes our efforts by honoring us with trophies from some of the most prestigious award shows.”

It’s easy to measure success by prescription data and usage trends, but Navicor exemplifies what can happen when you add award-winning creatives to your team, help clients achieve their goals, and capture the attention of a global audience.

Whether it’s an entrepreneur starting out in an office or garage or if it’s a Fortune 500 company, any business must be visible to potential customers before a sale can be made. In most cases, awareness of a company is created through great stories, which elicit engagement and relationships with those potential customers.

Whether dealing with website traffic, email subscriber data growth, social media accounts, or hundreds of other engagement metrics, they’re all interconnected by one thing: an attempt to create a continuous relationship between the customer and the business.

With so many companies marketing that way, though, how do you stand out in a sea of legitimately competent competitors?

PAN Communications is an integrated marketing and public relations agency based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. They focus on B2B technology and health care industries that want a customer-first business model. They deliver this through PR and social, content, and influencer marketing. They also use data analytics and creative services.

“To bring great stories to life, that’s the core message,” says President & CEO, Philip A. Nardone Jr.. “Those great stories are about the companies—their technologies and innovations—that are changing lives.”

The company’s ability to bring resonant, engaging stories to life contributed to them winning the 2018 Gold Stevie® for Public Relations Agency of the Year at The American Business Awards.

PAN Communications is one of the industry’s most trusted communications partners., It demonstrates that it takes an entire team of dedicated marketing and PR specialists to help clients exceed expectations.

Move Ideas and Build Relationships

Success in any venture doesn’t happen overnight. No matter how good you are at something or how certain you are about how to improve a problem, it takes time to develop and to hone sustainable relationships with your audience or paying customers.

The success of PAN Communications is due to the firm’s unique ability to offer the agility and personalized service of a midsized agency while also leveraging national and international relationships. This allows them to manage large-scale communications programs for brands such as SAP, AppDirect, Radial, and MediaMath. PAN Communications provides services, moves ideas, and builds relationships with customers at a level which competitors find difficult to match.

The PAN Communications business model demonstrates one thing clearly: Successful businesses must make their services and messaging available to potential customers over a variety of platforms.

Give Back and Put People First

The belief that great people can do great things is an underlying tenet of the PAN Communications mind-set. That’s why they focus on putting people and culture first.

“By fostering an environment free of office politics and rich in support and diversity, we believe we can rise above the industry noise and win the race,” says Nardone. “The CEO of PAN believes his agency’s greatest assets go down the elevator every night: the people. Phil [CEO of PAN Communications] and the rest of the leadership team devote time and energy to cultivating the award-winning culture that currently exists at PAN. The agency takes a people-first approach and prioritizes a strong work-life balance for its employees.”

PAN Communications also believes in giving back to the communities that built the foundation of their agency. To that end, the firm launched a philanthropic program, PANcares, in November 2017. This allowed the agency to become involved in its local markets more consistently. As part of the program, PAN Communications partners with four nonprofit organizations dedicated to fighting against youth homelessness. Representing a cross-country collaborative, the partners are based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States; San Francisco, California, United States; New York City, New York, United States; and Orlando, Florida, United States.

As PAN Communications demonstrates, today’s PR agencies must distinguish themselves by delivering exceptional services and innovations to their clients. As a result, the industry is thriving. Brands demand more from agencies than ever before, asking these companies to prepare them for every stage of growth and to act as trusted partners along the way. PAN Communications is just one agency that shows the exceptional results that are possible when that happens.