Robert Nicoson is Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Constant Contact®, Inc., in Waltham, Massachusetts. Nicoson is the Chair of the Final Judging Committee for the Human Resources awards categories in The 2014 American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the US.

Bob Nicoson has played an essential role in Constant Contact’s impressive growth. In the five years that he’s been with the company, the number of employees has tripled to more than 1,200 across six offices in the U.S. and abroad.  “My focus is making absolutely sure we hire well, and that we connect our people to our mission of helping small business succeed,” he says.  Bob and his team also get creative in ensuring that Constant Contact is an innovative and fun place to work, from regular employee Innovation Jams, to employee Wow! Awards, to a weekly “beer cart,” and more.

We asked Bob for his advice on how companies can find and keep the right employees.  “It’s all about engagement,” Bob told us.  “From the candidate experience right up through alumni status.  The best HR leaders are laser-focused on employee lifecycle strategies that set engagement metric records and promote an environment that supports extraordinary business results.” 

“Getting the basics right and sticking to the vital few priorities—a big challenge!—will lead to breakthrough HR outcomes,” concluded Bob

Evolution

Constant Contact has evolved from an email marketing company to an online marketing powerhouse, serving the needs of more than 600,000 small businesses globally. The company’s tremendous growth has paralleled its expanding employee base. Amid such dynamic growth, Constant Contact’s human resources team fine-tuned its comprehensive employee program in order to empower all employees to serve as recruiters, to fuel innovation, and to develop leadership skills.  This approach has ultimately fostered a diverse employee base that drives customer success in a work hard/play hard environment.  It also led Constant Contact to win a Gold Stevie® Award for Human Resources Department of the Year in The 2013 American Business Awards.

“The Stevie is a nice badge of honor for our team,” Bob told us.  “It’s helped to build our brand both inside and outside of Constant Contact and has resulted in a number of unsolicited applications for HR professionals who want to join a winning team.”

On being appointed Chair of The 2014 American Business Awards Human Resources Final Judging Committee, Bob commented:  “It’s an honor to serve the Stevie Awards organization to select the ‘best of the best’ HR departments.  I guess that it takes one to know one!” 

Spanning The Globe

While he’s now happily settled in the Boston area and enjoying all things New England, especially Cape Cod, Bob’s career has spanned the globe.  For more than 20 years Bob worked internationally, opening offices in Ireland, the U.K., and Puerto Rico while in executive leadership positions at Scala Business Solutions, The Pioneer Group, and Lotus Development (now Lotus Software).  During that time he also had the opportunity to live for four years in The Netherlands.  His work took him back to the Boston area when he served as Vice President at social networking site Gather, Inc., and as Human Resources Director of the Weston Jesuit School of Theology. 

What keeps him happy at Constant Contact?  “I love being surrounded by really smart people who genuinely enjoy supporting small business success.  And our leadership completely backs our efforts to make sure that Constant Contact continues to be a great place to work.”

On The Fast Track

Bob is excited about the future. “I get stoked by building meaningful engagement programs and services to support an employee population,” he told us, especially when those employees are “on the fast track, are crazy about innovation, and have an affinity and alignment for a common purpose and goals.”

In his free time, Bob is an adventure junkie.  A recent vacation found him hiking Machu Picchu and he’s also backpacked every National Park in the U.S.  For his next trip, he’s off to Bhutan.  So don’t expect to find Bob just sitting around—except when he’s working on the American Business Awards final judging!

About Robert Nicoson:

Bob joined Constant Contact® in June of 2008 and has more than 25 years of experience in human resources leadership and general management. In his role, he oversees all human resources programs, practices, and policies that govern Constant Contact's business needs and culture. Bob also drives executive, cross-functional team, and management leadership and development; strategic workforce planning and staffing; and compensation, performance management, and recognition and reward systems for the company.

Prior to joining Constant Contact, Bob served as vice president at Gather Inc., a social networking site for adults. Before Gather Inc., he was the director of human resources and change management consultant at Weston Jesuit School of Theology and the director of human resources and administration at CertaLogic Inc. He also held executive leadership positions in global human resources at Scala Business Solutions, The Pioneer Group, Inc., and Lotus Development Corp. (now Lotus Software).

Bob holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana State University.

About Constant Contact, Inc.:
Constant Contact helps small businesses do more business. It has been revolutionizing the success formula for small businesses, nonprofits, and associations since 1998, and today works with more than 600,000 customers worldwide. The company offers the only all-in-one online marketing platform that helps small businesses drive repeat business and find new customers. It features multi-channel marketing campaigns (newsletters/announcements, offers/promotions, online listings, events/registration, and feedback) combined with shared content, contacts, and reporting; free award-winning coaching and product support; and integrations with critical business tools—all from a single login. The company’s extensive network of educators, consultants/resellers, technology providers, franchises, and national associations offer further support to help small organizations succeed and grow. Through its Innovation Loft, Constant Contact is fueling the next generation of small business technology.

The following professionals participated in preliminary judging of The 2014 American Business Awards in April-May.  Their average scores determined the Finalists.  We thank them for their time, insights and support.

Ray Aldrich, Director, Development, Marketing & Communications, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI
Amal Al-Najjar, HR Manager, Fluor, Kuwait
Zainab Ansari, Director/CEO, Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd, Pakistan
Daniel Arenas, Creative Director, Sunday Morning NY, Astoria, NY
Cathy Baker, Competition Consultant, USEF, Lexington, KY
Jeff Bell, Partner, NCT Ventures, Kirkland, WA
Israel Bonequi Creative Director, Birds Nest Foundation, Canada
Deirdre Breakenridge, CEO, Pure Performance Communications, Marlboro, NJ
Daniel Burkholder, IT Solutions Advisor, Susan G. Komen, Frisco, TX
Tanya Candia, CEO, Candia Communications, Saratoga, CA
Susan Chait, VP, Creative Director, Lebowitz | Gould | Design, Inc., New York, NY
Dr. Kevin S. Chen, President/CEO, Business Methods Corporation, Mt Freedom, NJ
Irene Corpuz, Head of Planning & IT Security, Western Region Municipality, United Arab Emirates
Dave Craig, Vice President, HR Fazoli's Restaurants, Lexington, KY
David Crawford, Senior VP, Managing Group, Creative Director, GSD&M, Austin, TX
John Cushman, former VP - eSales & Service, AT&T, Dallas, TX
Karen Danielson, Marketing Communications & Brand Manager, US Water Services, Inc, St Michael, MN
Natalia Diaz Marketing Specialist, Forte Payment Systems, Dallas, TX
Brenda Dukart, Executive Account Manager, Managed Business Solutions, Colorado Springs, CO
Elizabeth Enselein, Director of Operations, Murthy Law Firm, Owings Mills, MD
Matt Finizio, VP, Creative Director, Slack and Company, Chicago, IL
Hüsniye Firat, Dr. Çanakkale Onsekiz, March University, Turkey
Kyle Forster, Co-Founder/President, Big Switch Networks, San Francisco, CA
Anthony Franco, President, EffectiveUI, Denver, CO
Jean Gea, Product Marketing Manager, Acumatica Kirkland, WA
Dawn Giesman, Marketing Manager PublicSchoolWORKS, Cincinnati, OH
Stephen Gill, President, Stephen Gill Associates, Thailand
Katharine Goldman, SVP, Executive Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide, New York, NY
Eddie Grant, Product Manager, Brodie Meter Co., LLC, Statesboro, GA
Donna Grare, VP Engineering, PHD Virtual, Morris Plains, NJ
Kristi Grigsby, VP Marketing, CSI Enterprises, Bonita Springs, FL
Bonnie Hackbarth, Senior Counselor, Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations, Louisville, KY
Eric Halvorson, Senior Vice President,Wells Fargo, Minneapolis, MN
Alexander Hannett, Manager, Corporate Strategy and Marketing, All Florida Paper, Inc., Medley, FL
Leslie Harstad, Director, Thought Leadership Strategy, Optum, Minneapolis, MN
Batul Hasan, CEO, BSH Consultants, Pakistan
Kevin Hegebarth, VP, Marketing & Product Management, HireIQ Solutions, Inc., Alpharetta, GA
Mary Ann Henker, President, The Henker Group, Easton, MD
Ann Hill, Chairwoman of the Board, Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, Lancaster, CA
Faith Jackson, PR Specialist, Lawler Computer Consultants, LLC, Birmingham, AL
Parag Jaripatke, Senior Systems Administrator, AOL Inc., Ashburn, VA
Stuart John, Senior Product Manager, Source Interlink Media, Santa Monica, CA
James Johnson, Chairman, The Standish Group International, Inc., Boston, MA
JP Jones, Owner, Collipsis Web Solutions, Lawrenceburg, TN
Craig Kavicky, Vice President, Lextant, Columbus, OH
Douglas Kelly, EVP Design, Imagination Publishing, Chicago, IL
Laura Kerr, Principal Business Analyst, Sabre Airline Solutions, Dallas, TX
Mike Kindle, VP, Information, HealthSouth, Birmingham, AL
Marylee Klinkhammer, Technology Director, DRG, Bernie, IN
Slade Kobran, CMO, Chief Outsiders, New York, NY
Claudia Koehler, Corporate Vice President, VOK DAMS Events, Germany
Roja Kolachina, CEO/President, Synerteq, Inc., Rockville, MD
James Koons, Chief Privacy Officer, Listrak, Lititz, PA
Nitin Kumar, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Jersey City, NJ
Rick Kuwayti, Managing Director, Head of Marketing, BMO Capital Markets, Canada
John Lamb, VP, Group Head, Ebix, Atlanta, GA
Frank Laudo, Senior VP Creative Director, GES, Grapevine, TX
Erran Lawler, Owner, Lawler Computer Consultants, LLC, Birmingham, AL
Jason Lawson, Partner, Moss Adams LLP, Los Angeles, CA
Rob Leggat, Senior Vice President, Goddard Gunster, Washington, DC
Peter Levy, President, Corniche Productions, Brooklyn, NY
Nanxi Liu, CEO, Enplug, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
Lily Liu, CEO & Founder, PublicStuff, New York, NY
Juliana Lopez, Controller, Northern Technologies Group, Inc, Tampa, FL
Avinash Mainkar, Adjunct Professor of Management, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Jennifer Maldonado, Sr. Program Manager, Global Client Experience, Cornerstone OnDemand, Santa Monica, CA
Anne McCarthy, President and Founder, Westmeath Communications, Castle Rock, CO
Jeannine McHenry, Art Director, One17 Creative, Marina Del Rey, CA
Catherine McQuaid, Principal, Big Game Hunting, Canada
Kathy Menzie, Associate Professor & Chair, Washburn University, Topeka, KS
Feroz Merchhiya, CTO, California Insurance Guarantee Association, Diamond Bar, CA
Caroline Meyers, Director of Corporate Communications, MC2, Chestnut Ridge, NY
Andrea Michaels, President, EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS, Sherman Oaks,CA
Tamika Mikucki, Director of Human Resources, Westhab, Inc., Elmsford, NY
Carlos Minetti, President, Consumer Banking, Discover Financial Services, Riverwoods, IL
Jay Mitchell, President, Mereo LLC, Colorado Springs, CO
Judy Mod, Principal, Social Gastronomy, LLC., Atlanta, GA
Rajesh Kumar Mudiakal, SAP Project Manager, CMC Limited, India
Brian Mulvey, Vice President, Investor Growth Capital, New York, NY
Kirk Musselman, Director, Human Resources, Classified Ventures LLC, Chicago, IL
Eric Nash, Senior Director, Online Marketing, Stamps.com, El Segundo, CA
Madhusmita Nayak, Manager-Enterprise Performance, UAE Exchange, United Arab Emirates
Steve Nelson, Partner & CTO, AP42, San Ramon, CA
Michael Newman, Vice President International Sales & Global Marketing, Optical Cable Corporation, Roanoke, VA
Bruce Nicoll, ACD Copy, The Navicor Group, Westerville, OH
Ayelet Noff, Co-CEO and Founder, Blonde 2.0, Israel
Bob Older, President, Creative Travel Inc. dba Rainbow Charter Service, Wilmington, DE
Linda Olsan, Director, Customer Care, ACE, Rancho Mission Viejo, CA
Kirsten Osolind, CEO, re:invention marketing, San Diego, CA
Lori Owens, VP, Client Relations, PhoneWare, Inc., San Diego, CA
Ravi Padaki, Product Manager, Snapfish, San Francisco, CA
Parveen Panwar, CEO, PMI 5 Media LLC, San Francisco, CA
Paul Patton, Senior R&D/Regulatory Manager, Delta Faucet Co., Indianapolis, IN
Rob Peglar, CTO Americas, EMC Isilon, Wildwood, MO
Ken Phelan, CTO, Gotham Technology Group, Montvale, NJ
Churchill Dass Prince, Founder CEO, Sales Intellect Company, India
Dr. Steve Rajan, Vice Chancellor of Malaysia, IAEWP (NGO United Nations), Malaysia
Gillian Rawcliffe, Business Development Manager, Vérité, Sandy, UT
Kathleen Reddy, Copresident, McKinnon-Mulherin, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT
Dennis Reno, Vice President, Customer Portal Experience, New Relic, San Francisco, CA
Selena Rezvani, President, NextGenWomen, LLC, Elkins Park, PA
Tom Richard, Director of Organizational Development, Westpark Communications, L.P., Houston, TX
Avis Richards, President/CEO, Birds Nest Productions, Purchase, NY
Chris Risheill, Director of Sales, Marketing and Exhibits, Association for Middle Level Education, Westerville, OH
Colleen Rosso, Director of Communications, Hartland Township, Milford, MI
David Saef, EVP, MarketWorks & Strategy, GES, Hodgkins, IL
Viurniel Sanchez, Information Management, Infrastructure Technology Services, Miami, FL
Scott Sauder, Area Operations Consultant, The UPS Store,, Noblesville, IN
Harry Schechter, CEO & President, Temperature@lert, Boston, MA
Richard Schechter, VP Marketing, Medtech College, Atlanta, GA
Lisa Schweickert, VP of Training, Golden Corral Corporation, Raleigh, NC
Bill Shelton, Vice President, USHEALTH Advisors, Grapevine, TX
Tina Stafford, Senior Account Executive, Stafford Creative Inc, Edmonds, WA
Mahiette Tarrago, Creative Director, Tycoon Advertising Group LLC, The Woodlands, TX
Harmony Tenney, Senior Marketing Consultant, CRG, Charlottesville, VA
Lori Teranishi, Partner, IQ PR, Inc., San Francisco, CA
Michelle Thorsell, Principal, SMT Architects, P.C., Glen Ellyn, IL
Roger Thorstenson, Lead: Strategic Planning & Performance Measurement, Office of the DoD CIO, Arlington, VA
Han Tjan, Corporate Communications, Daimler, New York, NY
Richard Trombly, Editor / Senior Account Exec, Hill & Knowlton, China
Chikako Uchinami, CEO, Japan Translation USA, Sunnyvale, CA
Noel Unciano, Science Research Specialist, Industrial Technology Development Institute - DOST, Philippines
Vinny Verdi, Producer, CUNY-TV, New York, NY
Charles Kirby Wadsworth, Vice President of Global Marketing, F5 Networks, Wayland, MA
Maggie Wang, Service & Support Manager, Nolo, Pleasanton, CA
Edward Weisberg , Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development, GXT Green, Billerica, MA
Karen Weldon, Manager, Executive Communication & Strategic Collaboration (Office of the CIO), Consumers Energy, Jackson, MI
Hope White, CEO, Rise and Fly, Fort Worth , TX
Becky Wilson, President, WDS Marketing and PR, Overland Park, KS
Robert Wnuk, Regional Sales Director, Tax Care S.A., Poland
Gregory Wright, Communications Manager, AICPA, New York, NY
Ziad Ziadeh, National Customer Service Manager, DHL Express, Saudi Arabia
Matthew Zintel, President, Zintel Public Relations, Cypress, TX
Joseph Zitzelberger, Director of Manufacturing Development, PACCAR Inc, Chillicothe, OH
Chris Zoloth, Director, Global Customer Care, IHG, Salt Lake City, UT

Coveted Stevie® Awards to Be Presented at Ceremonies in Chicago and San Francisco

Finalists were announced today in The 12th Annual American Business Awards. Organizations as diverse as 7-Eleven, American Solar Direct, Bloomin' Brands, Cisco Systems, Google, McGladrey LLP, NASCAR, and the State of Michigan are among those recognized. Lists of Finalists by category have been published at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.’s premier business awards program. All organizations and individuals in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations.

This year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners will be announced at two banquets. The first will take place on June 13 at the Fairmont Millennium Park Hotel in Chicago, Illinois; and the second, with awards in the new product and technology-related categories, will be held on September 12 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, California. More than 800 executives are expected to attend the events. The ceremonies will be broadcast nationwide by the BizTalk Radio Network.    

Among the organizations with the most Finalists this year are Accenture, AMD, AT&T, CallidusCloud, Engility, Isagenix International, Jeunesse Global, John Hancock Signature Services, Makovsky, MWW, Quality Systems, and USANA Health Sciences.

A record number of nominations were submitted this year with more than 3,300 from organizations of all sizes and from virtually every industry. The ABAs include a wide variety of categories including management awards, new product awards, marketing awards, public relations awards, human resources awards, information technology awards, website awards, and more.

Finalists were chosen by more than 130 business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in April and May. Members of nine specialized final judging committees will determine Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award placements from among Finalists in judging that will begin next week. More than 280 executives will participate in the judging process this year.

Voting will open in early July for the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, a component of The American Business Awards that invites the general public to vote for their favorite new products of the year in a number of categories.

For press credentials for the June 13 and September 12 awards banquets or for more information, contact Maggie(at)thestevies(dot)com.

About the Stevie® Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in five programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. A sixth program, the German Stevie Awards, will launch in August.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Sponsors and partners of The 2014 American Business Awards include Biz Talk Radio, CallidusCloud, Citrix Online, Cvent, Engility, John Hancock, LycaMobile, PetRays, and Softpro.

The final entry deadline for The 2014 (12th Annual) American Business Awards, the premier business awards program in the U.S.A., is this Wednesday, April 23.  Complete details on the ABAs are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Maybe you haven't entered yet, and you're swamped this week, or you're not sure of the benefits of participating, or haven't yet made the case to your boss or your colleagues about why you should make the investment in time and money to submit nominations to the ABAs.

Here are 10 great reasons why your organization should enter The American Business Awards.

1. Entering the ABAs is a cost-effective way to thank and honor your valued employees and to build or burnish your brand.

2. The entry process itself is valuable.  You'll research and write succinct, compelling stories of achievement within your organization that you can use in other ways.

3. Small companies have just as much chance to win a Stevie as big companies do.  Every year, household-name companies such as Apple, Delta Faucet, and Ford Motor Company are joined in the winners' circle by small and medium-size organizations that are still building their brands.

4. There are scores of categories covering every aspect of business, from management and finance, to marketing and public relations, to product development, customer service, and human resources.

5. If you’re a marketing consultancy or media production company, your work will be reviewed and honored by potential clients, not just your competitors, and there are many categories for web sites and apps, marketing campaigns, video productions, and other media.

6. Many of the world's top business leaders will review your nominations during the judging process.

7. If you win a Gold Stevie Award you’ll get to make a 30-second acceptance speech…before an audience of hundreds of executives from across the country…during a nationally-broadcast awards dinner…that will also be streamed worldwide over the Internet.

8. The Stevie Award is one of the world's most impressive trophies - it will wow clients, partners, colleagues and staff.

9. We'll promote your win across our web site and media.  We get more than 70,000 visitors to our site every month, have more than 24,000 weekly email newsletter subscribers, and many thousands of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter followers.

10. As an honoree you'll get a range of free tools that you can use to promote your award.

Need more reasons?  Need help choosing categories?  Contact us.

We won't officially extend the entry deadline, but if you need a few extra days to submit your entries you may have them, but you must request a brief extension in writing.

We've just published a 5-minute video about how to enter the U.S.A.’s top business awards program, The American Business Awards.

WATCH IT NOW

Our brief video covers all of the information you'll need to be able to prepare and submit entries to the ABAs.

All individuals and organizations within the U.S.A. -- public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small -- may submit nominations to the ABAs. The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Our business award categories include: annual report awards, app awards, company/organization awards, customer service awards, human resources awards, information technology awards, management awards, marketing awards, new product awards, public relations awards, support awards, and website awards, among others. See all corporate awards categories.

The entry deadline for the 12th edition of The American Business Awards is March 26. Late entries will be accepted through April 23 with payments of a late fee.  Nominations should cite achievements since January 1 2013. There is no eligibility timeframe for web site and app entries - it does not matter when they were first published.

Get your entry kit for the ABAs – it contains everything you’ll need to know about how to prepare and submit entries.

Questions about how to select categories or submit entries?  Contact us at help@stevieawards.com, +1 703-547-8389.

 

The Stevie Awards, the world's premier business awards programs, have just published a brochure about our 2014 sponsorship opportunities.

READ THE BROCHURE HERE

The brochure outlines the opportunities associated with our six awards programs in 2014, including two new programs - the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards and the forthcoming German Stevie Awards.

Among the benefits that are available through Stevie Awards sponsorships are:

• The ability to submit an unlimited number of entries to the sponsored program without having to pay entry fees. This benefit can be extended to sponsors’ clients as well

• The right to name and confer one or more honorary Stevie Awards upon your customers

• A full-page ad in the official program of the event

• Up to 100,000 banner ad impressions on the sponsored program’s web site and in the weekly Stevie Awards Update e-newsletter

• Tickets for the sponsored awards banquet

• At least 10 minutes of stage time to present awards at the sponsored event

• Logo identification in all photographs and video clips of the sponsored event

• Hospitality and display privileges, before, during, and/or after the sponsored event

• Editorial coverage, in the form of an interview or profile, in the Stevie Awards blog and e-newsletter

We welcome the opportunity to customize sponsorship benefits to suit your needs.  Contact Stevie Awards president Michael Gallagher for details.

Makovsky Integrated Communications received the first-ever Grand Stevie Award for Interactive Services Agency of the Year in The 2013 American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the U.S.A.  (Entry to The 2014 American Business Awards is now open. Find out more here.)  Here we look at what winning the Grand Stevie has meant to the company; and at Makovsky’s work for MediScripts, which earned them two Gold Stevies in the Marketing Awards categories of the 2013 ABAs for Online Marketing Campaign of the Year and for Business-to-Business Marketing Campaign of the Year.

When Timothy Kane, Makovsky’s Executive Vice President, Digital Branding, heard that his firm had received the 2013 Grand Stevie for Interactive Services Agency of the Year, he was both delighted and surprised.

 “It was especially gratifying because we’ve made a major effort to build our integrated and interactive capabilities,” said Tim. “In fact, I joined the firm specifically to establish a digital practice. This Grand Stevie is a wonderful acknowledgement that we are accomplishing our goal.”

MediScripts’ Marketing Challenge

Tim was the executive in charge of Makovsky’s multiple Stevie Award-winning MediScripts marketing campaign. “For nearly 20 years, MediScripts had enjoyed an almost effortless increase in sales and profits,” he explained.  “MediScripts’ personalized prescription pads were the perfect way for pharma companies to put their messages right in physicians’ hands at the exact point of prescription.”

But then everything changed.

A Shift to Digital Channels

In recent years, pharma marketers have been shifting an increasing percentage of their marketing dollars away from traditional marketing vehicles and into digital channels. Younger brand managers began to dismiss MediScripts as just another tchotchke.

Makovsky’s challenge was to find a way to move MediScripts out of that tchotchke graveyard and into the world of multichannel marketing.

Introducing a New Medium

The first step was to reposition MediScripts as an actual advertising medium:

MediScripts. The most engaging medium. The agency then redesigned MediScripts’ brand identity, with a modern proprietary font and an icon specifically designed for use in digital applications.

Next, Makovsky suggested a shift in targeting. Over the years, MediScripts had aimed the majority of its marketing efforts toward senior brand marketers at the major pharmaceutical companies. Makovsky suggested broadening their targeting strategy to include younger brand managers, agency media planners, and agency creative directors. Why? Because brand managers control the budget; media planners control the buy; and creative directors control the campaign idea.

The new MediScripts launched in September 2011:

• A new MediScripts website featured separate user interface pathways for its three targets: Brand Managers, Media Planners, and Creative Directors. (This award winning website won a Silver Stevie in the website awards categories of The 2013 American Business Awards.)

• A campaign of provocative digital ads confronted the conventional media wisdom. Headlines like "What ad is more effective than any ad on this site?" drove MediScripts’ targets to the new website in record numbers.

• Erez Lapsker, the young CEO of MediScripts, became the public face of the brand, authoring bylined articles, white papers, and podcasts, and hosting a Marketing Agency Happy Hour with representatives from key organizations.

• Feature articles in major pharma marketing publications such as Med Ad News, PM360, and PharmaVOICE repositioned the company and legitimized point-of-prescription advertising.

From Antiquated to Innovative

Makovsky’s work for the new MediScripts produced immediate results. In the first 90 days of the campaign:

• Website traffic shot up by 120%; unique visits increased over 80%;

• Six feature articles and a corporate announcement produced 65 million media impressions;

• The podcast was downloaded 765 times by key targets and the white paper 104 times;

• The advertising produced historic click-through rates—as high as 4,800% above industry norms.
  

But there was one final—and unexpected—result. MediScripts, once considered an antiquated company with an irrelevant value proposition, was named PM360’s Most Innovative Company of the Year, for its ability to show value within the digital space and convey measurable engagement.

Tim summarized it this way: “The hardest part of any digital campaign is how to measure its success.  Not only was MediScripts able to see an increase in meetings and sales, but also the campaign paid for itself almost immediately.”

About Timothy Kane
Timothy Kane is Executive Vice President, Digital Branding at Makovsky Integrated Communications.  In his thirty-year career as an award-winning writer, designer, and marketing strategist, Tim has developed a unique perspective on the value of branding. "The market always rewards strength," he says. "And strength is revealed through communications." 

About Makovsky Integrated Communications
Kenneth D. Makovsky launched the firm in 1979 with a simple philosophy: “There is no task so difficult that it can’t be accomplished by a team of smart people working in harmony.” That mantra holds true more than 30 years later. Though many of Makovsky’s people have big agency and big brand credentials on their résumés, everyone shares an entrepreneurial mindset, infusing everything the company does with a sense of urgency and total commitment to results. That fosters a culture of collaboration, bound by a shared dedication to exceed clients’ expectations.  For more information visit: http://www.makovsky.com/

The Stevie® Awards held one of its awards galas for its 11th annual American Business Awards competition last night, and announced the winners of its first-ever Grand Stevie Award trophies.

LifeLock received the Grand Stevie for organization of the year, for earning the most award points in The 2013 American Business Awards. Other top ABA Grand Stevie winners include Makovsky for interactive services agency of the year, Slack and Company for marketing agency of the year, and MWW for public relations agency of the year.

The Grand Stevie Awards were presented to the organizations that submitted the best body of entries to The American Business Awards this year, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients. The organizations with the most points won, with a Gold Stevie Award win counting for three points, a Silver Stevie win for two points, and a Bronze Stevie win for 1.5 points.

Besides LifeLock, Makovsky, MWW and Slack and Company, Grand Stevies were also awarded to the ten other organizations with the most points in the 2013 competition. They are:

10th place: EMKAY Inc.
9th place: Actiontec Electronics
8th place: VerticalResponse
7th place: CallidusCloud
6th place: USANA Health Sciences
5th place: Cisco Systems, Inc.
4th place: Accenture
3rd place: AT&T Inc.
2nd place: DRC    
1st place: Quality Systems, Inc.    

Last night’s gala, focused on new product awards, website awards, and other tech awards, was the second of two American Business Awards ceremonies this year. The first ceremony took place in Chicago on June 17 and honored winners in disciplines such as customer service, human resources, corporate communications, live events, publications, and selected categories for company/organization, management and marketing.

The American Business Awards honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, product developers, marketers and web development teams.

More than 250 executives attended last night’s awards banquet at San Francisco’s Julia Morgan Ballroom. Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: Gold, Silver and Bronze.

For a complete list of all 2013 American Business Awards’ Stevie Award winners visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

More than 3,200 entries were submitted to The 2012 American Business Awards and more than 320 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners.

Entries for The 2014 American Business Awards will be accepted starting in October.

About the Stevie® Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. A fifth program, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, will debut later this month. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Sponsors and partners of The 2013 American Business Awards include the Business TalkRadio Network, Callidus Software, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, Experian Consumer Services, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, and SoftPro.

The 11th Annual American Business Awards announced Stevie® Award winners last night at its event focused on outstanding new products and services and on achievements in technology industries.

Last night’s gala was the second of two American Business Awards ceremonies this year. The first ceremony took place in Chicago on June 17 and honored winners in disciplines such as customer service, human resources, corporate communications, live events, publications, and selected categories for company/organization, management and marketing. Winners in all new product and technology-related categories were announced at the event in San Francisco last night.

The American Business Awards honor an all-inclusive spectrum of American business people and organizations -- from non-profits, emerging start-ups, major public companies and government agencies, to corner-office executives, product developers, marketers and web development teams.

More than 250 executives attended last night’s awards banquet at San Francisco’s Julia Morgan Ballroom. Stevie Awards were conferred in three levels of distinction: Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Also announced last night were the first-ever Grand Stevie Award winners. The Grand Stevies were awarded to the organizations who received the most awards overall – Gold, Silver or Bronze – in the ABAs this year. LifeLock was presented with the Grand Stevie for Organization of the Year. The winners of the other Grand Stevie Awards will be named in a followup press release today.

AT&T, Inc., Dropbox and Marvell were the top winners of Gold Stevie Awards last night with three each. Winners of two Gold Stevies include Actiontec Electronics, Brainshark, Inc., DRC, ExtraHop Networks, LexisNexis, Web Advanced, Wilshire Axon, and ZehnerGroup.

Notable Gold Stevie Award Winners announced last night include:

­    New Product or Service of the Year - Consumer Services: Bitcasa’s Infinite Drive
­    Best Hospitality & Leisure Website: Carbone Smolan Agency for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group website
­    Information Technology Team of the Year: The Cisco IT Elastic Infrastructure Services Team
­    New Product or Service of the Year - Hardware - Peripheral: Hewlett-Packard’s HP Officejet Pro X576dw
­    Best Marketing App: John Hancock Funds iDiversify
­    Executive of the Year - Computer Software - Up to 500 Employees: Phil Fernandez, president and CEO of Marketo
­    Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year - Up to 100 Employees: ExtraHop Networks
­    Tech Innovation of the Year: AT&T’s Application Resource Optimizer (ARO)

For a complete list of The 2013 American Business Awards winners announced last night visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, which were determined by more than 20,000 votes in July and August, were announced in August and presented their crystal People’s Choice Stevie Awards last night.

More than 3,200 entries were submitted to The 2012 American Business Awards and more than 320 executives nationwide participated in judging to determine this year’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie Award winners.

Entries for The 2014 American Business Awards will be accepted starting in October.

About the Stevie® Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. A fifth program, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, will debut later this month. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com and follow the Stevie Awards on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Sponsors and partners of The 2013 American Business Awards include the Business TalkRadio Network, Callidus Software, Citrix Online, Dynamic Research Corporation, Experian Consumer Services, John Hancock Funds, LifeLock, PetRays, and SoftPro.

Next Monday, September 16 we'll stage the second of two 2013 American Business Awards banquets.  The setting will be the gorgeous Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco's historic Merchants Exchange Building.  The occasion will be the announcement of the Gold, Silver and Bronze Stevie® Award winners in the new product awards, website awards, app awards, IT awards, and other technology-related categories in the ABAs, the U.S.A.'s top honors for achievement in the workplace.

We'll also announce the first-ever winners of Grand Stevie Awards, which will go to the winners of the Best of the ABA Awards.

The event will sell out - only 30 tickets remain.  Get your tickets for next Monday's American Business Awards event before they sell out - login to your entry-submission account now!

The 11th annual ABAs attracted more than 3,200 entries from organizations across the U.S.A.  Close to 300 executives nationwide participated in the judging process.  The first part of the 2013 ABA awards presentations took place in Chicago in June.

So who's coming to next Monday's shindig?  Here's the list of confirmed attendees thus far.

Actiontec Electronics Sunnyvale CA
Acxiom Little Rock AR
Adaptive Planning Mountain View CA
Aggregate Knowledge San Mateo CA
Agiliance Sunnyvale CA
Allen Interactions, Inc.  Mendota Heights MN
ARI Mount Laurel NJ
Arkadin Atlanta GA
Articulate New York NY
Assurant  Inc.  New York NY
Avion Pharmaceuticals  Alpharetta GA
Bitcasa  Mountain View CA
Bloomfire Austin TX
BOXLIGHT Belfair WA
Brainshark Inc. Waltham MA
bytes of knowledge Nashville TN
California Insurance Guarantee Association Glendale CA
Cbeyond Atlanta GA
CD2 Learning Overland Park KS
Cigna Hartford CT
Cisco San Jose CA
Citrix Goleta CA
Citrix GoToAssist Santa Barbara CA
CloudAccess Los Angeles CA
Code 42 Software  Minneapolis  MN
Constant Contact  Waltham  MA
Coveo  Quebec Canada
Coverhound  San Francisco CA
Creative Enterprise Solutions LLC  Scottsdale  AZ
Crocs Inc. Niwot CO
Cvent Inc. McLean VA
Decision Lens Arlington VA
Definition 6 San Francisco CA
DRC Reston VA
Dubai Electricity & Water Authority United Arab Emirates
Dynisco Instruments  Plastics Division  Franklin  MA
EffectiveUI  Denver  CO
EMD Millipore  Billerica  MA
EMKAY Inc. Itasca IL
Enterasys Networks Salem NH
Experian Consumer Services   Costa Mesa CA
ExtraHop Networks Seattle WA
Fieldglass  Chicago  IL
FINE Design Group San Francisco CA
Graco Inc. Minneapolis MN
Hewlett-Packard  Palo Alto CA
Internap  Atlanta  GA
IQNavigator Centennial CO
JobApp Plus Denver CO
LawRoom Walnut Creek CA
LifeLock  Tempe AZ
LifeSize Communications Austin TX
Makovsky New York NY
MarketLive Inc.  Petaluma CA
Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. Santa Clara CA
MicroStrategy Inc. Tysons Corner VA
Morrison & Foerster LLP  New York  NY
NetScout Systems, Inc.  Westford, MA
Newlight Technologies LLC Irvine CA
NexTraq, Atlanta, GA
Omnitracs San Diego CA
OnFulfillment  Newark  CA
OpenQ Charlottesville VA
Orbis Technologis, Inc.  Annapolis MD
Overture Networks  Morrisville  NC
PAR Springer-Miller Stowe VT
Paycor  Cincinnati  OH
PerspecSys McLean VA
Pontoon Jacksonville FL
QLess  Inc.  Altadena  CA
Quality Systems, Inc. Irvine CA
Reliv International  St. Louis  MO
RIVS.com  Chicago IL
Roth Staffing Companies  L.P.  Orange  CA
Saba Software Redwood Shores CA
SCRA Charleston SC
SecureAuth Corporation Irvine CA
Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc. Malvern PA
Silicon Image Sunnyvale CA
Sita Corp  Franklin Township NJ
Siteworx LLC Reston VA
SoftPro Raleigh NC
SolidFire  Inc.  Boulder  CO
Stage 2 Networks New York NY
Stoneware, Inc. Carmel IN
Strategic Mobility Group Schaumburg IL
Syntellia San Francisco CA
SYSPRO Costa Mesa CA
Tangent Medical  Ann Arbor  MI
Tanis Communications  Inc.  San Jose  CA
TechLeads Online  Redwood City  CA
Telstra Global New York NY
Teradata Corporation  Dayton OH
The International Association of Privacy Professionals Portsmouth NH
Trace One  Boston  MA
Travelport GDS  Atlanta  GA
Travelzoo  New York  NY
TRWD Fort Worth TX
UBM DeusM  New York  NY
Ultra Logistics/UltraShipTMS  Fair Lawn  NJ
UnitedHealthcare  Minnetonka MN
uTest Inc. Southborough MA
VerticalResponse San Francisco CA
ViridiSTOR  Tustin  CA
We Card Program Arlington VA
Webs a subsidiary of Vistaprint Lexington MA
Wheels Inc.  Des Plaines  IL
Workday  Pleasanton CA