Your Customer Wins an Award… Brag A Little. You Win an Award… Brag A LOT!!

You come across an announcement that one of your customers has won an award because of your products or services. You immediately feel a sense of pride… you think, “That’s pretty cool!”

Aside from sending a congratulatory note, you don’t do much with it, right? I mean… it’s their award. They submitted. They won.

But don’t let a good PR opportunity pass you by. Why not promote your customers’ achievements – their success is a reflection of your company.

In my last post, I mentioned Kodak Gallery winning a 2009 Effie Award for The Idea Center, an online community developed with Neighborhood America’s technology in partnership with their agency Ogilvy & Mather. Around the same time, min honored the Men’s Health Belly Off! Club with a 2009 Best of the Web Award for Community/Social Networking (Yep, that’s another one of our communities!).

So we distributed a news release announcing both customer awards. It got the word out that:

1. They’re our customers

2. Our solutions help them succeed

3. Our company enables them to achieve business results and industry recognition

It’s a win-win (just remember, be very clear that it’s a CUSTOMER AWARD, not yours!).

Neighborhood America CEO Kim P. Kobza accepts 2009 CODiE Award

This week, it was our turn. For the second straight year, our enterprise social software ELAvate nabbed the software industry’s most esteemed award, the CODiE for “Best Social Networking Solution.” We submitted. We won. Woohoo!!

So besides the typical news release, all of us employees have been twittering (more to come on Twitter and its benefits soon) like crazy about the news and connecting with analysts. It’s a chance to get in front of them, brag a little… okay, brag A LOT… about this once a year accomplishment.

24th Annual CODiE Awards Gala; San Francisco, CA

Awards are hard to come by, for your customer and for your company. So when either get one… don’t think twice about yelling it from the rooftop!!

Tags: awards, CODiE, ELAvate, Kim Patrick Kobza, Kodak Gallery, Men's Health, Neighborhood America, Twitter

Kodak Gallery Wins an Effie! What’s an Effie?

Addy. Telly. Emmy. Effie.

Sounds like a listing of the most popular baby names for 2009, but it’s not. These are the names of industry awards in advertising, video and film, TV, and marketing.

Just add a ‘y’ or ‘ie’ to a couple letters and BAM it’s an award. But in our industry the Effie Awards are special because it honors the one truly significant achievement in marketing: results.

So how excited were we to find out that one of our customers, Kodak, won a 2009 Effie for The Idea Center, developed with Neighborhood America’s technology in partnership with their agency Ogilvy & Mather. The Idea Center is an online community that empowers members to exchange ideas on how to use Kodak products to create personalized gifts and other creative projects using their digital photos. It’s our social software in action!

Kodak Gallery banked on the idea consumers would be more likely to buy a coffee mug with a picture of their dog or a photo book for mom on Mother’s Day, if other consumers suggested these cool gift ideas. It’s one thing for Kodak to push these products but another when it’s a peer, a fellow digital photo junkie, or a Martha Stewart-type that has come up with a creative idea. And boy was Kodak right!

On average 10%, and as high as 25%, of visitors to The Idea Center buy products, compared to the rest of the site. Not to mention, their average order size is 50% larger. How’s that for results?

Check out the other finalists sharing the stage with Kodak Gallery.

For all the naysayers that refuse to believe social media can deliver real metrics and refuse to see the business case… the Effie’s showcase industry trailblazers like Kodak Gallery.

Are you a naysayer or a believer?

Tags: awards, consumer products goods, Effie Award, Kodak Gallery, Neighborhood America, Ogilvy & Mather, online community, Social Media, The Idea Center