By Lenna Klein | Contributor
Among the 6,000 MarCom Award entries from 2016, four entries from Taylor University merited awards. Two entries won Platinum awards and two won Gold awards.
MarCom Award winners came from Professor Donna Downs' Public Relations cases & campaigns class. The two Platinum Award winners were campaigns done for Taylor University's Communication Department and Title IX program. The two Gold Award winners were campaigns for two nonprofits: Purposeful Design (Indianapolis) and A Hope Center (Ft. Wayne).
"I have worked with several student groups on these projects, and this is easily the best I have ever experienced," Vice President for Student Development Skip Trudeau, then in charge of Title IX education at Taylor, said. "The students were very thorough, professional and creative. They exceeded my expectations."
Senior Malaina Yoder was a member of the group working on the Title IX Campaign. "It was a joy to be a part of a collaborative project and partner with a client who deeply cares about students," Yoder said. "The recognition from MarCom is quite the honor, but the practical lessons about how to create and enact a campaign are what I'll take away from this experience."
Yoder worked with four other students to complete the campaign.
MarCom Awards is an internationally known and respected competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals. Entrants come from far and wide: from throughout the United States, to Canada as well as multiple other countries around the world.
In the past, approximately 15 percent of all entries won Platinum, the highest award, and around 20 percent won Gold. Platinum and Gold Award winners may receive a highly-customized, exclusively-crafted, intricately detailed MarCom trophy, a symbol of the winners' tremendous achievement.
MarCom Awards judges are industry experts from the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. They base their criteria on a high standard of excellence. Judges look for companies and individuals whose exceptional work serves as a benchmark for the Marketing and Communications industry.
"Having the students win these awards is an honor for our department and for Taylor," Downs said. "After a semester of hard work, students formally present their final campaigns to clients during finals week. Year after year, clients are grateful and impressed with student achievements and presentations."
