The West Virginia Department of Commerce Wins Six Regional Communications Awards 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Commerce won five Diamond Awards and one Achievement Award in the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) East Central District Diamond Awards, announced late Thursday.

The competition included 11 chapters from six states – Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Commerce won five of 34 total Diamond Awards, more than any other agency or entity in the competition. In an e-mail informing winners of their awards, 2010 ECD Diamond Awards Chair Robert Reeves said the contest judges from PRSA’s Capital Region New York chapter were “complimentary of the high quality of the contest entries.”

Commerce’s six winning marketing efforts all relate to its work promoting West Virginia:

• Marketing Campaigns: Consumer Related
  Diamond Award –“WVCommerce.org – The Commerce Web Platform” WVCommerce.org is a multi-agency Web platform, dedicated to promoting West Virginia as a world-class tourism, business and relocation destination. The new tourism site (www.wvtourism.com) launched in October 2009 and the economic development site (www.wvdo.org) went live in January 2010. They share a common, integrated Web platform (www.wvcommerce.org) that currently receives about half a million page views each month.
• Integrated Communications Campaigns
  Award of Achievement – “Genuine West Virginia Reunions Campaign” Because family and friends are trusted influencers in the lives of former natives, Commerce’s goal was to market to the in-state audience, arming them with good information about the state’s advantages. Each reunion averaged about 80 people. Commerce reached more than 40,000 attendees this summer, doubling the reach of its 2009 effort, while reducing costs by 27 percent.
• Brand Management Campaigns
  Diamond Award – “Genuine West Virginia” logo and promotional items In 2009, Commerce developed a new marketing campaign called Genuine West Virginia to appeal to a variety of audiences via multiple forms of media. The campaign celebrates pride in West Virginia products, places and talent – and in our business quality. Commerce’s objective was to develop a logo and a tagline that would be flexible enough to cover anything from a rare artisan creation to a powerful airplane turbine. See: www.genuinewv.com.
• Special Events & Observances Tactics
  Diamond Award – “2010 National Scout Jamboree: West Virginia Trading Cards” The Boy Scouts of America chose a 10,600-acre site near Beckley, W.Va., for the organization’s fourth national high-adventure base. To heighten scouts’ awareness of The Summit and introduce them to what West Virginia has to offer, Commerce designed, printed and coordinated the distribution of more than a million trading cards at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Va., in July 2010. The cards were popular collectors’ items, finding their way to eBay.
• Marketing: Consumer Related Tactics
  Diamond Award – “Mmmmmm…Maggie’s: A Sales Success Story” by Leslie Fitzwater, Wonderful West Virginia magazine Entrepreneur Maggie Cook-Garcia took her homemade salsa from the kitchen to grocery store shelves, and now produces anywhere from 1,500 to 2,500 pounds of salsa a day. Cook-Garcia is making Maggie’s Salsa a household name both inside and outside the state’s borders.
• Multicultural Communications Tactics
  Diamond Award – “Being West Virginian,” by Kim Harbour, Wonderful West Virginia magazine, summer 2010 special issue Through individual stories about what West Virginians of diverse backgrounds value about our state, Commerce sought to create an effective communication piece that showcased the Mountain State as being a good place for opportunity, regardless of race.

Commerce created a consolidated communications group in 2007. Its 19 members provide marketing, public relations, Web and design services to promote all nine Commerce agencies. Each year the group works on about a thousand projects, large and small, for its agencies.

“As part of the legislation forming our communications group, Commerce must demonstrate its efficiency and effectiveness compared to commercially available services in the marketplace,” said Commerce Cabinet Secretary Kelley Goes.

“I’m proud of our group. By competing regionally and going head to head with larger marketing firms from six states -- including those from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit – our team demonstrates the value it brings to showcasing the best that West Virginia has to offer for business, travel and relocation.”

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