Scottsdale, AZ - During the 2013 SAVVY Awards held on September 5th in Scottsdale, Arizona, the City-County Communications & Marketing Association (3CMA) awarded the “Town of Erie Economic Development Mobile Application” its highest honor, the 2013 President’s Award for Most Outstanding Marketing Program in addition to the following two SAVVY Awards and one Silver Circle Award:
- SAVVY Award: Most Innovative
- SAVVY Award: Marketing and Tools - Economic Development
- Silver Circle : Digital Interactive - Social Media
About the Town of Erie Economic Development Mobile Application
OPPORTUNITY: Each year the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) hosts a global convention for the shopping center industry. The ICSC convention provides networking and deal making opportunities for retail real estate professionals and local governments. With over 33,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors it is the largest industry convention, making it an unparalleled opportunity for the Town of Erie to do a year's worth of business in just three days!
CHALLENGE: The Las Vegas Convention Center is huge and difficult to navigate. Attendees can spend countless hours roaming the halls. The end result? They go home with tote bags full of glossy brochures. We go home having lost the opportunity to interface because they never made it to our booth.
SOLUTION: In January 2013, the Town of Erie’s new Economic Development Coordinator Paula Mehle and new Communications & Marketing Coordinator Katie Jenkins, launched an ICSC marketing campaign that included building a customized, event-specific mobile application called “erieCO@ICSC” to provide FREE and quick access to retail development opportunities in Erie. The intended goal of the app was to augment the Town’s overall ICSC marketing campaign which was to enhance the Town’s existing economic development and communications & marketing efforts as they relate to retail business attraction. Specifically, we used the mobile app to deliver our key message “Your Customers Are Already Here.” The intended outcome was to successfully promote retail sites in Erie that include: the Four Corners; Erie Highlands; Arapahoe Road & Highway 287; I-25 & Erie Parkway; Highway 7 & Sheridan; and Highway 7 & Bonanza.
RESULTS: Town of Erie staff and elected officials were successful in engaging in over 3 times as many meaningful meetings with retailers and real estate professionals compared to 2012.
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About the SAVVY AwardsThe SAVVY Awards competition recognizes outstanding local government achievements in communications, public-sector marketing and citizen-government relationships. The SAVVY Awards salute skilled and effective city, county, agency or district professionals who have creatively planned and carried out successful innovations in communications and marketing. 3CMA accommodates local government organizations of all sizes and budget classes by judging entries in several different population groups.
The SAVVY Awards program also serves as an increasingly important forum for exchanging cutting-edge information and ideas among government professionals. Finalists in each category are eligible for one of the three awards: SAVVY, Silver Circle or Award of Excellence.
About the President’s AwardThe President’s Award is presented to the entry that best reflects 3CMA’s commitment to local government marketing. Each year a program is singled out that demonstrates dramatic results and raises the bar for all in communications and marketing. The 3CMA received 485 entries for this year’s competition. The following is the inscription for the 2013 President’s Award:
“3CMA presents its 2013 PRESIDENT'S AWARD for the Most Outstanding Marketing Program honoring the ‘Town of Erie Mobile Application’ to the Town of Erie, Colorado. The judges could not find any fault with this program. It achieved perfect marks in fourteen scoring criteria. It is an outstanding example of a successful marketing campaign that included building a customized, event specific mobile application called "erieCO@ICSC" to provide free and quick access to retail development opportunities in the Town of Erie.”
