tED Magazine Names 2014 Best of the Best Marketing Award Winners

Best of the Best Judges Katrina Olson and Shad Thomas presented the awards at a special ceremony during NAED’s 2014 AdVenture Marketing Conference on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

For more than four decades, tEDmagazine has recognized the electrical industry’s top marketing initiatives with its Best of the Best Competition. This year’s awards honored electrical distributors and suppliers for stellar campaigns launched in 2013.

Every year, the publication selects one distributor and one supplier to represent the overall best marketing practices for the industry. This year’s “Best Overall” winners were:

• Shealy Electrical Wholesalers – Based in West Columbia, S.C., this distributor earned individual Best of the Best awards in the Integrated Promotional Campaign, Print Campaign, Print Ad—Single, Publication, and Website categories.
• Southwire – Based in Carrollton, Ga., this supplier earned individual Best of the Best awards in three categories: Print Campaign, Print Ad—Single, and Product Launch.

In addition, the following companies received the Best of the Best category awards. See all the winning campaigns in the August issue of tED.

BRAND AWARENESS

• Distributor under $25 million – Active Electrical Supply, “Mobile Advertising”

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Western Extralite, “75th Anniversary Logo”
• Distributor over $200 million – Van Meter Inc., “Van Meter Case Studies”
• Supplier under $250 million – Klein Tools, “World’s Oldest Pliers”
• Supplier over $250 million – Thomas & Betts, “eFab by Thomas & Betts”

CREATIVE DISPLAY

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Vaughan Electrical Supply (Canada), “LED Philips Experience Center”
• Distributor over $200 million – State Electric Supply, “Eaton HMAX”
• Supplier under $250 million – RAB Lighting, “Digital Merchandiser”
• Supplier over $250 million – Progress Lighting, “Distributor Bath Display Program”

DIGITAL/SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

• Distributor under $25 million – C.N. Robinson Lighting, “Happy Holiday Update”
• Distributor $25 million - $200 million - Standard Electric, “Website Redesign E-blast”
• Supplier under $250 million – Universal Lighting Technologies, “Social Media Awareness”
• Supplier over $250 million – Hubbell Wiring Devices-Kellems, “Hubbell eTours”

DIRECT PROMOTION

• Distributor over $200 million – North Coast Electric, “Tool Tracks Promotional Catalog”
• Supplier over $250 million – Encore Wire, “Aluminum Catalog”

EVENT

• Distributor under $25 million – C.N. Robinson Lighting, “Driving the Green Lighting Technology Trade Show”
• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Werner Electric Minnesota “Solutions Expo”
• Distributor over $200 million – State Electric Supply, “Safe Schools Seminar”
• Supplier over $250 million – IDEAL Industries, “Merchandising Seminar”

INTEGRATED PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Shealy Electrical Wholesalers, “Shealy Energy”
• Distributor over $200 million – North Coast Electric, “iSAM”
• Supplier under $250 million – GE Lighting, “Project Getaway”
• Supplier over $250 million – Hubbell Lighting, “createchange” ( tie)
• Supplier over $250 million – Legrand, “Vista Architectural Column Redrive” ( tie)

LITERATURE/SELLING TOOL

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Warshauer Electric Supply, “The Switch Is On”
• Distributor over $200 million – Summit Electric Supply, “Summit Mobile: Put Our Warehouse in Your Pocket” ( tie)
• Distributor over $200 million – Van Meter Inc., “Modiflex Brochure” ( tie)
• Supplier under $250 million – Cadet Manufacturing, “Cadet EnergyPlus Heater Microsite”
• Supplier over $250 million – Fluke, “Virtual Sales Assistant”

PRINT AD—SINGLE

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Shealy Electrical Wholesalers, “Accurate Shipping”
• Distributor over $200 million – Dakota Supply Group, “Connect It”
• Supplier under $250 million – BURNDY, “Gridmax”
• Supplier over $250 million – Southwire, “Quit Spooling Around”

PRINT CAMPAIGN

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Shealy Electrical Wholesalers, “Back to Basics”
• Supplier under $250 million – BURNDY, “Connecting Power to Your World”
• Supplier over $250 million – Southwire, “SIM pull® CoilPAKTM Wire Payoff”

PRODUCT LAUNCH

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Williams Supply, “Williams Supply EV Charger”
• Distributor over $200 million – Summit Electric Supply, “Go Hilti”
• Supplier under $250 million – GE Lighting, “Lumination LED Downlights”
• Supplier over $250 million – Southwire, “SIM pull® CoilPAKTM Wire Payoff”

PUBLIC RELATIONS/COMMUNITY OUTREACH

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Turtle & Hughes, “Lighting the Way to Saving Sea Turtles”
• Distributor over $200 million – Dakota Supply Group, “DSG Education Connection Fund Campaign”
• Supplier under $250 million – GE Lighting, “Women in STEM”
• Supplier over $250 million – GE Industrial Solutions, “GE Technology Friday Event”

PUBLIC RELATIONS/CORPORATE

• Distributor over $200 million – Sonepar USA, “Employee Intranet”
• Supplier under $250 million – Federal Signal, “Assessing the Challenges of the Emergency Manager”
• Supplier over $250 million – Lutron Electronics, “Incandescent Bulb Phase-out Press Event”

PUBLICATION

• Distributor under $25 million – C.N. Robinson Lighting, “Energy Saving Lighting Solutions Guide”
• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Shealy Electrical Wholesalers, “The Circuit”
• Distributor over $200 million – Steiner Electric, “Newswire”
• Supplier under $250 million – Fulham, “Control Your Light”
• Supplier over $250 million – Philips Lighting, “Luminous Spec Quarterly Newsletter”

WEBSITE

• Distributor $25 million - $200 million – Shealy Electrical Wholesalers, “Marketing Hub”
• Distributor over $200 million – Werner Electric Supply (Wis.), “Wind Turbine Microsite”
• Supplier under $250 million – Universal Lighting Technologies, “New Website”
• Supplier over $250 million – Philips Lighting, “Luminaries Portfolio eCatalog”

Details on tED’s 2015 Best of the Best contest will be released later this year . For additional contest information, contact tEDEditor Misty Byers at 314-812-5316 or mbyers@naed.org.

Circulated to more than 25,000 readers throughout the electrical distribution industry, the award-winning tEDmagazine serves as the industry’s primary source for trends, best practices, and news happening throughout the electrical supply chain. In addition to its monthly print edition, tEDproduces up-to-the minute news through tEDmag.com, four weekly e-newsletters, and its LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter channels.

NAED is the trade association for the $70+ billion electrical distribution industry. Through networking, education, research, and benchmarking, NAED helps electrical distributors increase profitability and improve the channel. NAED’s membership operates in nearly 5,100 locations internationally.

Source: National Association of Electrical Distributors