B2B Marketing is the number one resource for B2B marketers across the globe and the Elevation Awards USA recognize the best work of the year.
MILWAUKEE – May 9, 2022 – Nelson Schmidt Inc., a leading independent full-service marketing agency, has been shortlisted for awards with B2B Marketing’s Elevation Awards. These honors are on behalf of clients Maytag Commercial Laundry, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and Panduit. The agency is up for a total of seven possible awards:
- Best Lead Generation or Nurturing Campaign for the Church Mutual “A Different Kind of Insurance Company” Campaign
- Best Lead Generation or Nurturing Campaign for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign
- Best Use of Thought Leadership for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign
- Best Brand Initiative for the Maytag “The Replacement Brand” Campaign
- Best Multichannel Campaign for the WEDC “We’re All In for Small Business” Campaign
- Best Multichannel Campaign for the WEDC “We’re All In to Support Local” Campaign
- Best Channel Marketing Initiative for the Maytag “WASH Partner Program” Campaign
The Elevation Awards will be announced on June 2nd.
Best Lead Generation or Nurturing Campaign for the Church Mutual “A Different Kind of Insurance Company” Campaign
Nonprofit and human services organizations don’t think about their insurance too often. The amazing people who run places like food banks and daycares are just too busy doing amazing things to worry about what’s in their policies. They have insurance, and to them, that’s good enough. But the truth is, specialty organizations like this require specialized insurance coverage. We helped generate demand for Church Mutual Insurance Company by showing these organizations how a different kind of insurance company can make all the difference in protecting the important work they do.
We kept things simple to stand out in the crowded and cluttered commercial insurance category. Using clever, thought-provoking statements to cast doubt in our audience’s current insurance coverage, we created an unquestionable problem that Church Mutual could uniquely solve. This approach helped turn a passive audience into a passionately interested one, clearly communicating the necessity of a specialty provider.
(Sample LinkedIn Ads)
Best Lead Generation or Nurturing Campaign for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign
The legendary Maytag consumer brand doesn’t hold the same equity in the commercial laundry market. While laundromat owners certainly knew the brand name, many were unclear why they should consider Maytag over the more established competitors in the category. In an effort to expand its market share, Maytag Commercial Laundry needed to enhance its position in the mindset of commercial customers. This is typically done slowly, building brand credibility over time. But to reach its aggressive sales goals, Maytag needed to generate new leads more quickly. So we focused a portion of their marketing efforts on making an immediate impact by connecting the Maytag brand to a trusted industry thought leader.
We partnered with the Coin Laundry Association (CLA), the most trusted voice in commercial laundry, and designed their first-ever co-sponsored custom research program. The heart of the effort was conducting an in-depth industry study and turning the results into a downloadable report and roundtable-style webinar. This high-value, thought leadership content contained important data and insights that helped laundromat owners run a more profitable business. These gated, co-branded assets positioned Maytag as a trusted source of information in the industry, quickly elevating its status to a brand that owners wanted in their purchase evaluations. To generate attention for the custom research program, our sponsorship included promotion in CLA emails, newsletters and social media that led to a CLA-branded landing page. We also created a Maytag-branded campaign around the insights. This combined promotional effort provided the rapid brand lift needed to significantly increase sales leads.
(Cobranded Research Report)
Best Use of Thought Leadership for the Maytag “Industry Insights” Campaign
The legendary Maytag consumer brand doesn’t hold the same equity in the commercial laundry market. While laundromat owners certainly knew the brand name, many were unclear why they should consider Maytag over the more established competitors in the category. In an effort to expand its market share, Maytag Commercial Laundry needed to enhance its position in the mindset of commercial customers. This is typically done slowly, building brand credibility over time. But to reach its aggressive sales goals, Maytag needed to generate new leads more quickly. So we focused a portion of their marketing efforts on making an immediate impact by connecting the Maytag brand to a trusted industry thought leader.
We partnered with the Coin Laundry Association (CLA), the most trusted voice in commercial laundry, and designed their first-ever co-sponsored custom research program. The heart of the effort was conducting an in-depth industry study and turning the results into a downloadable report and roundtable-style webinar. This high-value, thought leadership content contained important data and insights that helped laundromat owners run a more profitable business. These gated, co-branded assets positioned Maytag as a trusted source of information in the industry, quickly elevating its status to a brand that owners wanted in their purchase evaluations. To generate attention for the custom research program, our sponsorship included promotion in CLA emails, newsletters and social media that led to a CLA-branded landing page. We also created a Maytag-branded campaign around the insights. This combined promotional effort provided the rapid brand lift needed to significantly increase sales leads.
(Print and Programmatic Ads)
Best Brand Initiative for the Maytag “The Replacement Brand” Campaign
The legendary Maytag residential brand doesn’t carry the same strength in the commercial laundry category. Maytag Commercial Laundry was struggling to differentiate itself in the saturated laundromat marketplace. To revitalize this venerable brand, we helped Maytag completely rethink their approach. We dug deep into the data of the category and uncovered an incredible insight. Nearly all manufacturers, including Maytag, were basing their sales strategies on the needs of the biggest laundromats in the nation. However, nearly 60% of laundromats were actually much smaller and had very different needs. This happened to align perfectly with Maytag’s product portfolio, which didn’t include the giant machines large laundromats require.
We commissioned sponsored research with the industry’s leading publication to identify the behaviors and trends of this ignored audience segment. We learned that the majority of these smaller laundromat owners kept aging washers and dryers much longer than what made financial sense. Data showed that if they replaced these machines sooner, the ROI far outweighed the purchase price. This idea of proactive replacement exposed a new category with a market opportunity worth $500 million. So we relaunched Maytag as the “replacement” brand, then built personas and buyer journeys to inform a full-funnel demand generation campaign – from brand advertising to channel sales enablement – that brought the revitalized brand to market.
Best Multichannel Campaign for the WEDC “We’re All In for Small Business” Campaign
Wisconsin is home to more than 450,000 small businesses that employ half of all workers in the state. These businesses are the heart of our state’s economy and the soul of our communities. They were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, forced to face unrelenting adversity like never before. But their tenacity prevailed. Wisconsin’s small business owners found new strengths, hidden powers and the courage to do the impossible. We worked with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to recognize the remarkable resiliency of these owners and let them know WEDC was there to support them on their post-pandemic path to recovery.
But we knew many small business owners didn’t understand who WEDC was or how they could help. In fact, large state organizations were often viewed as unapproachable to these small businesses. That meant to make our message believable we had to be more emotional than promotional. So we traveled throughout the state and captured the stories of real small business owners, learning how they survived the pandemic and how WEDC helped them along the way. Sharing these tenacious tales was an incredibly authentic approach to communicate the resources, programs and support available through WEDC.
(WEDC Small Business Ads)
Best Multichannel Campaign for the WEDC “We’re All In to Support Local” Campaign
The lingering effects of COVID-19 had a devastating effect on Wisconsin’s small businesses, which are the heart and soul of our communities. While online shopping increased an astonishing 44% year-over-year during the pandemic, much of that money went to giants like Amazon and Walmart. Which wasn’t good for Wisconsin’s small businesses, who were struggling with lost in-person sales and losing their fledgling e-commerce and curbside business to these industry giants. So, we worked with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to create a statewide crusade that encouraged Wisconsinites to show love for the places they love by safely supporting their local businesses.
Each week, we showcased a series of different support local ideas using fun and friendly illustrations that connected to the time of season and stage of the pandemic. Animated videos ran as TV spots, programmatic display ads, social media ads and digital out-of-home ads. Static illustrations were used where video wasn’t accepted in out-of-home. We created each week’s ads just days before they were scheduled to run, enabling us to stay agile and allowing the campaign messages to evolve as the pandemic evolved. The advertising led to a campaign-specific web destination that provided Wisconsinites with numerous tips how they could support small businesses in their local communities.
(WEDC Static Out-of-Home Ads)
Best Channel Marketing Initiative for the Maytag “WASH Partner Program” Campaign
WASH is one of the biggest commercial laundry distributors in the United States and is Maytag Commercial Laundry’s largest channel partner. WASH recently acquired another distributor in North Texas, which Maytag saw as an opportunity to show their commitment to their most important customer. Rather than a typical channel co-op program that required work from WASH to bring it to life, we created a complete turnkey lead-generation program on their behalf, targeting prospects in their new North Texas region. We developed all materials, bought and placed all media and tracked all results. Nothing says “thank you” like driving real business to a channel partner with no strings attached and no effort required.
This channel partner program was a win-win for Maytag Commercial Laundry. First, it showed their commitment to their largest distributor in a big way, which helped cement the relationship and preference for selling Maytag products. Second, it’s generating significant customer awareness and engagement for WASH in its new North Texas region.
(Maytag Gated Content)
Media contact: Jason Gantner, 414.244.0210, jgantner@n-s.com
