Communications Excellence

Best in Show Highlight Storytelling & Placemaking

Photo courtesy of South Shore Chamber of Commerce/Hawk Visuals

This year’s Awards for Communications Excellence program, generously supported by Meta, showcased top communications and marketing work of chambers of commerce and similar organizations. A panel of communications and marketing professionals from 10 U.S.-based chambers of commerce evaluated the entries submitted for this year’s competition. Judges presented 13 Awards of Excellence and three Best in Show awards.

Here’s a closer look at the entries that won Best in Show.

Category One: "Why Join a Chamber" Video
Zionsville Chamber of Commerce (Ind.) 

There are big chambers and small chambers with varying programs, focus areas of work and budgets. But one universally common, yet vital activity unites them all: membership recruitment and retention. In 2021, the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce—a staff of three which serves 500 members in a suburban town northwest of Indianapolis—released its "Why Join a Chamber" video to serve as a recruitment and retention tool. Its goal was to help people better understand the chamber's work and to showcase the benefits of membership.

A local company shot the video. “There are truly some components of chamber management where it takes hiring a professional, and video is certainly a good ROI spend,” said Allyson Gutwein, the chamber’s executive director. The chamber, a strong proponent of social media and its impact despite not having a dedicated communications person on staff, released the video on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube and shared it via email with members and prospects.

“Our chamber is small, but our social media reach makes us mighty,” said Gutwein. “We know that because we represent a small town, it is often difficult to compete for visibility with our larger cities and suburban neighbors. Videos like this allow us to quickly explain our impact, 24/7, to audiences in our region, bringing visibility to our membership through the platforms we utilize.”

The result? The chamber’s social media reach went from 250,000 in 2019 to over 2.8 million by the end of 2021. Gutwein also expects membership to continue to grow because of the use of video and social media. “We gained more members from January 2020 through November 2021 than the decade prior. This video creates that sense of identity, brand awareness and informational base that opens the door for further conversation and consideration,” said Gutwein.

Category Two: Hello! South Shore Campaign
South Shore Chamber of Commerce (Mass.) 

Massachusetts’ South Shore is a collection of vibrant, quaint, beautiful New England coastal towns that span from the Quincy to Plymouth. Like many communities, the South Shore was not immune to the economic impacts of COVID-19. Not having much prior involvement or focus on the travel and tourism industry, the South Shore Chamber’s staff of seven stretched outside of its comfort zone and applied for and received its first state pilot grant to promote regional recovery and deepen its existing efforts around placemaking.

The resulting Hello! South Shore project, which was the first campaign to formally promote the South Shore region, encouraged 600,000+ residents to think of “local” as more than their own neighborhood or town and promote broader exploration. This was accomplished through a comprehensive multimedia marketing campaign—launched in less than six weeks—spotlighting discovery excursions across 25 cities and towns the chamber represents. The chamber enlisted local businesses for a logo, photography and videography, graphics, website design and ad creative for media placements. The campaign spanned four months during the summer of 2021, and 125 unique communications were created through email, radio, social media, billboard, magazine and other forms of media. As a result, this was the chamber’s first project to reach nearly a million impressions in just 13 weeks.

“Looking ahead and beyond recovery, the Hello! South Shore project is directly linked to our larger economic and community development goals as part of the South Shore 2030 Plan,” explained Peter Forman, president & CEO of the 121-year-old chamber. “If you’re thinking about a campaign to brand your region, think local. Marketing the assets of your community to outsiders falls flat if the local businesses and residents don’t recognize and value those assets first.”

Category Three: “Faces of Small Businesses” Video Series
Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce (Ga.) 

Launching a business represents hours of challenging work, planning, saving and dreaming. It can all be undermined if consumers don’t know a business exists or understand the product or service being offered. The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce helps tell that story for its Premium Level members through its “Faces of Small Businesses” video series.

Each minute-long video, produced by the chamber’s in-house video content manager, tells the story behind why an owner launched a business, what it means to them, what they do and why it matters. Each interview also asks why they became members of the chamber. The documentary-style videos are then featured on the chamber’s social media, email newsletter and website. The videos are also provided to the featured businesses, who then share them via their marketing channels.

The videos present a win-win opportunity. They’re a driver of business and offer content for the featured members, while giving the chamber a way to upsell businesses to the Premium Member level. “Last year, 47% of our new members became Premium Level members based in large part on the video production for their business,” said Bill Miles, president & CEO of the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce. Since the launch of the video series, the chamber has produced 59 videos with four more currently in the editing phase.

From the chamber’s perspective, it’s incredibly rewarding to see small businesses thrive and grow and to be a part of that success. “It’s why we exist as a chamber,” Miles said. “It’s an ‘arrow in the quiver’ of the many things we do to help our members grow, but it’s a powerful arrow that drives direct results. For many, it levels the playing field for a small business to be able to compete on a higher level.”