INCREASING YOUR COMPETITION ENTRIES
Most often the major source of revenue for local AAF Clubs is the American Advertising Awards competition and frequently the largest number of entries come from two or three agencies or large companies. To grow their awards revenue clubs need to diversify their entrants beyond the traditional media and advertising agencies.
Increasing the AAA entries must be a proactive approach by your local AAA committee and Board of Directors. Develop a prospect list, then, assign a member of the Board of Directors or AAA Committee to personally reach out and meet with the prospect. New entrants need to be educated to the benefits of entering the AAA's, how to enter and other details of the local competition.
The list below was developed at the roundtables session at the 2017 AAF Central Region Conference in Amarillo in September. Thank you to all who participated and shared their successes.
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Hospitals—usually have a marketing department
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Large Not-for-Profits that have PR and marketing staff
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Car Dealers
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Banks and Credit Unions
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Furniture Stores
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Clients of ad agencies - enter if agency isn't entering
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Printers - enter if client isn't entering
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Printers put cling on jobs they consider worthy of an award
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Designers who do private work
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Dentist - Optometrist - Dermatologist - Skin Care Centers
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Politicians after a campaign year
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Local business that have creative web sites
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Local brewing / wineries
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Look at credits from last year’s winners—reach out to them
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Colleges and Universities
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Law firms
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Social Media—look at Facebook/Twitter for local businesses
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Large CPS firms
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Financial Planners
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Insurance firms
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Study the local newspapers to determine the largest and most frequent ads – look for creative advertising