The Communications and Marketing Department at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) was recognized with three awards in two recent international competitions. The department received a Gold Award for each of its two entries in the 2015 Hermes Creative Awards and was a winner for its single entry in the 2015 Communitas Awards as well.
The UTHSC team collected Gold in the Pro Bono category for its design, photography, media relations and extensive support for the LIVE! Just As We Are Breast Cancer Awareness and Action Campaign. The second Gold Award was for the College of Pharmacy Fall 2014 alumni magazine, which was entered in the Publications/Magazine category. The department also submitted the LIVE! Just As We Are campaign in the Making A Difference category of the Communitas Awards, earning a win in that competition as well.
Hermes Creative Awards recognize “outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals,” the award letter said. This year, the Hermes Creative Awards drew more than 6,000 entries from the United States and 22 other countries. The awards are administered by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals (AMCP), an international organization consisting of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, digital media production and freelance professionals.
The Communitas Awards program is an outgrowth of the pro bono recognition programs of AMCP. Communitas Awards recognize “exceptional businesses, organizations and individuals that are unselfishly giving of themselves and their resources, and those that are changing how they do business to benefit their communities,” the letter stated. Communitas is a Latin word that means people coming together for the good of a community. It is inspired by the vision of a better world and is an attempt to do something about it through volunteerism, investment and ethical, sustainable business practices.
LIVE! Just As We Are brought together a coalition of diverse community, civic, government, education and health care groups and magnified their collective efforts to help more black women fight and win the battle against breast cancer. The coalition mounted an ambitious one-day summit in February titled, “LIVE! African-American Women Surviving Breast Cancer through Education, Early Detection, Screening and Treatment,” bringing more than 530 women to the UTHSC campus.
“The LIVE! campaign could not have been as successful as it was without strategically placed publicity and media provided by the Communications and Marketing Department,” said Patricia Matthews-Juarez, PhD, co-director of the Research Center on Health Disparities, Equity and the Exposome at UTHSC and LIVE! chairwoman. “The key for our success was the involvement of the department from the very beginning and throughout each phase of the campaign, including assisting with developing the logo, setting up a Facebook page, a Twitter account, integrating the logo on the registration site, fliers, pens, post cards, gift bags, etc. This journey took eight months of meetings with a clear commitment from the department on branding through publicity and media.”
The main feature of the winning College of Pharmacy magazine focused on expansion efforts in Nashville and emphasized accessible, affordable and accountable pharmacy education. “As dean of the UTHSC College of Pharmacy, I am extremely happy with this issue,” said Marie Chisholm-Burns, PharmD, MPH, MBA, FCCP, FASHP. “It informs our readers in an eye-catching and easy-to-read fashion of the evolving story of the College of Pharmacy. The articles are well-researched and creatively presented. Almost weekly since its publication, I have received compliments from alumni, staff, students and people within our community about how great this issue was in terms of content and presentation.”
Started in 1995, AMCP began as a means to honor outstanding achievement and service to the communication profession. As part of its mission, AMCP fosters and supports the efforts of marketing and communication professionals who contribute their unique talents to public service and charitable organizations. The association oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges and sets standards for excellence. Over the past few years, AMCP has given more than $100,000 to help create marketing materials for homeless shelters, orphanages, day camps, community theaters and art centers; and for educational endeavors for children, the elderly and underprivileged.