Rivers Agency just received some very exciting news: Our team’s creative work was honored with five awards in the 2020 MarCom Awards competition! The honors included a Gold award for First Bank’s Bank@Home campaign; Platinum awards for the You Can Help Me PSA, the Bum Dash app and Experience Downtown Chapel Hill campaign; and an Honorable Mention for the Jewish for Good rebranding.
MarCom is one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious creative competitions in the world, which is sponsored and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). The 25-year-old international organization hosts the MarCom Awards to recognize outstanding achievement by creative professionals involved in the concept, direction, design and production of marketing and communication materials and programs. Judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.
In the Integrated Marketing category, Rivers scored a Gold award for First Bank@Home. This marketing campaign promoted the benefits of First Bank’s online banking service, which allows customers to bank from anywhere. To promote the online service’s capabilities during this unique summer, when many customers stayed at home rather than hitting the road, Rivers created ads featuring classic seasonal icons like sunglasses, ice cream scoops and sunscreen. The campaign appeared on the company website, in branches and in digital ads.
In the Mobile App category, Rivers Agency’s Bum Dash Cloth Diaper Service App was honored with a Platinum award. The custom app that Rivers built enabled Bum Dash to eliminate person-to-person contact in the delivery of organic cotton diapers to users’ homes, simplify scheduling and accept payments wirelessly. In addition to designing the app’s interface and user experience, we also created a new brand and website.
The You Can Help Me #WearAMask public service announcement won a Platinum award in the Pro Bono category. To encourage mask use in the current politically divided environment, Rivers created a PSA campaign focusing on real people expressing the impact the pandemic lockdown has had on their lives. The “You Can Help Me – Wear A Mask,” campaign included a television PSA, website and social media messaging that evoke empathy from audiences while encouraging everyone to wear a mask to promote public health and help neighbors gain back their lives.
In the Advertising Campaign category, Rivers Agency won a Platinum for Experience Downtown Chapel Hill. Created in response to the disruption COVID-19 has inflicted on the local Chapel Hill, N.C., business community, the Experience Downtown Chapel Hill campaign was designed to strengthen local businesses and invite people to return safely to the downtown district. The campaign introduced a lively new brand to the streets of Chapel Hill. Banners and signs throughout the community reinforced the “We’re Open” messages and conveyed new safety protocols being followed. A website aggregated helpful information about the area’s shops, restaurants, cultural institutions and upcoming events and provided ways for the community to support the district’s economic growth.
Also receiving Honorary Mention during this year’s MarCom Awards competition was Jewish for Good, recognized in the Branding category. The Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill came to Rivers Agency in search of a new name that better reflected its services, value to the community and enormous potential going forward. After in-depth discovery sessions, the new name Jewish for Good was created, along with a visual brand and brand structure. These new brand elements tell the Jewish for Good story with a visual identity system that builds on the group’s mission of giving, living and helping.
