Sunkist Wins #SwimBiz Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
Sunkist Swim Team is a #SwimBiz double winner, taking home top honors for Best Use of Social Media and Marketing Club of the Year for small teams at inaugural USA Swimming marketing conference.
Enjoy the Sunkist adventure on Twitter by following @CoachDavidOrr, tagging along at #GoSunkist and #SWIMYAH across social media platforms.
Successful Inaugural #SwimBiz Includes Marketing Communications Best Practices, Award Winners
4/3/2015
USA Swimming concluded its first-ever club marketing conference titled #SwimBiz: Social Media, Sponsorship and Swimming. The #SwimBiz conference attracted 150 attendees, including 50 USA Swimming teams and 15 other sport organizations and governing bodies. The three-day conference was held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Experts from USA Swimming and organizations such as USA Today, U.S. Olympic Committee, UNLV, Iowa Motor Speedway and GroundFloor Media shared best practices to grow participation, increase revenue and boost public awareness. The engaging sessions emphasized social media, advertising, branding, communications, sponsorship and local promotions for clubs.
During the conference, USA Swimming announced eight awards for the #SwimBiz Club Marketing Awards that recognized the best local marketing and promotional efforts in the sport. Winners were determined by a panel of experts. The envelopes, please…
Best Use of Social Media
This award recognizes a club that has the best content or campaign on social media across any social network, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Vine. Nominees were judged on growth, or how the club used social media in a creative way to support its business.
Winner: Sunkist Swim Team; Flowood, Mississippi
Best in Sponsorship
This award acknowledges a club that had the most unique strategy to bring in sponsorships and financial support. Nominees were judged on creative approach to sponsorship in new partnerships, improving the meet experience or raising dollars for the club.
Winner: Texas Ford Aquatics; Frisco, Texas
Best in Fundraising
This award recognizes a club that created a unique fundraising program. Nominees were judged on efforts to rally behind a cause, support a local organization or just thinking beyond the bake sale to raise funds.
Winner: SwimMAC Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina
Best in Multicultural Marketing
This award recognizes a club that planned a successful marketing or outreach campaign specifically targeted at a multicultural audience to invite them to the sport of swimming and into the team.
Winner: Buffalo City Swim Racers; Buffalo, New York
The SwimToday Award
This award recognizes a club that designed a marketing-based program to grow the sport in attracting new members or exciting existing swimmers with incentive programs that keep them engaged. Nominees were judged on thinking “outside the pool.”
Winner: Pelican Athletic Club; Mandeville, Louisiana
Marketing Club of the Year
This is the signature award of the conference, combining all the previous honors to reward marketing excellence. Nominees were judged by how the club distinguished itself in terms of innovation and creativity to promote the club and the sport of swimming. Awards were given based on the size of year-round membership in three levels.
Winner – 1-150 Swimmers: Sunkist Swim Team; Flowood, Mississippi
Winner – 151-300 Swimmers: King Marlin Swim Club; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Winner – 301+ Swimmers: SwimMAC Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina
Attached is a mini case study that highlights all of the award finalists.
For background information visit www.usaswimming.org/swimbiz or check out #SwimBiz across social media platforms for posts, photos and information.
