Company: TEAM LEWIS - San Diego, CA
Company Description: TEAM LEWIS is a global marketing agency built to help and inspire brands to grow. It provides a full spectrum of marketing, communications and digital services to deliver tangible business impact for clients. The company has over 650 staff across 24 offices throughout Asia, Europe and North America.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Media Relations
 Nomination Title: ASCM - Make Supply Chain Cool
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated PR campaign or program, or written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
Additional materials attached
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
TEAM LEWIS began a partnership with the Associate for Supply Chain Management (ASCM) in late 2019. Since then, we’ve continued to develop a strong relationship with them supporting their media relations efforts and have recently started to integrate more service offerings to include digital support.
- Optional: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 97 words used.
Prior to ASCM’s partnership with TEAM LEWIS, the organization averaged roughly 100 pieces of coverage per year. Since then, ASCM has seen almost a 400% increase in media coverage as our relationship has strengthened over the past few years. It’s clear that with the robust media relations campaigns we’ve run, our team has been able to increase brand awareness for ASCM amongst other trade associations, but also have raised their profile with nationally recognized media publications as well. The materials attached to this submission showcase the outcome of our successful media relations efforts from 2021 to date.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
Our approach began with research – a deep dive into the competitive set to understand how and where supply chain conversations were taking place and how our key competitors were driving this conversation. From there, we started building relationships with key members of the media. We offered briefing calls to introduce our spokespeople to key reporters to share the deep expertise they could offer on nearly any supply chain adjacent topic.
Then, in March 2020, the world ran out of toilet paper.
With the global pandemic putting every aspect of our lives at a standstill, consumers suddenly started to wonder why grocery shelves were empty when products were typically stocked in droves. Thanks to the growing relationships we’d established for ASCM, TEAM LEWIS was able to capitalize on this huge moment of supply chain disruption, positioning the organization as an expert spokesperson to explain what was happening on a global scale.
Unfortunately, those same disruptions continued in 2021 and 2022.
From mattresses to lumber, hand sanitizer to eggs, TEAM LEWIS kept ASCM at the forefront of each conversation. Our momentum as a global voice of record continued. We extended our program to include a TikTok partnership with @LaunchedbyLiz, a Gen-Z influencer and supply chain professional, who helped us reach an entirely new audience. Through this, we expanded our media footprint, driving more coverage in higher tier outlets, extending to influencer channels, broadcast and even morning news.
Suddenly, everyone not only knew what supply chains were, thought they were cool.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2021. Even if your initiative started before 2021, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2021 only (up to 250 words):
Total 167 words used.
In 2021, TEAM LEWIS secured 529 pieces of earned media coverage for ASCM, 342 of which were with prominent Tier 1, non-trade publications. This resulted in a whopping 10,543,897,956 impressions over the course of the year. In 2022, due to the strength of their existing media relations efforts, TEAM LEWIS saw a 31% increase in earned media coverage in 2022, with a 64% increase in placements with non-trade media outlets.
A major client win, ASCM became a staple in broadcast in 2022. During this period, ASCM spokespeople were featured in segments on Good Morning America, CNN Early Start, Bloomberg Radio and NPR Morning Edition, syndicated radio and more. Beyond that, Tier 1 coverage continued with hits in The Washington Post and Forbes to name a few. Each time supply chains saw major disruption, TEAM LEWIS ensured ASCM was the voice of record, explaining the situation. We successfully established ASCM as the thought leader in supply chain management, while keeping our main goal paramount throughout.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 164 words used.
Our partnership began with a simple ask: “make supply chain cool.” The biggest challenge then was that the industry was misunderstood and infrequently covered in any media beyond trade. As a result, the Association of Supply Chain Management rarely achieved more than 5 pieces of trade coverage per month. Despite nearly a half-century of supply chain knowledge under their belt, ASCM lagged compared to other professional organizations in the industry in terms of visibility.
We knew that elevating the organization relied on elevating conversations about supply chains in general. If more people knew and understood the critical role that supply chains played in people’s everyday lives – like explaining to millennials that supply chain disruptions were the cause of their ability to consume avocado toast daily – we could elevate not just the organization but the industry. At large, our goal was to move ASCM to the forefront and solidify their position as the leading voice of record for all things supply chain.
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