Company: Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee, WI
Company Description: Northwestern Mutual has helped clients achieve financial security for more than 155 years. As a mutual company with $1.2 trillion of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual has no shareholders. The company focuses on its clients and seeks to deliver consistent and dependable value to them over time. Northwestern Mutual offers a holistic approach to financial security solutions.
Nomination Category: Live Event Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Internal Recognition/Motivational Event

Nomination Title: Salute to the Stars

The date on which this nominated production was first presented: June 15, 2012

Briefly describe the nominated event's objectives and how it met those objectives (up to 525 words):

As part of the 2012 United Performing Arts Fund (UPAF) campaign, Northwestern Mutual (NM) employees contributed more than $626,000. To acknowledge employees their generous support, NM celebrated “Salute to the Stars Day” on June 15, 2012, with four employee rallies at its Milwaukee and Franklin, Wis. offices.

Featuring Donald Driver, Season 14 winner of Dancing with the Stars and NFL wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers, this event celebrated NM’s commitment and support of community programs like UPAF, its members and affiliates.

The event also showcased students of UPAF member Danceworks’, Mad Hot Ballroom and Tap program (MHBT). MHBT is an educational dance program for schoolchildren in very low-income schools in Milwaukee's central city.

NM was able to highlight the value of arts-driven education and showcase one of the employee-supported nonprofits. The event also leveraged Driver’s personal and professional journey as a source of inspiration and motivation.

GOALS:

• Help employees connect with each other (and its CEO) on a subject that is important to them.
• Gain brand visibility locally and nationally from support of UPAF and local performing arts organizations like Danceworks.
• Obtain signed collectibles for UPAF and United Way raffles.
• Show community and employee support.

EXECUTION:

Chairman and CEO John Schlifske moderated the event and lead the Q&A with Driver. The discussion covered Driver’s experience on Dancing with the Stars, highlighted the importance of arts education and recognized the contributions of NM employees on behalf of UPAF.

At the conclusion of the talk, students representing the MHBT program performed two dances, with Driver and NM executives grading their performance with branded ‘10’ paddles, mirroring the Dancing with the Stars judges panel.

Those who were unable to attend were engaged in the entertainment with live feeds broadcasted via NM’s closed circuit television and across the company’s intranet system.

Media alerts and photo opportunities were shared with local and national media. Attending media were able to film portions of the event and participate in a private interview with Donald Driver.

EVALUATION:

As a Green Bay Packers player and Dancing with the Stars mirror ball trophy winner, Donald Driver is a Wisconsin hero. The decision to harness his charisma and positive messaging to energize and engage NM’s Wisconsin-based employees resulted in heightened awareness of the NM brand and its support of local art-infused nonprofits.

In total, 1,300 employees were selected to attend the rallies in person. Nine articles appeared on NM’s internal news source, Coverage, each garnering an average of 2,785 visits, leading to 25,068 total views.

More than 350 employees watched the live rally broadcasts through NM’s internal closed circuit television and online through the intranet system.

The rally resulted in eight media stories, with multiple stories airing on local NBC and CBS affiliates. The story was also featured in Milwaukee’s online daily magazine, OnMilwaukee.com. 

Photos and live updates were shared on NM’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Live posts with photos were shared on Facebook, resulting in over 125 likes and several comments. Live Twitter posts engaged followers with content highlighting the rally. Donald Driver tagged NM’s handle, @NM_News in several tweets, increasing awareness of the brand.

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