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Wednesday, March 27 is the final entry deadline for The 2013 (11th Annual) American Business Awards, the top business awards program in the U.S.A.

Get Your Entry Kit for the ABAs Here.

Introduced in 2012, the Best of the ABA Awards are five best-of-competition prizes that will awarded to the organizations that submit the best body of work to the competition, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients.  Beginning in 2013, the winners of these prizes will be awarded the new Grand Stevie Award trophy.

Organization of the Year:   Will be awarded to the organization with the highest overall point total in the ABAs.  The organization may be large or small, public or private, for profit or non-profit.

Public Relations Agency of the Year:  Will be awarded to the PR agency network or shop with the highest overall point total, earned in its own name or in the name of one or more clients.

Marketing Agency of the Year:  Will be awarded to the marketing services agency network or shop with the highest overall point total, earned in its own name or in the name of one or more of its clients.

Interactive Services Agency of the Year:  Will be awarded to the web, interactive, app development, etc. services firm with the highest overall point total, earned in its own name or in the name of one or more clients.

Top 10: Will be awarded to the 10 organizations with the most award points in the 2013 ABAs.

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Thai Life Insurance Plc., in Bangkok, Thailand received the Gold Stevie® Award for Consumer Advertising Campaign of the Year in the marketing awards categories of The 2012 International Business Awards, the world's premier business awards competition. (April 10 is the early-bird entry deadline for the 2013 IBAs. Take advantage of discounted entry fees for those entries submitted through that date. Get the IBA entry kit here.) Here we look at how Thai Life’s ad campaign touched the hearts of millions.

Population statistics from a 2010 survey found that Thailand's population composition has changed significantly over the last 10 years. Thai society is aging and the 0-14 age group has proportionately decreased compared to seniors aged 60 years and up. This trend is a consequence of the decline in Thailand’s birthrate and the fact that Thais are living longer, higher-quality lives.

Because of this, many life insurance companies in Thailand have shifted their focus in order to communicate with seniors and to create customized insurance products for them.

A Different Approach
While also providing insurance products for seniors, Thai Life chose a different approach to their competitors: they focused on employed adults and their duty to their elderly parents.

Working with Ogilvy & Mather Thailand, Thai Life created an advertising campaign that communicated the message to working adults that purchasing life insurance for their parents would be a way for them to repay the kindness that their elderly parents had showed to them.

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Slack and Company, an integrated marketing communications agency in Chicago, Illinois, USA, was named Marketing Agency of the Year in the 2012 Best of the ABA Awards as part of The American Business Awards, the premier business awards competition in the USA.

Marketing Challenge
To keep its lead in the paper shredder market, Fellowes needed to:

• Achieve more brand visibility;
• Drive home the differences between its shredders and the competition; and
• Generate more traffic for channel-partner stores and websites.

Communications Strategy
An integrated program was created featuring the iconic bulldog mascot, who sets up messages that emphasize the core performance advantages of Fellowes’ lineup of tough and reliable shredders.

The “Bred to Shred” campaign was developed to build awareness and drive action using a mix of media including television and radio, targeted print, airport dioramas, and mobile/online ads supported by strategic search engine optimization and search engine marketing (SEO/SEM).

Although primarily a North American campaign, the television, print, and digital advertising was transcreated and went on to run throughout Europe.

Outstanding Results
The program has strengthened Fellowes’ best-in-breed reputation for reliable, jam-free shredding—and sparked demonstrable buyer interest. In its first seven weeks, the campaign was responsible for a significant traffic uptick at retail-partner websites and boosted visits to the Fellowes site by more than 13%. Total click-through rates from online media averaged 1.06%, sending hundreds of thousands of new shredder shoppers to retail-partner websites.

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The Stevie Awards will soon launch its fifth awards program, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards. This program will be open exclusively to organizations operating in the 22 nations that comprise the Asia-Pacific region. Join the mailing list for these awards and we'll send you the entry kit as soon as it's available...

The Stevie Awards will stage the second annual America Means Business on Tuesday, April 9 at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia USA. This will be a full-day of education about how to start and grow a business. Registration is free. Learn more here...

You're invited to apply to be a preliminary-round judge in this year's American Business Awards and/or International Business Awards. As a judge you'll see how many organizations across the U.S.A. and around the world are innovating and achieving success, and you'll receive a certificate of appreciation suitable for framing. ABA judging will open in April, IBA judging in May...

March 27: Final entry deadline for 11th American Business Awards

April 9: America Means Business, free day-long event about entrepreneurship, George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia USA

April 10: Early-bird entry deadline for 10th International Business Awards

April 15: Early-bird entry deadline for IPRA's 2013 Golden World Awards