Banfield-Seguin Wins 2 Summit Creative Awards!

Banfield-Seguin is thrilled to announce 2 wins at the 2013 Summit Creative Awards — a unique international competition designed to level the playing field and raise the creative bar for smaller firms.

We received a Bronze Award for the National Arts Centre’s 2012-13 Season Dance Brochure in the category of Consumer Product/Services Brochure. This is the fourth award we collected for the NAC Dance 2012-13 Season Brochure, and the sixth for the NAC Dance 2012-13 Season campaign as whole.

The second Summit Creative Award we collected was a Silver Award for the Banfield-Seguin 2011-12 holiday card, in the category of Self-promotion/Holiday Card. The “Work in Progress” card, as we have come to refer to it, has also recently been recognized with a Gold Award of Excellence at the Communicator Awards 2013.

Banfield-Seguin is very grateful for the recognition and would like to thank our clients and everyone involved who worked on making these projects a success.

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About the Summit International Awards:
With more than 5000 submissions from across Canada, the US and around the world, the Summit International Awards honours the finest creative work. It is the oldest and most prestigious organization that administers an advertising award exclusively for firms with limited billings. Its Creative award has established itself as a premier arbiter of creative and communication excellence.

"Gamify Your Work" Roundtable at MARCOM 2013

For the culmination of our 2013 partnership with the MARCOM forum, I had the opportunity last week to host a Peer2Peer Roundtable entitled “Gamify Your Work”. 

The topic attracted a wonderfully diverse group, including participants from non-profits, government departments, marketing agencies and consultancies. We had a very rich discussion regarding the concept of gamification and how it might be applied to our very different work environments. 

For those not familiar with the concept, “gamification” is the application of game elements to professional tasks and situations — elements such as rules, achievements levels, and rewards. With video games now a huge part of our culture, like it or not, an increasing number of businesses have used gamification to increase employee effectiveness and bridge generational gaps. 

Through our discussion, we agreed that to successfully start applying gamification in a work context, organizations should initially apply game elements to a relatively small, specific project over a finite time-period. This will make the initiative easier to implement, more likely to succeed, and easier to evaluate. Managers can learn from and build on the experience, and make gamification even more effective in future incarnations. 

During the roundtable, we also reviewed other creativity tools and concepts for the workplace, and talked about the benefits of fostering creativity for both employers and employees. Many of these concepts were covered in our Creative Spark series of articles. If you haven't already read them, please do! There are links below. 

In conclusion, I would like to thank Claire Mills and CEPSM, who produced the MARCOM 2013 Forum. The Banfield-Seguin team loves working with them on the creative theme every year, and this year we really took our collaboration with MARCOM to the next level.

Creative Spark Series articles:
The Benefits of Creative Work Cultures
Making the Most of Your Team’s Unique Creative Abilities
What Highly Creative Workplaces Can Teach You
Tools and Techniques to Unlock Workplace Creativity
Working with Creative Agencies

Banfield-Seguin has a great time for a great cause at the CHEO BBQ volleyball tournament!

This past Saturday, a group of enthusiastic Banfield-Seguin employees braved the wet conditions to participate in the 21st annual CHEO BBQ volleyball tournament.

It was a day spent walking around barefoot, falling in the mud and repeatedly getting our pride served to us by opponents. And yet, it was probably the best time we had all year!

One thing that helped our team stay in good spirits, despite the accumulating losses, was the fact that the rain held off until the event was over. This allowed us to (very briefly) come out from under the beer tent to enjoy some of the great food prepared by ByTown Catering in between games.

Despite the unpredictable weather, the event as a whole was a great success. Over 1,500 people took part in the day’s activities, which also included an ultimate Frisbee tournament and a 5km walk.

Our team enjoying a much needed break between games

And best of all, the funds raised by the CHEO BBQ are donated to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario to help the hospital provide a wide variety of paediatric programs, research, state-of-the-art equipment, medical and nursing education, and assistance for families in crisis.

Overall, between the on-court competition, the off-court camaraderie and the charitable component, it is hard to imagine how our CHEO BBQ experience could have been any better.

We want to thank the CHEO BBQ, and our very own Kelly MacNaull who serves as the event’s Marketing Director, for putting together such a fun and rewarding event.

Banfield-Seguin Collects 3 Awards of Excellence at the IABC Ottawa Excel Awards!

Without question, it has been a great awards season for us! We’re very pleased to announce another 3 wins, this time at the 2013 Excel Awards, organized by the Ottawa chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

As always, the IABC Ottawa Excel Awards event was a great opportunity to showcase our work with local clients in front of the National Capital Region’s creative communications community. And our projects did not disappoint, taking home 3 of the 12 Awards of Excellence presented. 

First, the NAC Presents brand strategy and launch won in the category of Brand Communication. NAC Presents is a new performance series that brings Canada’s most exciting artists to the National Arts Centre stage. To help bring this new brand to life, Banfield-Seguin developed a vibrant visual identity and an integrated campaign for the inaugural 2011-12 season.

Second, our Place d’Orléans Vlogger Search Contest won for social media. This back-to-school promotion blended multi-faceted social media outreach with traditional marketing tactics in order to connect with fashionistas in a real and relevant way. The campaign successfully continued the evolution of the Place d’Orléans brand into a premier fashion destination.

Our third award went to the NAV CENTRE “Meeting Hero” campaign for photography. This multi-platform initiative was designed to show that the NAV CENTRE – Eastern Ontario’s largest conference and meeting facility – meets all the criteria for a successful corporate event. To give the campaign a unique, authentic look, we used photos of real NAV CENTRE employees in all the marketing materials.
 
Banfield-Seguin is very proud that the IABC has recognized our work. We would like to thank our clients and everyone who was involved in making these projects a success.

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About the IABC Ottawa Excel Awards:

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Ottawa Chapter is the voice of Ottawa’s communications industry. The Excel Awards recognize work across three divisions: communication management, communication skills and communication creative. Recipients are recognized for their contributions in fields ranging from media relations, crisis communications and branding to graphic design, audiovisual and interactive media. Entries are scored by volunteer judges from across Canada, each a leader in the field of communications.