Dec 10 2009
At this year's Spotlight Awards by the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP), specialty chemicals supplier Cognis won a total of nine marketing and corporate communications awards. Four Cognis entries won Gold Awards and were ranked among the 100 best submissions received in all categories - the "Greenovating" booth at the European Coatings Show, the "Newtrition" marketing campaign, the "It's your team, it's your turn" executive management communication, and the "Cognis in Brief" corporate brochure.
Cognis also won Gold in the "Strategic Corporate Communications" category at this year's Econ Awards for its communication management system.
The booth presented at this year's European Coatings Show by the company's Functional Products strategic business unit (SBU) was particularly successful at the Spotlight Awards: It scored 98 out of a possible 100 points, winning a Gold Award in the Conference/Meeting/ Special Events Materials category and finishing in 21st place in the overall ranking of all entries. The jury praised it for being "very contemporary and representative of the Cognis brand".
Four entries in the top 100
Three other Gold Award-winning Cognis communications entries also finished in the top
100 overall ranking, each scoring 97 out of a possible 100 points: The "Cognis in Brief" brochure (42nd overall) presents all the most important facts and figures about the company in a compact, easy to understand format. The "It's your team, it's your turn" presentation (50th overall) helps executive managers at Cognis to explain the company's goals and successes to their staff. It includes news about recent developments within the company, the latest quarterly results, plus information about the general situation in Cognis' markets.
The "Newtrition" campaign (52nd overall) from the Nutrition & Health SBU shows customers how Cognis products can actively enhance consumers' sense of well-being, and positions the company as an innovation driver in modern nutrition. "We find each ad to be memorable in its own right. Great job" was the jury's verdict. Furthermore, the two brochures produced for the Newtrition campaign also both won Bronze Awards as well as the "Greenovating" brochure produced by Functional Products. All publications impressed the jury as "compelling".
For the seventh time, Cognis also won Spotlight Awards for its annual report (Silver) and sustainability report (Bronze). The reports provide employees and external stakeholders with a clear and comprehensive overview of the company's corporate strategy and sustainability strategy respectively. The jury commended the visual design and strong narrative of the annual report, and described the sustainability report as an "excellent resource to understand the complete breadth and scope of the organization as it relates to sustainability."
Helping the business units to achieve a unique positioning
"Winning nine LACP Awards is excellent recognition for our communications work," says Susanne Marell, Vice President Corporate Communications. "We are particularly proud of the jury's response to the Newtrition and Greenovating campaigns, which we developed together with our SBU experts. Our aim is to further position and differentiate our business units in their markets through marketing strategies and messages that are memorable and emotionally appealing, while also supporting the overall Cognis vision. The awards prove that our strategies do have impact and that we are on the right track."
Cognis has also achieved some notable successes at other award ceremonies. The company won Gold in the "Strategic Corporate Communications" category at this year's Econ Awards for its communication management. The Cognis system is designed to ensure all communication activities are aligned with the overarching company's strategic objectives, and enable global coordination at the strategic level while retaining the flexibility to adapt to specific local requirements. In May 2009, Cognis also received the "German Award for Business Communications" (Deutscher Preis für Wirtschaftskommunikation) in the "Best Public Relations Communication" category in recognition of its strategic communications, issue and message management, and use of performance monitoring and evaluation tools.
Recognizing excellence in communications
The League of American Communications Professionals (LACP) is a trade association based in San Diego, California. It has an international orientation, and aims to recognize and encourage effectiveness and excellence in corporate communications around the world. Over 1,000 entries were submitted for this year's LACP Spotlight Awards for print, video and online communications. The Econ Award is conferred by the Handelsblatt newspaper and the Econ publishing house in Germany. It recognizes work in the field of corporate communications. In 2009, more than 300 submissions were evaluated.