The Martin Group Wins at 2019 Capital Region MARCOM Awards

The Martin Group earned recognition at this year’s Capital Region MARCOM Awards for our work with clients including Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany Law School, Mental Health Association in New York State and Excelsior College.  

Among several finalists, we took home a MARCOM Award for the brochure produced for the Albany Institute. The ceremony was held Wednesday, November 20 at the GE Theatre at Proctors.  

For the fourth straight year, the local chapters of the American Marketing Association and the Public Relations Society of America combined to recognize excellence in marketing and communications in the Capital Region. Categories included integrated marketing campaign, marketing campaign, public relations campaign, media relations, printed publication, video, and website. 

The award-winning brochure established a visual identity for a forthcoming campaign as well as strategic positioning and messaging, providing the Albany Institute with an essential tool that has empowered them to ignite deepened interest among their target audiences. The Martin Group’s work is guiding the overall look, feel, and tone for the campaign that showcases the range of programming and collections at the Albany Institute. Judges graded the project based on its quality, creativity and resourcefulness.  

Overall, PRSA and AMA saw a 25 percent increase in submissions for this year’s MARCOM Awards. Professionals from outside the Capital Region — AMA Baltimore and PRSA Santa Fe — scored all campaign and tactic submissions. The entries with the highest grades became finalists.  

A total of 34 submissions were named finalists, with The Martin Group earning six of those finalist recognitions, the most among the region’s participants.  

Other Martin Group finalists included:  

School Mental Health Resource & Training Center Launch – Mental Health Association in New York State 

• One of only two public relations campaigns among the 34 finalists, The Martin Group worked with MHANYS, a nonprofit committed to ending the stigma against mental illness, while promoting mental health wellness through training, advocacy and education. The campaign generated over 150 media hits and by June 2019 nearly 70% of New York State public schools had accessed the Center. 

We Rise Together Capital Campaign, Brochure and Video – Albany Law School 

• The Martin Group’s work with Albany Law School on its $30 million capital campaign “We Rise Together” earned three finalists for marketing campaign, printed publication and video. Execution included campaign strategy, positioning, and messaging; campaign identity; donor brochures, campaign landing page and video. The campaign continues to reach its goal, surpassing $25 million as of September 2019. The video reached over 5400 people on Facebook; received nearly 13,000 impressions on Twitter and generated 1300 impressions on YouTube.   

Excelsior College 2018 Brand Campaign  

• After working with Excelsior College on various enrollment campaigns and a brand refresh, The Martin Group and Excelsior teamed up to develop and execute a campaign aimed to increase brand awareness in two key DMAs: Albany, NY and San Antonio, TX. Employing video, radio, outdoor and digital advertising, the campaign tactics generated over 2 million impressions and results indicated an increase in awareness amongst Excelsior College’s target audience. 

Here’s to next year!