The N.C. Department of Commerce and Secretary Sharon Decker congratulate the winners and finalists in two contests that engaged North Carolinians in the work to develop a new brand for marketing the state. The winners were announced Saturday April 12 at a ceremony at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.
Sara Cowell from Greenville won first prize in the “What N.C. Stands For” contest, an open, crowd sourcing effort to capture the state’s brand in creative expression. The contest asked people to demonstrate what North Carolina means to them in any form they chose. Over 250 entries were received and included photography, poetry, songs, and videos. Ms. Cowell won $2,000 for her video entitled “Mountain Style”. T.C. Webb of Fuquay-Varina, Eric Crews of Fletcher and Ernesto Naranjo Rosas of Raleigh claimed runner up prizes of $1,000 each. The People’s Choice award within the creative expression contest went to an entry from Marie Clements and Ivy Palas both of Chapel Hill.
Cardinal Marketing Group, a team of students from North Carolina State University won top honors and $5,000 in the second contest, a “BrandNC Case Competition” to develop a business case for the brand. Team members included Annie Bishop and Christie Montague of Cary, Meagan Sams of Greenville, and Lauren Wright of Raleigh. Teams tackled issues around branding and recommended options for brand positioning, unique and credible benefits to feature, and other factors common in brand development programs. UNC Creative Strategists a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication won $1,000 as first runner-up.
“I’m thrilled with the creativity and innovative thinking offered by all of the contestants” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker. “The passion these entries display for the special place we call North Carolina is truly inspiring.”
The two engagement contests are part of The Brand North Carolina Project, an initiative being conducted by the University of North Carolina’s Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise (KIPE) and sponsored by the N.C. Department of Commerce. The Project seeks to assemble basic research findings, core concepts, and examples of creative expression for a statewide brand into a bank of creative ideas and knowledge that can serve as a source of insights for further brand development work.
Judges for the finals in the creative expression contest included Larry Wheeler, Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, Chapel Hill muralist Michael Brown, Billy Maupin and Angela Lin of Hillsborough’s Yep Roc Records, and Becky Mormino and Jay Lowe of Durham’s Merge Records.
Judges for the final round of the case competition included William D. Perreault, Professor Emeritus, Kenan-Flagler Business School (KFBS), Dudley Lacy, President and COO, O’Brien/ Atkins, Michael Schinelli, Chief Marketing Officer, KFBS, and Tom Pashley, President and CEO, Pinehurst Resort and Country Club.
More information about the Brand North Carolina Project, including the winning contest entries can be reviewed online at www.brandnc.org.
In addition to the work being developed by the Kenan Institute, the Department of Commerce is also seeking the services of a professional marketing or advertising firm to develop final creative materials for the new brand.