Award Epitomizes B2B Marketing & Social Media
Creative ideas seldom come from sitting in a boardroom. Apparently Billy Mitchell and his son Cole, MLT Creative, are evidence of this when they redesigned the new @B2BTOTY logo and trophy.
Napkins shifted back and forth between father and son as they sketched until their design was born. The result is not just a trophy but what they believe is a symbol that epitomizes B2B marketing and social media. Billy is proud to have both sons Cole, graphic designer, and Chase, copywriter, on his staff.
Billy said, “We based the idea on the “bluebird and briefcase” icon used originally, but we adapted it to be more simplified and symbolic. It was very important that the bird not just be a beautiful blue, but also transparent. I believe that characteristic to be symbolic of social media, and Twitter in general.”
In Dr. Philip Kotler’s new book, Marketing 3.0, he describes the rise of creative society explaining that like, creative people, companies should think about their self-actualization beyond material objectives.
“Creative people constantly seek to improve themselves and their world”.
Philip Kotler, PhD
Billy’s role with @B2BTOTY Awards began last year when he first noticed buzz on Twitter. “I thought these award were a great idea, and I’ve been following @JoeZuc (Joe Zuccaro) and @B2BTOTY on Twitter ever since”.
TWITTERING FOR A B2B AWARD
The awards, brainchild of Joe Zuccaro, Founder, Allinio, debuted two years ago. In keeping with Twitter’s crowd-sourcing spirit, the @B2BTOTY awards are based on votes from thousands of Twitter users and on each B2B creator’s Twitter strategy.
Billy said, “Many, maybe even most, B2B marketers are still in the dark about Twitter. They either write it off as a waste of time or they dive in too aggressively and over-promote. Those in the former group have their minds closed, and those in the latter soon lose their enthusiasm because they see no results. But the group that gets Twitter as it relates to business-to-business marketing is growing and evolving.”
He said, “The B2B marketers that will win a @B2BTOTY are those who best understand and utilize Twitter as a fluid channel for sharing ideas, research, case studies, forecasts, product and service insights, strategies, questions, answers, invitations, reminders, referrals and more – all in messages of 140 characters or less.” Billy also worked under the guidance of Jeremy Victor, (@jeremyvictor) CEO & Founder, Make Good Media, on the design, app development and content management system of the new @B2BTOTY website, and benefited from input from Joe Zuccaro and others on the steering committee.
Jeremy said, “@B2BTOTY Award program is the perfect way to celebrate and honor people and businesses that use it to their advantage and are leading the way for those on the sidelines.”
Awards Categories Doubled
This year the @B2BTOTY has doubled its nomination categories. Joe Zuccaro said, “The awards have gone from five categories modified/added to ten categories”:
National/International B2B Manufacturer; National/International B2B Services Provider; Small/Medium Business (SMB) B2B Company; B2B Organization; B2B Trade Association; B2B Publication; Business Journalist; Business School; the “Boss Tweet” B2B Personality; and B2B Twitter App
“Already we have some great nominees and we’re looking forward to seeing more over the next few weeks, said Zuccaro.”
Submission Deadline
Nominations for the awards began October 1st, and the deadline for submissions is Friday, December 18, 2010. The winner will be selected by a committee of judges. The awards will be held in late January to early February, 2011.
Sponsors for this event are still being welcomed.
Cheryl, Thanks for helping to raise awareness for the B2B Twitterer of The Year Awards! And thanks for your kind words about the trophy design. You were the first to comment on the idea for making it a beautifully transparent blue. We wanted to make this award really relate to what makes twitter such a unique part of a B2B marketing program and believed it important enough to have this particualar material custom fabricated for us. The simplicity of the “blue bird and brief case” shape was the next design element and if you were holding one you would notice the precision of the lazer cut edges and smooth flame-polished finish.
Needless to say we are pleased to be part of the awards and love Joe Zucarro’s idea for them. We also enjoyed our collaboration with Jeremy Victor on the website and working with the great group of B2B professionals Joe has assembled to make the whole thing work.
We hope to see the B2B marketing “tribe” on twitter now take ownership of the content as the site celebrates the best of the best and shares helpful information up to, during and beyond the awards themselves.
Thanks again Cheryl!
Billy,
MLT Creative is the champion for B2B creative simplicity. It’s no wonder that you and your team have transformed the B2BTOTY awards into a creative art form that epitomizes social media authenticity and transparency.
Thanks, Billy, for your continued support!
Cheryl