Once again, What’s Your Avocado? Marketing & Public Relations and its founder, Stacie Zinn Roberts, has been recognized for award-winning marketing campaigns on behalf of national clients. At the 2022 Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) Awards held in early May in Kansas City, What’s Your Avocado? won three national awards, including the equivalent of Best in Show for’ marketing campaigns on behalf of client Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass, developed by researchers at Oklahoma State Univeristy.
“I am thrilled to be recognized for doing the work that I love on behalf of my clients,” said Stacie Zinn Roberts, founder and president of What’s Your Avocado? Marketing Public Relations based in Mount Vernon, WA. “My goal is always to help my clients succeed by telling their stories in ways that connect with their customers. To win awards for doing that is icing on the cake.”
The awards include:
FIRST PLACE: WRITING A FEATURE ARTICLE (MARCOMM)
The article, “Grass Selection with Purpose” co-authored by Stacie Zinn Roberts & Dr. Yanqi Wu, professor of turfgrass breeding and genetics at Oklahoma State University, was published in “By Design” magazine, the official publication of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, (Summer 2021). In it, the authors discuss how to research and real-world performance shows Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass is bred to play great and address common golf course issues. The goal of the article was to educate golf course architects about the benefits of grassing their new golf course designs with Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass, a genetically-improved turfgrass variety. Co-authoring the article with the plant breeder gave the article scientific credibility. An Interview with a fellow golf course architect gave the readers a testimonial by a peer. Interviews with golf course superintendents provided testimonials on how the grass performs over time.
FIRST PLACE: COPYWRITING FOR A DISPLAY AD – COMMERCIAL PUBLICATIONS
The campaign, “Swiss Army Knife” was designed to show how Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass has many benefits without just listing them all. A competitor’s grass has just one benefit, drought tolerance, that they focus on. By comparing Tahoma 31 to a Swiss Army Knife, the campaign built upon the idea that Tahoma 31 offers many tools/attributes for many jobs, such as drought, cold tolerance, and early spring green-up. The headline, Like This, But in a Bermudagrass, drew the connection without paragraphs of copy. Arrows pointing to the tools on the knife showed what would have otherwise come as a list. Instead, minimal text told the story. By the way, we had knives made with the logo on it to give out at tradeshows. It was a huge hit.
GARDNER AWARD, “BEST IN SHOW” WRITING – MARKETING
The copywriting for the Swiss Army ad was additionally honored with the prestigious Gardner Award, the equivalent of Best in Show, in the Writing – Marketing category, winning as the best in marketing communications writing of all entries in the competition. This is Stacie Zinn Roberts’ third Gardner Award.
ABOUT TOCA
The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) is comprised of editors, writers, publishers, photographers, public relations/advertising practitioners, industry association leaders, manufacturers, and others involved in green industry communications. It is a national organization based in New Prague, MN. toca.org
ABOUT WHAT’S YOUR AVOCADO? MARKEING & PUBLC RELATIONS
What’s Your Avocado? Marketing & Public Relations creates messaging, marketing, public relations and advertising campaigns for a national audience. The firm serves clients nationwide, with a focus on the agricultural, turf, landscape, golf and real estate industries. By the way, the Avocado? It’s the element that makes a person, product or company special. What’s Your Avocado? helps clients to find their avocado and express it in the marketplace, thereby building a recognizable brand and a successful business. What’s Your Avocado? Marketing & Public Relations is headquartered in Mount Vernon, WA. Contact us at 360-428-2878, whatsyouravocado.com, or on social media at @whatsyouravocad.
Stacie Zinn Roberts is a nationally recognized, award-winning writer and marketing expert with more than 25 years of experience. She has won more than 40 national awards for her work including the United Nations Environmental Program for retail environmental marketing, as well as from organizations such at the Public Relations Society of America and the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association. She’s written for industry publications such as Golf Course Management, Sports Turf, Golfdom and PR Daily. She spent eight years as the president and director of marketing for Environmental Turf, where she developed the branding for SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum, the grass that eventually became the greens grass for the Rio Olympic Golf Course. Stacie served for six years on the Board of Directors of the Florida Turfgrass Association as Chair of the Research & Scholarship Committee where she worked closely with the scientists from the University of Florida’s turfgrass breeding program. Stacie founded What’s Your Avocado? Marketing & Public Relations in 2012.
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