Gale's Support of Libraries Through Creative Marketing Efforts Leads to Several Honors From the MarCom Awards

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Feb 04, 2015, 09:05 ET

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Feb. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/-- Creative campaigns that blend the benefits of products and services with true advocacy on behalf of libraries have propelled Gale, a leading provider of library resources, to be recognized by the MarCom Awards, a competitive award competition that spans industry types and companies of all sizes. Competing against thousands, Gale, part of Cengage Learning, took home several honors including four Platinum Awards, three Gold Awards and two Honorable Mentions.

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"Our marketing staff is passionate about what they do and, importantly, they are passionate about the value libraries provide," said Lisa Spicko, Vice President of Marketing for Gale. "It's because of this dedication that we are able to create campaigns and materials that truly resonate with our customers and we're excited that the MarCom Awards recognizes this."

Gale was honored for campaigns and creative collateral that support and promote the mission of libraries spanning across all markets Gale serves – school, academic and public libraries:

What's Your Passion: Helping libraries better connect with their community, the "What's Your Passion?" campaign was designed to inspire students and patrons to acknowledge their passion(s), while raising awareness that the library is the place to explore information on that passion.

GaleU: Supporting academic libraries, Gale was honored for the creation of GaleU, an interactive website that helps librarians better understand the students and faculty they serve while demonstrating the value of the academic library, and for a weekly enewsletter that connects academic librarians to current developments in their field along with product information to help them be more effective in their day-to-day work.

Public Library User Personas: In support of public library customers, Gale was honored for an integrated marketing campaign centered on public library user personas – helping librarians better understand the needs and goals of their diverse customer base, while promoting the Gale resources that can help librarians better serve them.

Change the Headlines: Gale was also recognized for an advocacy campaign designed to "change the headlines" around libraries. Today's headlines focus on the many challenges facing libraries and their risk of becoming irrelevant and not enough on the value they provide to communities. Gale created the My Library Story community to change those headlines by encouraging everyone to share their library story and help libraries tell a strong value story around their impact. Both the community website and supporting video depicting the different ways libraries inspire learning and change lives were recognized.

ALA Trade Show Exhibit: In addition, Gale's imaginative trade show exhibit at the American Libraries Association (ALA) 2014 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas – which included an in-booth aerialist to match the glitz of The Strip – and Gale's blog, which provides timely product and company information and helps customers learn how Gale resources can support their institution's goals, were also recognized.

Overall, Gale received nine awards, including:

Platinum Award: ALA Annual 2014 Conference Exhibit
Platinum Award: "What's Your Passion?" Integrated Marketing campaign
Platinum Award: GaleU website
Platinum Award: The Gale Blog
Gold Award: Gale Weekly eNewsletter – The Academic Gazette
Gold Award: My Library Story campaign – Change the Headlines video
Gold Award: Public Library Personas Integrated Marketing Campaign
Honorable Mention designation for to the My Library Story community website and Gale's ALA 2014 bus advertisements

The MarCom Awards is a creative competition for any individual or company involved in the concept, writing and design of print, visual, audio and web materials and programs. For more information on the awards, please visit http://marcomawards.com.

For more information on Gale and its product and services, please visit http://www.gale.cengage.com/. For questions or to speak with a Gale executive, please contact Kristina Massari at [email protected].

About Cengage Learning and Gale
Cengage Learning is a leading educational content, technology and services company, empowering educators and driving learner engagement through personalized services and course-driven digital solutions that bridge from the library to the classroom. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, serves the world's information and education needs through its vast and dynamic content pools, which are used by students and consumers in their libraries, schools and on the Internet. It is best known for the accuracy, breadth and convenience of its data, addressing all types of information needs – from homework help to health questions to business profiles – in a variety of formats. For more information, visit www.cengage.com or www.gale.cengage.com.

SOURCE Cengage Learning