Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

College marketing office wins national marketing, PR awards

Photos and story by James Hill

Portland Community College Marketing Office earned two Paragon Awards at the national conference of the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations, the professional advancement organization for two-year colleges in North America. PCC won a gold award under the Successful Recruitment Marketing Campaign category and a silver award for Print Advertising at the conference, which was held March 9-12 in Savannah, Ga.

The Paragon Awards recognize outstanding achievement in communications at community, junior and technical colleges, and is the only national competition of its kind that honors excellence exclusively among marketing and public relations professionals at two-year colleges.

The Successful Recruitment Marketing Campaign category honors marketing strategies larger in scope than simple promotion campaigns but more targeted than a college’s entire marketing plan for the year. Judges considered research, planning, implementation and evaluation, as well as evidence of broad college involvement in marketing.

“This is a great category because it encompasses these aspects, as well as the writing, art direction, production and photography in a variety of media like publications, outdoor advertising, radio, TV, direct mail and the Web site,” said Russell Banks, marketing communications manager for PCC. “It’s like winning the Oscar for best picture, instead of one for best costumes or screenplay. The whole marketing team has to perform well – and have the support of our partners around the college.”

In the individual Print Advertisement category, PCC won for its “Project You” Community Education advertisement promoting non-credit classes and featuring well-known community members who have enrolled in classes.

“We ran the ad on the back of the fall Communities magazine and in The Oregonian,” Banks added. “The first in our series, it featured PCC President Preston Pulliams and the photography class he took. We’re planning to spin these ads off into a series of posters promoting Community Education.”

NCMPR is one of the fastest-growing affiliates of the American Association of Community Colleges and has more than 1,500 members from nearly 600 colleges across the United States, Canada and other countries.