Sweetwater Awards 2022

May 24, 2022

Broadstreet presented the inaugural Sweetwater Award during the 2022 Intersection Conference.

The Award

The Sweetwater Award recognizes publishers who go above and beyond in planning, running, and executing a campaign. Many publishing awards focus on the journalism side of things – this award specifically acknowledges excellence in advertising.

The Sweetwater Award is named in honor of the late Gary Collins (1982 – 2021). Collins was the publisher of SweetwaterNOW in Rock Springs, Wyoming for 8 years before his passing. He shared a book with Broadstreet CEO, Kenny Katzgrau, entitled Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service.

Inside of the book, it reads, 

“Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing better. Just having satisfied customers isn’t good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create Raving Fans.”

The Finalists

Three finalists were chosen from the submissions for the 2022 Sweetwater Award. The finalists include:

1. County10, Fremont County, Wyoming
2. The Lansing Journal, Lansing, Illinois
3. Noozhawk, Santa Barbara, California

The Winner

The winner of the 2022 Sweetwater Award is The Lansing Journal. 

Melanie Jongsma, Publisher of The Lansing Journal, approached the new prospect, South Suburban Heating and Air Conditioning,  knowing that they couldn’t have been seeing top results with their current print ad efforts. 

During their meeting, Melanie took a sincere interest in SSHAC. She asked questions to find their target audience and advertising goals, and created a plan to provide the desired measurable return on investment.

Knowing Broadstreet’s capabilities and reporting tools, she knew that her digital advertising offering provided a larger measurable return either instead of or in addition to SSHAC’s traditional print ads.

The advertiser signed on for a six-month commitment right away, paying in its entirety upfront. They asked for monthly summaries instead of weekly reports. Towards campaign end, Melanie created a more comprehensive summary to review with SSHAC, including images, run dates, and results. She created a proposal to continue the campaign only using top performing ad formats, and the advertiser signed on for an additional three months.

The plans now consist of multiple ads running simultaneously each month, and SSHAC is willing to try new Broadstreet ad formats that Melanie thinks will serve him well. 

When the advertiser signed up for their most recent three month stint, they told Melanie, “I trust you”.

As winner of the Sweetwater Award, The Lansing Journal receives an official Sweetwater Award 2022 digital seal for use on their website and media kit, an engraved trophy, and one free year of Broadstreet service.