A Closer Look at HLK’s 10 Wins at the 2024 NAMA Awards

HLK came home from the 2024 National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) Awards with full hands, securing two Best of Show, six first-place and two merit awards. Among the standout winners were our campaigns for Envu Vegetation Management and Channel® brand, garnering impactful engagement and tangible results. 

From raising awareness about wildfire mitigation grants to inspiring SeedPros and supporting farmers with disabilities, these campaigns exemplify our dedication to supporting our clients in creating meaningful connections and driving positive change within the agricultural industry.

Here’s a closer look at the work that won:

"Share the Spark" Campaign for Envu Vegetation Management

Best of Show in Specialty: This campaign aimed to tackle the threat of wildfires driven by invasive grasses in the U.S.. Through a PSA-style campaign, it connected county weed directors to grants and educated ranchers on how to apply for them. Key results included generating 10.4M impressions, a 15% growth in subscribers and record-breaking website traffic, making Share the Spark the second-highest trafficked webpage on the Envu website.

First Place in Specialty Advertising: The advertising aspect of the campaign emphasized generating awareness and educating the audience about ways to protect lands and ecosystems from wildfires. Our central message was that they could spark change in their communities by applying for grants, and it was anchored with an online repository of application information. 

First Place in Specialty Campaign Elements (Direct Mail): A standout piece from the campaign was the unique direct mail element that delivered the campaign message via a fireproof poster that created shareability and sparked new conversations. With an average engagement of 32% via QR code scans, it further contributed to the campaign's success, driving traffic to the Share the Spark webpage.

"Seedsman Ignite 2023" Campaign for Channel® Brand, Bayer Seed Brand

Best of Show in Public Relations and First Place in Internal Events: This event, held with a Kentucky Derby theme, aimed to inspire our SeedPros to excel in the upcoming sales season. The event theme and accompanying materials were built to ignite passion and garner brand commitment. Positive feedback from attendees and increased excitement on social media platforms demonstrated its effectiveness in motivating and engaging our SeedPro audience — who then took that excitement with them into the field.

"Pharm Dogs" Campaign for Channel® Brand, Bayer Seed Brand

First Place in Brand Citizenship: Channel partnered with PHARM Dog USA to support farmers with disabilities through a video series and paid media campaign. This initiative was part of our broader Channeling Good programing for the Channel brand to give back to the communities and farmers we serve. The PHARM Dog initiative generated over 1.4 million impressions and significant donations to PHARM Dog USA, including a direct contribution from Channel.

"The Watch" Campaign for Bayer | Crop Science

First Place in Integrated Campaign Regional and First Place in Email Marketing: How do we get more farmers tuned in to the potential threat of corn rootworm in their fields? The Watch is a one-to-one program that engages farmers with educational content and resources to defend their fields. The program successfully changes behavior by driving usage of sticky traps to identify the threat and make future trait choices. High open and engagement rates indicated strong responses from farmers in email communications and highlighted the effectiveness of highly targeted agronomic content. Additional performance was seen in overall program participation in the field and engagement in social media where farmers shared their content and actions they were taking against corn rootworm.

"Find Your Trait Tool" for Bayer | Crop Science

Merit in Brochure/Catalogs: The goal of the campaign was to provide farmers with a fast and accessible trait selection tool that could be used in areas with limited or no internet service. By creating a durable analog slider tool, farmers could quickly determine the most suitable trait for their plots in about 15 seconds or less. This user-friendly tool received overwhelmingly positive responses, enabling the sales team to efficiently assist farmers in selecting the right Bayer trait for their fields, even in remote locations.

"Resilia™ Root Health Solution Launch" for Envu Golf

Merit in New Product Introduction: Golf course superintendents have always known root diseases are serious, but their invisibility makes them seemingly impossible to prevent — until February 2023. Resilia™ root health solution’s launch at GCSAA, the largest trade show for golf industry professionals, challenged golf course superintendents to turn the way they think about root health upside down. Within the first quarter, we had over 42,000 earned media impressions, 64,000 video views and significant audience engagement on social media, all indicating interest in learning about the new product and approach to root health. 

We are beyond proud of the collaborative effort across our client teams that went into the development and success of each of these award-winning campaigns. Until next year!