August 7, 2024

Middle of Six bags four national AEC marketing awards

Photo by Cory Parris [enlarge]

The Middle of Six team is based in Tacoma. Pictured left to right: Kyle Davis, Grace Takehara, Wendy Simmons, Melissa Richey, Allison Tivnon, Susan O’Leary and Lauren Jane Peterson.

July proved to be a golden month for Tacoma-based marketing consultancy Middle of Six. The firm, which serves the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, was recognized last month with four Marketing Communications Awards from the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS).

The national awards program recognizes excellence in marketing communications by professional services firms in the design and construction industry across several categories.

Middle of Six's “The Wildcards Campaign” received an inaugural Best of Show Award and an Award of Excellence in the Brand Awareness Campaign - Mixed Media category.

Other awards came in the form of an Award of Excellence in the Website - External category for the firm's role in crafting Seattle structural engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates' (MKA) new website.

Middle of Six also bagged an Award of Excellence in the Project Pursuit Marketing - Print category for its work on Schuchart Corporation's Dick's Drive-in proposal that resulted in the general contractor winning the contract to build the burger joint's new Federal Way location.

Photo via Dick’s Drive-In [enlarge]

Middle of Six was awarded for its work on Schuchart Corporation’s winning proposal to build Dick’s Drive-In’s Federal Way location. The location opened last July with much fanfare.

“The Wildcards” campaign was conceived and executed by Middle of Six to increase the firm's brand awareness in the AEC market while also giving marketing professionals some levity and a lighthearted and sensitive way to explore and call out behaviors that can adversely affect work teams and result in lost work. The multi-pronged, mixed-media campaign features a colorful host of caricatures dubbed “The Wildcards” along with humorous copy to poke fun at the common personas that appear in the procurement process of responding to requests for proposals, requests for qualifications and interviews.

These personas include the novelist – who can't help but write reams of proposal content when only a half-page of text is needed – and the outlaw, who despite not attending any pre-interviews turns up day-of brimming with confidence in their ability to ‘wing it.'

MKA's new website launched last fall. Middle of Six partnered with Hero Creative to deliver the project which features immersive storytelling and visuals crafted to showcase the structural engineering firm's history, values, work, news and digital identity. The re-imagined site includes an immersive firm history and timeline and is designed to be approachable and user-friendly for website visitors of all engagement levels.

Middle of Six's work with general contractor Schuchart Corporation on its Dick's Drive-In proposal was inspired by the fast-food chains 1950's design aesthetic and branding coupled with catchy, humorous copy.

Schuchart broke ground on Dick's Federal Way location in November 2022. It opened at 32048 Pacific Hwy S., at the Commons at Federal Way, last July.

The 2024 SMPS Marketing Communications Awards took place at SMPS's annual Amplify A|E|C conference on July 24-26 in Salt Lake City. Accepting Middle of Six's awards at the conference were founding principal, Wendy Simmons and associate principal, Allison Tivnon.

Simmons remarked, “I'm so appreciative of the creativity and drive of the team at Middle of Six to deliver these projects, which is only possible because of the trust and collaboration of our clients. To be recognized amongst a field of the best in AEC marketing is truly an honor.”

The full list of award winners is at https://tinyurl.com/SMPS2024awards.

Other local winners include architecture firm Olson Kundig which won a Merit Award in the Book/Monograph - Print Edition category for its recent publication New Heights: Transforming Seattle's Iconic Space Needle. The book explores the $100 million renovation of the iconic structure, designed by Olson Kundig and completed in 2019. Olson Kundig also won a Merit Award in the Corporate Identity - Refresh Brand category.