Heartland Energy nabs three APPA awards

Communications awards earned in print/digital, video and web/social media categories

Heartland Energy was among 67 public power utilities to earn Excellence in Public Power Communications awards from the American Public Power Association. The awards were presented in November during APPA’s Customer Connections Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

The annual awards recognize excellence in communications. Entries are judged in three categories: Print & Digital, Web & Social Media, and Video. Awards were given to those that showed ingenuity and creativity in telling their stories through outstanding copy, design, financial data presentation, graphics, social media engagement, video editing, and web layout and interactivity.

In Class D: Gross revenues of less than $75 million, Heartland earned Awards of Excellence for both Print & Digital and Video categories and an Award of Merit for the Web & Social Media category. All entries were produced entirely in-house by Chief Communications Officer Ann Hyland and Projects & Marketing Coordinator Danielle Kearin, with input from other key staff members.

Print & Digital: 2022 Annual Report “Power with Purpose”

As with any annual report, the main goal of Heartland’s 2022 report was to provide readers with information about the company’s performance over the past year, including audited financial statements. However, additional information was included to highlight our successes and performance outside the financial realm.

The main focus of “Power with Purpose” was our re-brand and name change that took place in 2022. It also provided simple, easy-to-digest information, including infographics, to highlight different aspects of our company and the industry.

It can be viewed online here.

Video: 2023 Community Spark Award Winner

Each year, Heartland Energy solicits nominations for the Community Spark, an award created to recognize outstanding small businesses in our customer communities. The award is presented during National Small Business Week.

This video announced Miller, SD business South Dakota Arms Company as the 2023 recipient of the award. It highlighted the ways in which SD Arms Company served its community, why it was deserving of recognition, and how it finds success in a small, rural community.

It can be viewed online here.

Web & Social: Power that Pays

The “Power that Pays” social media campaign featured Facebook ads promoting rebates and incentives available through Power Forward, a program designed to promote the efficient use of electricity as well as electricity as a beneficial source of energy.

The goal was to encourage people to think about electricity in a different way — as an efficient source of energy that can power their entire home or business. It reinforced the benefits realized by electric ratepayers in our public power customer communities by showcasing programs available to them through Heartland and their local municipality.

Ads were targeted to electric utility customers of our municipal electric customers, particularly residents and business owners who would benefit from our programs. Corresponding posts and ads were also provided to our customer municipalities along with suggested text for publication on their own social media channels.

This year’s awards were judged by Jakub Konysz, Founder and CEO, Global Navigators; Steven M. Mandurano, Principal: Marketing, Membership & Communications, Association CMO LLC; and Lidia Varesco Racoma, Brand Strategist & Marketing Designer, Lidia Varesco Design.

A complete list of winners is available here.