The City of Carrollton Marketing Services team won three awards at the City-County Communications & Marketing Association’s (3CMA) national Savvy Awards Competition presented during a ceremony on Thursday, September 8.

The Savvy Awards are held in conjunction with 3CMA’s Annual Conference and recognize outstanding local government achievement in communications, public-sector marketing, and resident-government relationships.

Marketing for TEXFest, Carrollton’s annual celebration of all things Lone Star State, brought home a first place Savvy Award in the Marketing Tools – Marketing Event category. TEXFest is a unique opportunity to celebrate Texas’ Independence Day with a brewfest-themed event held in Carrollton’s authentic Historic Downtown every March. 

“Not many events in the region take advantage of this significant date in Texas history,” Carrollton Marketing Manager Susan Prosoco said. “Leveraging Texas independence allows creative marketing opportunities to attract our community and visitors to attend this fun, free event in Carrollton’s Historic Downtown.”

3CMA judges gave TEXFest congratulations on what looks like a really fun event with wide-ranging marketing support. They said implementing a broad-reaching marketing plan and communications strategy with many deliverables appeared to be very successful. According to one judge, finding ways to cut costs and still have great marketing materials and media coverage is a lot of work. A second said this event is a fabulous way to bring customers to a location that they may not have spent time in before. Another judge said TEXFest is a great event for the community to enjoy and look forward to year after year.

In the Special Events – Recurring Event Category, Carrollton also brought home a first place Savvy Award for the City’s signature Festival at the Switchyard. The 11th Annual Carrollton Festival at the Switchyard impressed the judges with its comprehensive marketing efforts that took full advantage of the event’s past track record while celebrating the return to live events after 2020 with attendance of more than 32,000.

With well-documented results, the judges said it was easy to see how the marketing methods, designs, and creative elements all came together to support this community gathering. The marketing packages and graphics were clean, yet exciting, and had great brand consistency. Judges said the event stood out from the rest of the entries for the many marketing activities for residents and the team’s attention to detail and staying on theme.

In addition, the poster design for the Festival earned an Award of Excellence in the Graphic Design – Other Marketing Tools category for its unique composition and style elements that set the tone for the Festival’s graphics, T-shirts, and promotional items. The design’s dark and weathered background reflects the alternative rock style of the 2021 event headliner Blue October, emphasizes the event’s 11th year in production, and pays homage to the historic train-based Festival location on the Downtown Square.

Judges remarked at the nice, consistent branding, and gave it points for a good use of in-house resources, being budget conscious, and creating a good consistency across platforms. Another judge said the poster looks so good they gave a shout out to the in-house designers.

“The City of Carrollton’s Marketing team prioritizes engaging our citizens to increase awareness, excitement, and investment in our city, and works to further Council’s goal of being the community that families and businesses want to call home,” Marketing Director Kelli Lewis said. “We are proud to be recognized for those efforts by our peers at a prestigious national organization such as 3CMA.”

The Festival at the Switchyard’s size and various offerings such as free rides and games, free concerts, free children’s entertainment, and numerous food and craft vendors, according to Lewis, continue its legacy serving as Carrollton’s signature event that residents, business, and visitors from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and beyond look forward to all year long, and TEXFest’s unique theme and brewmeister appeal are sure to be a crowd pleaser for years to come.

More than 640 entries in 39 categories were received. 3CMA utilized judges from across the United States to review every entry and provide constructive comments on the winning entries.

This year’s awards were presented at the 3CMA 2022 Annual Conference. For a complete list of City accolades, visit cityofcarrollton.com/awards-accolades.