GUC’s Public Information Office received two 2018 Excellence in Public Power Communications awards from the American Public Power Association (APPA).  The awards were in the Video and Social Media categories.

GUC was one of 43 utilities that took home an award from this year’s APPA Customer Connections Conference. Awards were given to those who showed ingenuity and creativity in telling their stories through outstanding copy, design, graphics, social media engagement, and video editing.

This is the third time GUC has won an award for social media efforts, and the first award for video.

Video Award

In early 2018, Public Information was asked to develop marketing materials to remind customers to include their pay stub when mailing in payments. When pay stubs are not included, it can cause delays in posting those payments. The Public Information Office created fun, light-hearted videos to help remind customers to include those stubs.

To reach our diverse customers, Public Information developed three related videos, each with a different focus. The winning video has a “Pirate Country” theme, and you can check it out using this link:  

https://vimeo.com/276304101/8c1e23324f

Social Media Award

In the summer of 2017, Public Information created a “Customer Kudos” social media campaign where we photograph our employees receiving customer thank you notes (see below). Along with the photos, we include hashtags like #highfive and #customerkudos, and mention how amazing our customers are for sharing their positive experiences. Each photo throughout the campaign (which is ongoing) includes the employee’s first name, department, and part of the customer’s message of appreciation.

This campaign allows the public to connect faces to the outstanding work of our employees. It also helps increase our social media engagement.