Forbes wins 4 first place TPA awards
TPA AWARDS – GCP Marketing General Sales Manager Kim Forbes proudly displays five awards she won in the Tennessee Press Association Ideas Contest. Forbes entered all the categories relating with digital marketing and won four first place awards and one second place award.
by Danny Wade
The Humboldt Chronicle, along with sister publications—Milan Mirror Exchange, Trenton Gazette, Tri-City Reporter, Lexington Progress, Union City Messenger and Weakley County Press are no strangers to winning Tennessee Press Association awards annually. Now, the Chronicle and Gibson County Publishing are award winners for their digital marketing campaigns.
Kimberly Forbes, general sales manager for GCP Marketing, entered the Tennessee Press Association’s 2022 Ideas Contest earlier this year and brought home four first place awards and one second place award. The awards were for digital ads produced in 2021.
“A lot of work goes into creating strategy plans and artwork for our advertisers,” Forbes said of what brought her to enter the Ideas Contest. “I felt certain that the work we do can stand with or above the competition with the rest of Tennessee.”
Forbes’ hard work and professionalism paid off. Forbes and The Humboldt Chronicle won first place in “Best Social Media for Advertisers” with her WestRock – Now Hiring advertisements. She brought home first place in “Best Digital Static (non-motion) Display Ad” for her West Tennessee Strawberry Festival campaign last year. “Best Digital Animated Display Ad” was another first place win from Forbes’ Humboldt Shop Local for Christmas digital package. The fourth first place award was for “Best Marketing Materials” for her Marketing with a Multi-Media Approach plan. The Chronicle had one second place win in the category, “Best Social Media Animated Self Promotion” where Forbes created marketing materials for GCP Marketing.
The TPA Ideas contest had 487 entries in the 2022 contest, which has four circulation divisions and 41 categories. Of those 41 categories, only a handful pertained to digital marketing and GCP won the majority of those. TPA partnered with the Hoosier State Press Association for the judging, which resulted in 240 awards.
“The contest was held virtually, which made sense for a digital contest,” Forbes recalled watching the results online. “When the winners were announced and we won, I was ecstatic. I screamed every time. This confirmed we are on the right track.”
Forbes said she felt a lot of pride and was so excited to let everyone in the company know.
“We are very proud of the excellent work Kim does for the Chronicle and for Gibson County Publishing using digital media,” Humboldt Chronicle Editor Danny Wade said. “Multi-media and digital advertising is not my forte. I’m old school—growing up with a newspaper background. Kim has worked her magic to marry the two together for the betterment of the company and to benefit the advertisers.”
Forbes is like a sponge as she continues to learn every nuance of digital marketing. She watches webinars and reads articles to keep up with growing trends. She analyzes data of the digital platforms and formulates a plan, tailor made for the client.
“Our client results help me realize how important the multi-media approach is,” Forbes noted. “You find ways to continue educating local advertisers so you can make it happen more frequently.”
Forbes has already begun assembling entries for next year’s contest. She is excited and wants to continue to bring home awards for GCP.
“I’m very proud Gibson County Publishing is leading the way in combining print and digital advertising,” Forbes stated. “We want to provide our advertisers with the most current, effective methods the 21st Century has to offer.
