A collection of awards and trophies.
Flash stands in a heroic pose in his Super Flash costume with a bright blue face mask that includes gold lightening bolts on each side, a matching blue shirt with a electric atom symbol and gold belt and matching gauntlets.

Marketing Communications Awards

The University Communications and Marketing department, continues to radiate award-winning excellence, as it receives accolades for its print, digital and media creations.

Kent State joins the ranks of other university winners this year such as: Stanford, Syracuse, UMass, Tennessee and Rutgers with the MarCom Awards, to name only a few. UCM's work also competed with major brands globally and domestically such as Coke, IBM, etc.

Recent Awards

  • The American Advertising Federation – Akron ADDY Awards
  • AVA Digital Awards
  • Educational Advertising Awards (EAA)
  • Education Digital Marketing Awards (EDMA)
  • PRNEWS Digital & Social Media Awards
  • MarCom Awards 
  • Viddy Awards

View the full breakdown by award  View the Awards Archive

Team UCM

UCM is made up of more than 30+ professionals who serve as a treasure house of knowledge on Kent State University and its brand identity. These individuals bring with them extensive experience from the private sector, not-for-profit organizations, agencies and media. This team advances the university's brand and drives marketing and communications initiatives that deliver on the university's Roadmap to a Distinctive Kent State Strategic Plan. 

Meet the Team Discover Our Brand

“These awards represent a great mix of individual and team efforts.” 
- Stephen Ward, Vice President
Division of Marketing and Communications

Breakdown: Recent Awards

Award-Winning Division

American Advertising Awards
AVA Digital
EAA
EDMA
MarCom
PRNEWS
Viddy
CASE Awards

American Advertising Federation – Akron

Rami Daud and Nathaniel Bailey, photographers with University Communications and Marketing, smile after receiving their Silver ADDY Awards. (Photo credit: Smithberger Photography)

The American Advertising Federation – Akron is affiliated with, the nation’s largest and oldest advertising trade association, with more than 40,000 members working as a unifying voice for advertising, committed to making advertising a positive force in America’s economy and culture. 

The Akron chapter has a long, rich history in the region and receives several hundred entries to its annual Addys award competition each year. Entries from Kent State been honored with Addys in years past and our entries earned three awards in 2024.  

2024

2023

AVA Digital Awards

This international competition recognizes excellence by creative professionals responsible for the planning, concept, direction, design, and production of digital communication. The work judged in the AVA Digital Awards competition ranges from digital campaigns – to audio and video production – to website development – to social media engagement – to mobile marketing.

Each year, the AVA Awards competition receives more than 2,500 entries, and in 2023, Kent State earned seven of its top awards.  

2023

2022

Educational Advertising Awards

For nearly 40 years, the Educational Advertising Awards competition has given advertising and marketing professionals across the country the opportunity to have their best work reviewed by industry specialists for creativity, marketing execution and message impact. 

In 2024, Kent State’s entries to the competition were selected from among several thousand submissions to receive top honors.  

2024

2023

Learn more about the Educational Advertising Awards

Education Digital Marketing Awards

Recognizing the best educational websites, digital content, electronic communications, mobile media and social media the Education Digital Marketing Awards gives institutions the opportunity to test their programs and content against the best in the country. A national panel of industry specialists reviews each piece; judging creativity, marketing execution, message impact, technology application and innovative content.

Each year, the Education Digital Marketing awards receives several thousand entries from educational institutions in the U.S. Kent State is honored to have our work recognized this year with 4 awards.

2024

2022

  • 2022 Gold Award - Alumni Website Forever Brighter Website
  • 2022 Gold Award - Miscellaneous Interactive Media Welcome to KSU Web Page
  • 2022 Silver Award -  Blogs Social Media Blogs
  • 2022 Silver Award -  Digital Advertising Engineering Campaign
  • 2022 Silver Award -  Tik Tok Flash Getting Ready For Fall Semester
  • 2022 Bronze Award - Facebook Happy Thanksgiving Flashes!
  • 2022 Bronze Award - Microsite Strategic Roadmap Microsite
  • 2022 Merit Award -  Instagram Julie's Day In The Life at KSU
  • 2022 Merit Award -  Other Social Media Content Happy Earth Day Photo
  • 2022 Merit Award -  Social Media Content - Campaign Super Flash!
  • 2022 Merit Award -  Digital Special Video: Over 2 minutes College of Podiatric Medicine
  • 2022 Merit Award -  Digital Special Video: Under 2 minutes Study Abroad Paris

Learn more about the Educational Digital Marketing Awards

MarCom Awards

One of the world’s largest and most respected competitions, the MarCom Awards honor excellence in marketing and communication by recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals. 

Each year, the MarCom Awards receive about 6.500 print and digital entries from around the world. Kent State was honored to receive recognition, again in 2022 with five platinum awards in the international MarCom Awards competition, receiving a total of 15 awards overall.

2022 MarCom Awards

Learn more about the MarCom Awards

PRNEWS Digital & Social Media Awards

Drawing from a worldwide community of communicators and marketers from corporations, agencies and nonprofits, the PRNEWS Awards recognize people, organizations and brands that “challenge assumptions and embrace the seemingly impossible-to-create winning campaigns.”

2022

Learn More About The 2022 Awards Learn More About Their Awards Programs

Viddy Awards

The Viddy Awards is one of the oldest, largest and most respected awards programs in the video industry, honoring excellence in the way videos are created, produced and delivered in a digital world. Each year, the Viddy Awards attract the most prestigious businesses, production companies, agencies, broadcasters and individual video producers from more than100 countries around the world. 

Kent State’s submissions were selected for awards from nearly 1,300 entries in the Viddy Awards spring competition. 

2022

Learn more about the Viddy Awards

 

CASE Awards

The CASE Awards exist to shine a light on the outstanding people who contribute to higher education. This award exemplifies dedication to students and extraordinary contributions to academic success. 

2023

Learn more about the CASE Awards

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