(Naperville, IL – April 25, 2007) Quality Chekd Dairies, Inc. is pleased to announce Hiland Dairy Foods Company of Springfield, Missouri, as winner of its 2007 Harlie F. Zimmerman Award for marketing excellence and best communication of brand excellence. The Zimmerman Award went to Hiland Dairy for its clearly defined marketing objectives and strategies, measurable actions, and execution of results. Hiland Dairy was presented with a Grandfather clock or $2,500 Scholarship in recognition of its efforts at the QCS Leadership Conference held April 22-24, 2007, at the Marriott Denver Tech Center, in Denver, Colorado. “Our goal is to be a leader in the dairy industry through innovative marketing and promotions,” said Gary Aggus, president, Hiland Dairy Foods Company. “The Zimmerman Award recognizes our efforts and influences our drive to create more unique and memorable marketing programs.”
The Harlie F. Zimmerman Award, named as a tribute to Quality Chekd’s inaugural managing director from 1949 through 1980, acknowledges “Best in Class” total marketing plan and results. Award entries are judged by an independent panel that critiques each dairy’s marketing plan, promotional materials, and merchandising programs, and their ability to enhance brand awareness and generate positive results.
“Each year the competition for the Zimmerman Award gets increasingly more difficult to judge because of our members’ remarkable creativity and originality of the campaigns,” said Peter Horvath, managing director, Quality Chekd. “Hiland Dairy deserves this award because of its fresh approach to marketing its brand to consumers and executing the campaign to achieve outstanding results.”
Galliker Dairy Company, Johnstown, Pennsylvania and Alqueria Dairy in Bogotá, Colombia were also selected as finalists for the Zimmerman Award. Each dairy received a trophy bearing this recognition.