Aon, CenturyLink win 'People's Choice' social marketing awards

Aon Corp. and CenturyLink Business were the headliners at BtoB's third annual Social Media Marketing Awards ceremony, held during Digital Edge Live.

Aon took People's Choice honors in the nontech category for its "Pass It On" program, a contest in which employee teams in three regions competed on their knowledge, creativity and teamwork. Teams earned points for such actions as answering a daily question, uploading Aon-related videos and photos, and sharing details of local events.

The uptake was high, with more than 400,000 questions answered in the first three months. Engagement with external audiences rose dramatically on Facebook, Twitter and the host website.

CenturyLink Business won the People's Choice award in the tech category for its "Ultimate Problem Solver" program, an interactive, 50-stage trivia game that rewards players who work through an increasingly challenging series of clues.

UltimateProblemSolver.com presents players with puzzles they must solve to unlock passwords that lead them to the next level in the game. Some answers involve Web research or digging through CenturyLink marketing material. Players are encouraged to interact and share their experiences.

Over an eight-month period, almost 90,000 people played the game and 46,000 registered on the site, giving CenturyLink a valuable well of leads. About 17,000 players answered all 50 questions.

Aon and CenturyLink were selected by popular vote from among three finalists each in the nontech and tech categories of BtoB's Social Media Marketing Awards competition. —C.H.