Oklahoma City Community College’s (OCCC) Marketing team received 39 American Advertising Federation awards (ADDYs) at this year’s gala, held February 19, 2022. That number is by far the most of any educational institution in the region, and cements the college as one of the state’s most acclaimed marketing and creative agencies since 2020. The college received a historic 19 awards for its 2021-2022 enrollment campaign featuring Rex Tomlinson, a dinosaur news anchor who has spent 65 million years trying to pay off his student loans from a big state school.

“This is the most talented group of marketers I’ve ever worked with,” said Erick Worrell, Chief Creative for OCCC. “The last two years have been a whirlwind, but we’ve been able to come together and achieve historic results, even amid a pandemic, multiple Presidential transitions, and largely remote work. It’s unreal.”

This era of OCCC Marketing began in March 2020, and the majority of the team was recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team includes Coin Creative owners Erick Worrell and Abbie Sears, Buzz Brand owner Bri Ramos, media director Emily Tackett (previously at BigWing and OU), art director Abigail Weddle (previously of Cooper House), art director Rachele Cromer (previously MAMA Design), OCCC graduate and project manager Alara Johnson, and long-time OCCC veterans videographer Robert Lane (formerly KOCO) and web administrator Kathy Nix. Marketing also operates OCCC’s award-winning print shop, which includes director Justin Van Nest, senior print tech David Schemenauer, and print tech Ian Wakefield.

“Awards are great, but they don’t guarantee results,” said Media Director Emily Tackett. “But we follow the data, and the analytics also show what we’ve done over the last two years is working. We’re seeing exponential growth in social media following, engagements, share of search, awareness and recall, and lead generation to our website. We’re reaching more students and families, engaging with them more personally, and serving the mission of OCCC – student success, community enrichment – every single day.”

With more than 60 majors to choose from, and more than 40 student-led clubs and organizations, OCCC offers an affordable, accredited college education with associate degrees, certifications, non-credit classes, and leadership opportunities to more than 17,000 students annually. Whoever you are and whomever you love, wherever you’ve been and wherever you’re going: You’re welcome here.

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To view OCCC Marketing’s best work from 2021, including video and photos that may be repurposed for media coverage, please click here, or visit www.occc.edu/marketing and select “2021: Year in Review” from the sidebar.