Tahoma 31 Marketing Campaigns Win 3 National Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Charles City, VA (May 16, 2022): Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass is known worldwide for its cold tolerance and versatility for use on golf courses, sports fields, and lawns. And once again, it’s also recognized for its award-winning marketing campaigns. At the 2022 Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) Awards held in early May in Kansas City, Tahoma 31 won three national awards, including the equivalent of Best in Show for the grasses’ marketing campaigns.

“Winning these awards is a great honor and confirms our commitment to creating engaging marketing messages that support our licensed sod producers while informing the turf industry about the benefits of Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass,” said Chad Adcock, VP of Business Development for Sod Production Services, the licensing agent for Tahoma 31.

The awards include:

FIRST PLACE: WRITING A FEATURE ARTICLE (MARCOMM)

 

The article, “Grass Selection with a Purpose” co-authored by Stacie Zinn Roberts & Dr. Yanqi Wu, professor of grass breeding and genetics at Oklahoma State University, was published in “By Design” magazine, the official publication of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, (Summer 2021). In it, the authors discuss how research and real-world performance shows Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass is bred to play great and address common golf course issues. The goal of the article was to educate golf course architects about the benefits of grassing their new golf course designs with Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass, a genetically-improved turfgrass variety. Co-authoring the article with the plant breeder gave the article scientific credibility. An Interview with a fellow golf course architect created a peer testimonial. Interviews with golf course superintendents provided testimonials on how the grass performs over time.

FIRST PLACE: COPYWRITING FOR A DISPLAY AD – COMMERCIAL PUBLICATIONS

The campaign, “Swiss Army Knife” was designed to show how Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass has many benefits without just listing them all. A competitor’s grass has just one benefit, drought tolerance, that they focus on. By comparing Tahoma 31 to a Swiss Army Knife, the campaign built upon the idea that Tahoma 31 offers many tools/attributes for many jobs, such as drought, cold tolerance, and early spring green-up. The headline, Like This, But in a Bermudagrass, drew the connections without paragraphs of copy. Arrows pointing to the tools on the knife showed what would have otherwise come as a list.

GARDNER AWARD, “BEST IN SHOW” WRITING – MARKETING

The copywriting for the Swiss Army ad was additionally honored with the prestigious Gardner Award, the equivalent of Best in Show, in the Writing – Marketing category, winning as the best in marketing communications writing of all entries in the competition.

Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass is used worldwide as the premium choice for golf courses, sports fields, and lawns. Projects of note include stadium surfaces for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles, MLB’s Los Angeles Angels & Dodgers, SEC Football’s University of Arkansas Razorbacks, Liberty National Golf Club, and the National Park Services’ National Mall in Washington, D.C.

ABOUT TOCA

The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) is comprised of editors, writers, publishers, photographers, public relations/advertising practitioners, industry association leaders, manufacturers, and others involved in green industry communications. It is a national organization based in New Prague, MN.

ABOUT TAHOMA 31

Tahoma 31 Bermuda was developed by the turfgrass experts at Oklahoma State University and is licensed and marketed by Sod Production Services, a division of Riverside Turf, headquartered in Charles City, VA. Tahoma31Bermudagrass.com or 757-345-1120

Carolina Green
10108 Indian Trail Fairway Rd
Indian Trail, NC 28079
kprice@cgcfields.com
704-753-1707 ext 105

Inman Sod
19 Harris Plant Cir
Rutherfordton, NC 28139
jspears@inmanmills.com
864-680-3509

Carolina Turf Farms, Inc.
PO Box 850
Raeford, NC 28376
ncsodman@carolinaturffarms.com
910-875-6141

Chanshare Farms
10785 W 12800 N.
Tremonton, Utah 84337
www.chanshare.com
eric@chanshare.com
435-854-3627

Craft Turf Farms
10505 Co Rd 65
Foley, AL 36535
https://craftturffarms.com
david@craftturffarms.com

Grassmasters Sod Farms
2300 W 350
North Patoka, IN 47666
www.gmsod.com
pam@gmsod.com
812-779-5468

South Florida Grassing, Inc.
P.O. Box 725
Hobe Sound, FL 33475
https://www.southfloridagrassing.com
sfgrassing@yahoo.com

West Coast Turf
11803 E. McDonald Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85256
Danielle.Scardino@westcoastturf.com
888-893-8873

Riverside Turf
18161 Sandy Point Rd
Charles City, VA 23030
morgan@riversideturf.com
804-829-2608

Winstead Turf Farms Inc
22860 Hwy 196
Arlington, TN 38002
bobby@winsteadturffarms.com
901-491-5025

South Turf, (DBA New Life Turf)
7500 Savannah Hwy
Neeses, SC 29107
afogle@newlifeturf.com
acribb@newlifeturf.com
800-752-1035

Carolina Fresh Farms
7 locations in S.C. to serve you
www.carolinafreshfarms.com
800-675-7954

Riverview Sod Ranch
14616 E 146 St South
Leonard, OK 74043
riverviewsod@yahoo.com
918-232-5673

Sod by Sherry
7700 N Heaston Rd.
Calumet, OK 73014
sodbysherry@gmail.com
405-630-8710

JAPAN

Soil Maxx
Tokyo, Japan
msato@soilmaxx.com
81-80-3359-8747

VIETNAM

Outfield Nurseries
Ngoc Giang Hamlet, Vinh Ngoc Commune
Dong Anh, Hanoi Vietnam 100000
jason@outfieldasia.com
84-24-3514-8592

Tuckahoe Turf Farms
401 Myrtle Avenue
Hammonton, NJ 08037
keith@ttfarms.com
609-784-3704

Greenfield Turf
PO Box 138
Gordonville, MO 63752
Greenfieldturffarm@hotmail.com
573-450-4058

Keeven Bros Sod
602 Laura Hill Rd
St. Peters, MO 63376
Drewkeeven@keevenbrothers.com
636-544-9706

Keevenbrothers.com

Central Sod of Maryland
920 John Brown Rd
Centreville, MD 21617
team@centralsodmd.com
https://plantsod.com
410-827-5000

Grassmasters Sod Farms
2300 W 350
North Patoka, IN 47666
www.gmsod.com
pam@gmsod.com
812-779-5468

Hawaiian Turfgrass
94-840 Lanikuhana St.
Mililani, HI 96789
hawaiianturfgrass@gmail.com
808-371-0527

Legacy Turf Farms
850 Indian Mounds Rd
Cartersville, GA 30120
gary@legacyturffarms.com
https://legacyturffarms.com
770-607-0491

West Coast Turf
42-540 Melanie Place
Palm Desert, CA 92211
mel.williams@gmail.com
760-340-7300

Poinsett Turfgrass LLC
PO Box 48
Harrisburg, AR 72432
poinsett.co@gmail.com
870-761-0355

AUSTRALIA