On February 25th, Southwire’s SIMpull Reel™ Maneuverable Payoff System garnered the top honor at the MAX Awards (Marketing Awards for Excellence), presented by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. The MAX Awards recognize the most innovative products in the state, which are supported by creative marketing and poised for commercial success.

“I’m tremendously proud of the teamwork and entrepreneurial spirit that went into this product,” said Norman Adkins, executive vice president and president of Southwire’s Electrical Division. “This recognition epitomizes the focus that we have toward our end users and our goal of making their lives easier.”

By replacing the traditional wooden reel, which results in higher labor costs and the potential for injury, with Southwire’s SIMpull Reel system, contractors are finding that they can eliminate the need for equipment to transport, maneuver, set up and pull cable off the reel. The system can handle reels of up to 6,000 pounds and moves independently on all sides, so it can maneuver in tight spaces. The inner reel compartment where the wire is stacked also rotates independently from the outer flanges, so the wire doesn’t rotate. This results in significantly less effort to maneuver, control and stop the reel.

In order to begin marketing this new offering to potential customers, Southwire took the product to end users, so they could see how it works live. Last year, Southwire presented it at the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) tradeshow, an event that hosts more than 6,500 attendees.

Once the system was more readily available to the market, Southwire launched a print ad in Electrical Contractor magazine, a publication that targets the contractor audience and has approximately 80,000 subscribers. This ad asked contractors to take the SIMpull Reel system “for a spin.” Southwire also created a large presence on YouTube and developed a video that highlighted the system on a job site.

The MAX Awards recognize the creative genius of innovators and marketers in Georgia, and the program is considered the most prestigious marketing awards event in the state. The awards honor the best in new products, services and ways to market each year. Entries are judged on the criteria of innovation, great marketing support and marketplace success by the Georgia State Marketing RoundTable, a group of Atlanta’s top marketing executives.