UniFirst Wins Bronze in 2016 Best in Biz Awards

WILMINGTON, Mass., Dec. 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF ), an industry leader in the supply and servicing of uniforms, workwear, and ancillary facility products throughout the U.S. and Canada, has been named a bronze winner in the Film or Video of the Year category by the Best in Biz Awards. Best in Biz is the only independent business awards program judged by members of the press and industry analysts.

Award winners were determined based on scoring from an independent panel of 50 judges from highly recognized outlets, including AdWeek, Associated Press, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Inc., and Wall Street Journal. More than 600 nominations were received this year in a variety of company, executive, team, and product-focused categories. Nominations were fielded from public and private companies of all sizes, in virtually every major industry and region throughout the U.S. and Canada.

UniFirst partnered with whiteboard animation company Ydraw to create a set of videos to help with company recruitment efforts. The first of the two videos was created and directed toward recruiting sales professionals who sell new accounts; closely on its heels was the creation of a second video directed toward recruiting route sales representatives who service existing accounts. For the second video, UniFirst wanted to expand the look of the video and create more interest by introducing a 2.5-D animated experience.

The challenge with each video was to capture interest, highlight the career perks and opportunities, and direct the viewer to the company’s career website – all in an easily digestible length as close to 02:30 as possible. Google Analytics reports show that the videos have increased web traffic and page viewing time for the career site when posted.

“Feedback from our recruitment specialists, as well as sales and service executives, has been quite positive. In fact, many have said that since the introduction of the videos there has been an increase in the number and the quality of the candidates who have shown interest,” said Julia Davis, a sales training and recruitment specialist at UniFirst. “Many members of our sales and service teams have even opted to include direct links to the videos in their email signatures because they have been so well-received.”

“It was an honor to be invited to judge the Best in Biz Awards and the competition was extremely fierce this year,” said judge Joe Pettit from Tripwire. “It was extremely difficult to pick out the winners, as all the applicants were of such a high standard.” 

Best in Biz Awards 2016 honors were presented in 60 categories, including Company of the Year, Fastest-Growing Company of the Year, Most Innovative Company of the Year, Best Place to Work, Technology Department of the Year, Executive of the Year, Most Innovative Product of the Year, Best New Product of the Year, App of the Year, PR Campaign of the Year and Website of the Year.

About UniFirst

Headquartered in Wilmington, Mass., UniFirst Corporation (NYSE: UNF ) is a North American leader in the supply and servicing of uniform and workwear programs, as well as the delivery of facility service programs. Together with its subsidiaries, the company also provides first aid and safety products, and manages specialized garment programs for the cleanroom and nuclear industries. UniFirst manufactures its own branded workwear, protective clothing, and floorcare products, and with 240 service locations, 300,000 customer locations, and 13,000 employee Team Partners, the company outfits nearly 2 million workers each business day. For more information, contact UniFirst at 800.455.7654 or visit  www.unifirst.com .

About Best in Biz Awards

Now in its sixth year, Best in Biz Awards recognizes companies for their business success as judged by established members of the press and industry analysts. Best in Biz Awards honors are currently conferred in two separate programs: North America and International, and in more than 60 categories, including company, team, executive, product and PR and media. Entries for Best in Biz Awards 2017 International are currently being accepted until the final deadline on April 28, 2017. For more information, visit  http://www.bestinbizawards.com .

Contact: Meghan Marcus Marketing Communications Manager UniFirst Corporation 68 Jonspin Rd. Wilmington, MA 01887 978.527.3974 Meghan_Marcus@unifirst.com