By: Matt Shoup, an EO Colorado member, and Author of “Become an Award Winning Company”
This is an excerpt of his book from a chapter entitled “The Benefit of Building Your Brand with Curt Richardson and Kristen Tatti of OtterBox”

Before I go into the benefits of being an award-winning company, I want to make one thing clear: You can be a crappy company and still win awards. Unfortunately, bad companies can sneak under the radar and win an award or two but if, at their core, they have no integrity. Lack accountability, and demonstrate all the other things that bad companies bring, they will not last long. In Part IV, I outline the top things I know will make your company a killer company. The idea is that your company speaks for itself, and the award is just there to support it. Don’t go win an award and think it will fix your company if it is broken in any way, because it will not.

This first interview with Curt Richardson, CEO of OtterBox, demonstrates this point very well. Curt also talks about how winning awards can help you build your brand. I have already mentioned that awards, as a leg of PR, are beneficial for building your brand. Not only will your brand be built by award, but it will become stronger if you are already a great company.

I first heard about OtterBox when I was in Best Buy looking at cell phone cases. This was late 2009. Within six months of hearing about them for the first time, I couldn’t get away from their name. From their massive media and press coverage to their involvement in the community, their explosive growth, and, oh yeah, they have won tons of awards too. Curt Richardson and OtterBox have made a huge impact on the Northern Colorado community, and they are just getting started.

I was honored to sit down with Curt to find out what role awards have played in the growth of his company and global brand. Curt started from a shop in his garage 12 years ago, and has grown OtterBox into multimillion dollar company. I followed up with Kristen Tatti in OtterBox’s PR and Media department. I was also honored to spend time with Kristen to hear her take on how awards being a key piece of the company’s PR efforts.

To read the rest of the chapter and the full book,