Oro Valley wins national award for communications and marketing
Published on October 21, 2025
ORO VALLEY, Ariz. (Oct. 21, 2025) – The Town of Oro Valley’s Communications & Marketing Division has been nationally recognized for excellence in local government communications, receiving an Award of Excellence from the City-County Communications & Marketing Association (3CMA).
The 3CMA Savvy Awards program honors outstanding achievements in local government communications, marketing and community relations. This year’s competition drew more than 1,100 entries from across the country, with winners announced at the 3CMA National Conference in September 2025.
Oro Valley received the Award of Excellence for Best Use of Humor (populations under 75,000) for its Hot Cocoa 5K “Mugs on Fire” social media video.
“This is our second year being recognized nationally for best use of humor in effective government communications,” said Communications and Marketing Administrator Misti Nowak. “Humor has become a valuable tool in breaking through the noise and clutter on social media. It’s also a great way to delight and engage the residents we serve.”
About the project
The Hot Cocoa 5K “Mugs on Fire” video was created to promote the Town’s annual Hot Cocoa 5K, a New Year’s Day community race event benefiting Oro Valley’s Youth Recreation Scholarship Fund. Inspired by the classic film, Chariots of Fire, the humorous video featured two runners racing while carefully balancing steaming mugs of hot chocolate, ending with the reminder that cocoa would, of course, be served after the race.
In-house development and production of the video was led by Digital Content Specialist Nick Going. The video was promoted across social media, the Town’s website and event marketing promotions. The result was one of the Town’s highest-performing videos of 2024, generating more than 8,000 views and driving a notable increase in race registrations. The 2025 Hot Cocoa 5K went on to draw 496 participants and raise more than $10,000 for the scholarship fund.
Watch the award-winning video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpSVyfq_Wb4
The humorous “Mugs on Fire” video featured two runners racing while carefully balancing steaming mugs of hot chocolate, ending with the reminder that cocoa would, of course, be served after the race.
The Town of Oro Valley Communications & Marketing Division has been nationally recognized for excellence in local government communications, receiving an Award of Excellence from the City-County Communications & Marketing Association (3CMA).