Avnet Express' Drive for Innovation Honored with Excellence from the Business Marketing Association B2 Awards

PHOENIX and SAN FRANCISCO, June 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Drive for Innovation culminates its cross-country year-long road trip, the program has been honored with a Business Marketing Association B2 "Award of Excellence" in the  "Web Presence - Online Community, Open or Closed" category.  The Drive for Innovation is an inspired initiative in partnership between UBM Electronics, the daily source of essential business and technical information for the electronics industry's decision makers, and Avnet Express, the e-Commerce engine for Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT).

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The B2 Awards are an international business-to-business marketing and communications contest that recognizes excellence among top agencies and corporate marketers.

Brian Fuller, editorial lead, Drive for Innovation, said, "With the global electronics industry watching, we've identified all types of technology innovations over the past year through this ground-breaking program. I am very pleased that the Drive for Innovation program has been honored with an Award of Excellence by the Business Marketing Association."

"The Drive for Innovation was created to serve two purposes: to drive greater awareness of Avnet Express and to uncover and expose American innovation," said Ian Basey, vice president of Marketing for Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas. "Receiving this recognition from the BMA is a great accomplishment and we thank the engaged, online community that has supported the Drive for Innovation this past year."

In 2011, the Drive for Innovation won a min's Editorial & Design Award in the "Special Section/Microsite" category and the "On the Road" Blog was a finalist in the "Blog" category.  Additionally, in 2012, the Drive for Innovation received an Honorable Mention in the min's Best of the Web Awards in the "Contest/Online Games" category.

Since July 2011, the Drive for Innovation Chevrolet Volt has been making periodic stops throughout the journey, where Fuller, the driver of the Chevrolet Volt, has been interviewing engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators and students, and blogging and posting video updates about his experiences. The trip details the electronic innovations behind the Chevrolet Volt and the future of plug-in electric cars. The multi-faceted program is anchored by a website that features content from the road trip, a drive tracker and an interactive map that highlights the tour as well as games and prizes to fuel community engagement.

Avnet Express gives design engineers and purchasing professionals online access to the world's largest catalog of electronic component products, which tops five million parts. Avnet Express offers parametric searching capabilities and the ability to upload a bill of materials (BOM) for easier sourcing of products and a consistent global platform of localized content. The site can be accessed in nine languages and 13 currencies.

About Avnet Electronics Marketing
Avnet Electronics Marketing is an operating group of Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc. that serves electronic original equipment manufacturers (EOEMs) and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers in more than 70 countries, distributing electronic components from leading manufacturers and providing associated design-chain and supply-chain services. The group's website is located at www.em.avnet.com.

About Avnet, Inc.
Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), a Fortune 500 company, is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and embedded technology serving customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Avnet accelerates its partners' success by connecting the world's leading technology suppliers with a broad base of more than 100,000 customers by providing cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended July 2, 2011, Avnet generated revenue of $26.5 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.

About UBM Electronics
UBM Electronics is the global leader in media and marketing solutions for design engineering and the electronics industry.  We deliver results for the key influencers and decision makers involved in the design, development, and commercialization of technology through its market leading brands, peer communities, and professional education services. More than 2.2 million engineering professionals engage with UBM Electronics brands which include EE Times, EDN, Design News, Test & Measurement World, TechOnline, EBN, DataSheets.com, Designlines, and Embedded.com across the globe to accelerate technology sales. The international electronics community gathers at UBM Electronics market leading events such as the Embedded Systems Conferences, DESIGN, DesignCon and ARM Technology Conference to share, learn, discuss, and advance the critical issues and challenges facing the electronics industry. Additionally, UBM Electronics provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation marketing, integrated media, custom solutions and research. UBM Electronics is part of UBM (UBM.L) a global provider of media and information services for professional B2B communities and markets.

For more information, go to www.ubmelectronics.com; follow us at @ubm_electronics to get the latest UBM Electronics news.

For more information on UBM Electronics please contact:
Felicia Hamerman, Vice President, Marketing
T: 516.562.5652, E: [email protected]

For more information on Avnet Express please contact:
Bethany Helvie, Public Relations, Avnet Electronics Marketing
T:  480.643.7183, E: [email protected]

SOURCE UBM Electronics