Winning strategies of four ADDY Award champs.

By Abby Weingarten

More than 100 of Southwest Florida’s most impressive advertising campaigns were celebrated earlier this year by the American Advertising Federation-Suncoast in its annual ADDY Awards competition. Here’s what made four of Sarasota-Manatee’s Gold and AMY (highest-scoring) honorees so successful.

Artful Argument

Winner: Ringling College Design Center

CLIENT: Office of Admissions, Ringling College of Art and Design

AWARD: Gold ADDY

CATEGORY: Advertising for the Arts & Sciences: Collateral, Poster

PROJECT: 2012-2013 Ringling College of Art and Design admissions poster

No wonder Ringling College’s Design Center won a Gold ADDY for its 2012-2013 admissions poster touting the economic benefits of a creative career. Fanciful and imaginative, the piece was designed to excite high school students and soothe their worried parents, who may not have seen a future or dollar signs in creative professions. Hundreds of jobs available to arts majors were listed on the back of the poster. This piece achieved just what it set out to do: Convince students (and parents who often foot the bill) to follow their passion, right into Ringling College of Art and Design.

Museum-Quality Campaign

Winner: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

CLIENT: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

AWARDS: Gold ADDY and AMY

CATEGORY: Integrated Campaigns: Consumer, Regional/National

PROJECT: Deco Japan campaign

The Ringling Museum created a dynamic, multimedia campaign last year to draw international attention to its exhibit, “Deco Japan: Shaping Art & Culture, 1920-1945.” The visual effort included a striking graphic of a Japanese woman’s face from the museum’s show, created by an unknown artist, and combined it with informative text, to be used in flyers, rack cards, and TV and web spots. The campaign spread the word that, for the first time, art patrons outside Japan and New York could experience these rare works, considered the premier private collection of Japanese deco art. The signature image even went on the road as a billboard on a city bus, attracting a regional audience.

All Zipped Up

Winner: Grapevine Communications International

CLIENT: TreeUmph! Adventure Course

AWARDS: Gold ADDY and AMY

CATEGORY: Digital Advertising: Websites, Consumer, Services

PROJECT: TreeUmph! Adventure Park website

Grapevine Communications created a high-spirited online presence for TreeUmph!, a treetop recreational park and adventure course. Grapevine helped the new business with name development, and created the logo design and all print material, radio and TV spots. The crowning jewel: a multi-award-winning website with a photo gallery, video clips, and interactive tools for charting zipline adventures and vacations. This was combined with a public relations initiative that resulted in extensive statewide media coverage months before the opening day in January. The campaign’s tagline, “The Ground is Overrated,” was the perfect pitch.

Catalog Creativity

Winner: Boost Studio

CLIENT: OMG ETC

AWARDS: Gold ADDY and AMY

CATEGORY: Sales Promotion: Catalog

PROJECT: OMG ETC catalog

Boost Studio’s assignment was to design the overall brand and catalog look for OMG ETC, a Sarasota-based clothing company that carries bright, inspiring T-shirts for its religious/family audience. Boost used a kaleidoscope of soft colors, balloon shapes and bubbly letters that tied into the exclamation “OMG!” The effect was friendly and warm and evoked lighthearted fun. It was a refreshing, whimsical approach to marketing a classic product like a T-shirt.

 

Online Extras

Faces of Wellness

Winner: Nickel Communications

CLIENT: Family Healing Center

AWARDS: Gold ADDY and AMY

CATEGORY: Consumer or Trade Publications: Campaign, Four-Color

PROJECT: “Rediscovering Your Well” photographic image campaign

CREDITS: Lindsey Nickel-de la O, creative director; Kristine Nickel, copywriter; Jade Gates, photographer; and Krystal Karnes, designer.

Nickel Communications combined gorgeous photographs with patient testimonials to inspire new clients to consider acupuncture treatments at Family Healing Center. The Nickel Communications staff conducted interviews with five patients and came up with short, meaningful copy. It was a simple and powerful approach that engaged the reader, reminding many of them what it feels like to be well and to consider acupuncture as part of their wellness strategy.

Fitness Focus

Winner: Grapevine Communications International, Inc.

CLIENT: Studio South Fitness

AWARDS: Gold ADDY and AMY

CATEGORY: Out-of-Home: Site, Exterior, Still or Static

PROJECT: Studio South Fitness building signage

CREDITS: Angela Massaro-Fain, creative director/president; Michael Cronin, art director; Gabriele Vest, account executive; and Cornerstone Signs, sign company/printer.

As a new kid on the block, Studio South Fitness in downtown Sarasota needed to attract clients. Grapevine Communications produced this fresh, eye-catching signage with bold white-and-orange lettering. The bright logo, coupled with a brochure and other ad materials, gave Studio South a fun, energetic and inviting vibe so that even non-gym rats would feel welcome to take a look.