Chuck Morris

KNOXVILLE, TN (February 17, 2012) – Last night, the American Advertising Federation of Knoxville (AAF-Knoxville) – a local chapter of the American Advertising Federation – presented the 2013 Knoxville ADDY^® Awards at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The 48th annual event honored print, broadcast, and interactive media with 329 awards given to 32 Knoxville companies on the basis of creativity, originality, and strategy. Four Knoxville professionals also were honored with “lifetime achievement” and Hall of Fame inductions.

The Knoxville ADDY^® Awards is the first tier of a three-tiered national ADDY^®competition, which is the advertising industry’s largest recognition of creative excellence. The top 10 company winners included

Steve Bowman

The Tombras Group, Designsensory, RIVR Media & RIVR Media Interactive, The Bingham Group, E.W. Scripps / Knoxville News Sentinel, Orange Apple Branding Boutique, Flip Film+Design, VIEO Design, Slamdot and Finch Photo.

The Tombras Group received Best of Show Overall for the “Football Fan Experience Website” produced for the University of TN Athletic Department.

Other “best of” category winners included:  Best of Show Interactive—The Tombras Group for Football Fan Experience Website produced for the University of TN Athletic Department; Best of Show Print—The Tombras Group for Low Impact Vacation Print Advertising Campaign produced for the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority;  Best of Show

Cori Dickson

Collateral—The Tombras Group for Axis Brochure produced for Axis Wake Research; Best of Show TV—The Tombras Group for Hopscotch produced for East TN Children’s Hospital; and Best of Show Non-Traditional—City of Sevierville for its Live Dolly Statue.

In addition, Special Judges Awards were presented to Designsensory for its Holiday Greetings Direct Mail; Designsensory for Patricia Nash Designs’ Integrated Campaign; The Tombras Group for American Cancer Society’s Gala Collateral Campaign; and The Tombras Group for National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Dark of Night Web Video.

Chris Hornsby

Chuck Morris, CEO of Morris Creative Group, was presented with the AAF Robert McCabe National Silver Medal Award. This “lifetime achievement award” was given to Morris for his for his professional success within the advertising industry; his consistent, high degree of creativity and original thinking; his work to increase the stature and raise the standards of the advertising profession; and his activities within the community.

AAF-Knoxville also inducted three individuals into its Advertising Hall of Fame: Steve Bowman with E.W. Scripps / Knoxville News Sentinel; Cory Dickson with Cumulus Broadcasting / WIVK; and Chris Hornsby with Hornsby Brand Design.

Finally, AAF-Knoxville President Susie Norris presented the President’s Award to AAF-Knoxville Board Member Amanda Lewis with The Tombras Group.

Amanda Lewis

Founded in 1959, the American Advertising Federation of Knoxville is a professional organization involved in promoting excellence and awareness in advertising in the greater Knoxville area. It is an official chapter of the American Advertising Federation, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and acts as the “Unifying Voice for Advertising.” The AAF is the oldest national advertising trade association, representing 40,000 advertising professionals through a national network of 200 local chapters. Visit www.aafknoxville.com.

Our Luncheon on May 31 features Neil Gurney, former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi in Africa, who now lives in Asheville and runs a shop called Integritive 2, which melds branding, interactive and sustainability all under one roof.

Then for our June Luncheon on the 28, advertising legend Jane Maas will join us to talk about her book, “Mad Women.”  Maas was one of the first female creatives on Madison Avenue, breaking in with Ogilvy & Mather in 1964.  She’ll share stories, anecdotes, and ideas from an amazing career.  Maas was lead creative on the “I Love NY” campaign that still resonates worldwide, and she coined the tag “Does she, or doesn’t she?” for Clairol, among other gems.

And on July 12, it’s that time again–Ad Fed In The Gutter–our annual bowling tournament.  This brings out more than 100 of the most recognized people in our business for a night of fun, trash talk, custom shirts, and Big Lebowski references.  If you ever go once, you’ll never stop going to this event.

Watch our website, Twitter, and Facebook for more info our AAF-Knoxville happenings.

The event promises to be useful to people entering for the first time–and for seasoned pros who might want to know details on how today’s awards events are managed.  Bring your questions–inquiries are welcome.

Plus, you’ll get to network with some of the ad community’s most interest people, in a hip venue that just might inspire a little more creativity.

Tonight, from 5-7 pm.  Since it’s technically a flash mob, you can dress in black and dance if you want to.

AAF Knoxville’s Big Wig Awards were created to celebrate the people who maybe don’t get ADDY or creative awards, but who are instrumental in others getting them. Here’s a list of our honorees for 2011:

Josh Loebner of DesignSensory was given the first annual Unsung Hero Award in appreciation for outstanding dedication and devotion to the principles and ideals of the advertising community.

Josh has started a blog called advertisinganddisability.com that addresses how the communications industry portrays people with disabilities.

Best Online Rep:
Marina Prutskova, South Central Media

Best Receptionist:
Joanne Hurd, Ackermann Public Relations

Educator of the Year:
Dr. Barbara Kaye, University of Tennessee

Best Large Format:
Hart Graphics

Best Sign Company:
Signs-N-Such

Best Direct Mail/ Fulfillment:
Tennessee Valley Direct

Best Talent:
Talent Trek

Best Web Programmer:
Paul Gibson, VIEO Design

Best Sound:
Paul Jones, Zippy Tunes

Best Film/Video Production:
RIVR Media

Best Intern:
Haley McCallie, Designsensory

Best Printer Rep:
Brent Golden, Hart Graphics

Most likely to be my Boss is 10 years:
Catherine Rapp, Knoxville News Sentinel

Best Magazine Rep:
Brig Samson, Metro Pulse

Best Newspaper Rep:
Marti Townsend, Knoxville News Sentinel

Best Media Planner/Buyer:
Cynthia Wells

Best TV Rep:
Mitzi Rouse, WBIR

Best Out of Home Rep:
Emily Jenkins, Lamar Outdoor

Best Radio Rep:
Jennifer East, Journal Broadcasting

Best Exhibitor:
Martha Kopp Shear, Skyline

Graphic Design Student of the Year:
Haley McCallie, University of Tennessee

Best Printer:
Hart Graphics

On October 28 AAF-Knoxville’s Big Wig Awards Will Recognize the “Unsung Heroes” of Advertising

You know who they are–the people who save your bacon on a regular basis. If you’re in the communications business, you have plenty of them.

Agenda, Details, Registration:AAFBehindtheBrands.com

Don’t let the title deceive you: this event is open to all communications professionals – and you’ll want to put this conference on your “must attend” list. The 2011 AAF Summer Conference and District 7 Leadership Event will be held at Knoxville’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, with more than 200 marketers in attendance from Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Professional Development & Networking
“Behind the Brands” will give you inside information on how several national companies have built their identities, what makes a brand successful and how they’re facing branding challenges through advertising, PR, sustainability, ROI, social media, identity, packaging, special events, consumer engagement and strategy. To-date, the participating brands include:

• AC Entertainment (Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival)
• Bush’s Baked Beans
• Pilot Flying J Travel Centers
• Ruby Tuesday
• Scripps Networks (HGTV, Food Network, DIY, GAC, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel
• TeamHealth (Provides clinical outsourcing services to more than 600 hospitals throughout the U.S.)
• University of Tennessee Athletics

 Beyond this professional development, you’ll get to network with a few hundred peers from our five-state AAF region.

Visit AAFBehindtheBrands.com to view the agenda, conference details and to register.

Club Workshops
Learn from the best of the best in District 7 about how to grow and manage your local chapters. Additionally, there will be workshops and roundtable discussions for chapter Presidents, Regional Directors and with Governor Elizabeth Perry. Speakers and topics are still being confirmed, but the following areas are usually addressed:

• Programs
• Membership Recruitment & Retention
• Education
• Government Relations
• ADDY® Awards
• Fundraising
• Finances
• Club Achievement

Questions, Ideas, Concerns?

Conference Chair Michael Torano: michaelt@n8promo.com or 361-438-3550

AAF-Knoxville President Susie Norris: susie@orangeapplebranding.com or 865.406.7558

While no one fits into just one type or group, there are four types of people we have/get to work with, pitch to and try to sell to:

1. Communicators: They’re emotional decision makers.
2. Commanders: They see the value in making what seem like risky decisions.
3. Calculators: The decisions they make must be logical.
4. Completers: They are sometimes held back from making decisions due to fear.

How do you peg someone?

1. Communicators: Extroverted, people-oriented, friendly, stylish, open, emotional/animated, socializes regardless of time, empathizes with others, popular and gung-ho.
2. Commanders: Commanding, bottom-line oriented, dominating, formal, impatient, emotional/direct, always pushed for time, about achievement, restless, quick/impulsive and fast.
3. Calculators: Non-nonsense, facts-oriented, assessing, conservative, closed, unemotional/reserved, values and manages time, about organization, selective, cool/distant, objective and controlled.
4. Completers: Laid-back, systems oriented, accepting, conforming, cautious, unemotional/low-key, respects time but not pushed, accepts others, about functions, willing, steady/reserved, slow/studied and steady.

Their hot-buttons, the things to avoid when communicating with them?

1. Communicators: Alienation.
2. Commanders: The feeling that they’re being taken advantage of.
3. Calculators: The fear of making a mistake.
4. Completers: Anything that seems like radical change.

So what do they want to hear?

1. Communicators: How they’re going to get the credit and look good. Ask them how to include others in the decision. Socialize with them and entertain them.
2. Commanders: Show them the benefits and throw in a high-profile reference. Ask them how they would do it and about their opinions.
3. Calculators: Stay focused on the facts, the details and the long-term benefits. Ask them how they would organize it and solve the problems.
4. Completers: Remove the risk, and don’t talk about change or new ideas. Ask them how they do their jobs and make it a no-pressure decision with a lot of time.

Okay, so that’s not a full synopsis of the hour-long session at Barley’s (we tried a downtown venue for a change of pace), but at least it’s some tip-of-the-iceberg insight into the different types of personalities we encounter each day in our communications professions.

Rollo, SVP and Director of Digital and Social Media for Atlanta’s 22squared, see lots of benefits from strategic planning in social and other digital media, and on April 28, he’ll share his thoughts with AAF-Knoxville at our monthly luncheon.