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2017 ADDYs Recap: AD SMACK BATTLE RUMBLE MANIA

March 15, 2017Erin Collins 1 Comment

On Friday, March 10, the local ad community came together to recognize the true winners of our industry: the creative geniuses of Western New York.

More than 410 advertising masterminds entered the ring at Buffalo RiverWorks to attend the 2017 WNY American Advertising Awards. From snarky signs to exclusive entourages, the atmosphere was lively, competitive, and celebratory – reflecting the show’s theme, “AD SMACK BATTLE RUMBLE MANIA,” perfectly.

Developed by local agency Crowley Webb, this year’s awards show satirized the hyped-up competition between local ad agencies around award season. Over 500 professional and student entries were received and scored by judges from Atlanta, Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C.

Special thanks go to co-chairs Marcia Rich, UX Designer at Crowley Webb, and April Brown, Art Director at FARM Buffalo, who worked hard to ensure a raucous time was had by all.

And now, on to the winners. Read on to view the great achievements of the night.

Professional Winners

Crowley Webb brought the final smack down, taking home the most ADDYs with 29 awards (5 Gold, 24 Silver). Gelia received a total of 26 awards (16 Gold, 10 Sliver), Block Club was honored with 16 awards (3 Gold, 13 Silver), The Martin Group took away 13 awards (13 Silver), White Bicycle secured 12 awards (7 Gold, 5 Silver), and dPost 11 awards (8 Gold, 3 Silver). A total of 26 companies took home at least one gold or silver award.

Other award winners include:

FARM Buffalo (2 Gold, 6 Silver)
Eric Mower + Associates (1 Gold, 4 Silver)
FIFTEEN (8 Silver)

Best of Show

The big winner of the night was Gelia, picking up the Best of Show Award for their Smiling Teds, “Science of Used Car Dealers” campaign.

Special Awards

Several very talented individuals were also honored with Special Awards. The 2017 recipients were:

Andy Donovan, President, dPost – David I. Levy Communicator of the Year Award
This award was created to recognize outstanding achievement and service in the communications industry.

Andy Donovan, President of dPost accepts the David I. Levy Communicator of the Year Award.

Laurie Wolfe, Broadcast Producer, Laurie Wolfe Productions – Alex Osborn Award for Creativity
Named in honor of Alex Osborn of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn fame, this award recognizes individuals who, through outstanding creative achievements, have left an indelible mark on the Western New York creative community.

Ted’s Hot Dogs – The Odysseus Best Client Award
The Odysseus Award was established in 2011 by the Advertising Club of Buffalo to honor a client in the Western New York market (individual or group/department) who has used the discipline of strategic marketing and advertising in an extraordinary way.

Charlie Riley, Director of Marketing and Communications, Lawley – Joe Crowley Award for Service
This award recognizes not only hard work, but also outstanding achievement in furthering the activities and interests of the club.

Sam Tato, 3D Artist, dPost – AAF Buffalo Future Star Award
This award honors an outstanding young professional in the marketing and advertising field who has demonstrated great potential in his or her early years in the industry.

The Veritiv Creative Use of Paper Award

White Bicycle received this award once again for their Andrea Nardello “Fire” Packaging for Blue Elephant Records. A special thanks to Jean Clemens from Veritiv for her continued support of AAF Buffalo and this award.

Best Show Book Ad Award

FIFTEEN won this year’s award with their interactive thumb battle rumble mania-themed ad.

Student Winners

College students were also included in the action. Taking home the Student Best of Show were Alexandra Casarsa, Courtney Ewings, Gina Griffo, and Samantha Lonczak of Villa Maria College for Skald Book Design. Lonczak’s 4 student awards (1 Gold, 3 Silver) were the most overall. Angela Marini of Daemen College took home 2 Gold awards, while Holly Norris of Buffalo State College took home 1 Gold and 1 Silver. A total of 17 students took home at least one gold or silver award.

Courtney Ewings, Gina Griffo, Samantha Lonczak, and Alexandra Casarsa of Villa Maria College accept the Student Best of Show Award for Skald Book Design.

Students each taking home one Gold award include:

Grace Gruarin, VIlla Maria College
Noah Herman, Daemen College

Student Silver award winners include:

Alexandra Casarsa, Villa Maria College
Troy Deweever, St. Bonaventure University
Courtney Ewings, Villa Maria College
Jeffery Marotta, Villa Maria College
Jessica Puskar, Villa Maria College
Rachel Peck, Canisius College
Alicia Salerno, Villa Maria College

Thank You to Our Sponsors

The 2016 WNY American Advertising Award Show was sponsored by: Buffalo Limousine, Holiday Inn Express, WNED TV, Gateway Printing & Graphics, Inc., Big Ditch Brewing Company, IMG_INK, Veritiv, Cohber Press, Inc., Hodgins Engraving, Minute Print, PromoWorks, CJ Sound, Sound Video Solutions, and Speier Displays.

On to a Bigger Ring

The Gold and Silver winners in both professional and student categories will have the opportunity to compete in the AAF District 2 American Advertising Awards with the hope of moving on to the national show in New Orleans in June.

Congratulations to all the winners and another successful year of work in WNY!

Watch the judge’s Best of Show selection process below. Special thanks to Jason Yates for this superb contribution.

Relive the memories by flipping through the 2017 American Advertising Awards show book, or view pictures from the night on our Facebook page.

Events Students

BrandHack 2017: Designing for Non-Profit Danceability [Recap]

January 30, 2017February 6, 2017Tim Bouchard 1 Comment

By Tim Bouchard

In 2016 I organized the first ever BrandHack event which was a nod to my web/tech industry background. It went great, but lacked a bit of motivation and skin in the game since we used a case study exercise rather than a real case. So we sent out a call for non-profits in November of 2016 in search of a worthy benefactor of our BrandHack event. Enter Danceability, a local non-profit dance studio that services those with special needs between the ages of 3-70 years old. This year, 2017 marks the 10 year anniversary of the organization so we tasked our BrandHack student teams with updating the look of the logo, an event invitation piece and a poster design for the annual performances event in May.

We were hosted by the UB Art Department this year and had four student teams representing St. Bonaventure, UB, Buffalo State, Daemen, and Villa Maria. After last year we learned that each team would benefit from having a professional Art Director as their captain, enter April Brown from FARM, Jaime Applegate from NOCO, John English from LUMINUS, and Krista Roberts from Quinlan. This was a game changer as their direction gave the students the confidence and guidance to work through brainstorming, scheduling, and executing each piece.

The groups would have four and a half hours of active work time before making their 10 minute pitches before the judges would deliberate.

Throughout the day our two judges Dan Stout from FIFTEEN and Michael Tsanis from martin bounced from group to group answering questions of the project requirements and making sure the teams were on track. Robin, our representative from Danceability was also answering questions throughout the day helping make sure the organization was represented accurately in the work.

And of course we had a giant count down clock on the projector to add to the drama.

What came of the day’s four and a half hour design crunch was some amazing work from each team. Congrats to all the students that poured their heart into these and the captains for steering the ship!

A word from Robin of Danceability: “Danceability was excited to be selected as Brandhack’s first nonprofit! If you are a start-up nonprofit, this is a great event for you to get your organization off and running with branding. I highly recommend it.”

Below are the results of the 2nd annual BrandHack!

WINNER: UB captained by John English

RUNNER-UP: Buffalo State/UB captained by April Brown

Buffalo State / UB Team with April Brown

Daemen College / Villa Maria captained by Jaime Applegate

Daemen College / Villa Maria Team with Jaime Applegate

St. Bonaventure captained by Krista Roberts

St. Bonaventure Team with Krista Roberts

Blog Students

Finding answers to portfolio problems

November 25, 2016Dan Nesselbush

Guest post by Noah Herman, Daemen College ’18

Portfolios. They’re usually not an easy topic to talk about. Discussions often end up sparking more questions than answers, and end with comments like, “But, it’s really up to you as the designer.” However, for students stepping into the job market, the search for concrete answers that could lead to a job opportunity can be hard to come by. This year, the 2016 Portfolio Seminar shed light on the subject by featuring four different speakers in four different phases of their careers.

Offering different point of views, Angela Marini, a Daemen College student and winner of the AAF’s 2016 Student Portfolio Review; Greg Meadows, Creative Director at Telesco Creative Group; Jason Yates, Associate Creative Director at Gelia; and April Brown, Art Director at FARM, were able to provide unique information based on their own experiences to give more well-rounded portfolio advice.

The biggest takeaways at Portfolio Seminar:

Be yourself and be comfortable with it
Quality over quantity, always
An online portfolio is equally as necessary as a physical portfolio
There’s no right answer, but there are a lot of wrong ones

While these were the primary messages, they certainly weren’t the only ones. Other lessons learned included the importance of being able to talk about your work, the insight a process book can add to a project, the effectiveness of showing a wide range of projects, the value of tailoring your presentation for the job you’re applying to, and more.

This discussion didn’t just cover the do’s and don’ts of portfolios, but also branched out into career advice for finding a job that fits you, and insight into proper networking. In particular, April Brown stressed the importance of putting yourself out there, noting that you never know where a connection can lead. Jason Yates also voiced that as a designer, a job needs to fit you well for it to benefit you and the company in the long term. Greg Meadows continued on this subject as he briefly discussed his career path as a designer, and his broad amount of experience in the industry.

After the professionals finished their points, the conversation switched to Angela Marini’s presentation of her award-winning portfolio. Seeing a successful portfolio that touched on a range of subjects (from print design to motion graphics), along with her mature and concise choice of pieces, put the preaching of the seminar into practice.

The Portfolio Seminar touched on many tips that can be implemented by students searching for their first job or internship. Learning how to stand out in a competitive field can seem overwhelming at times, but starting with an outline created from the panelists’ main points is a good way to create a unique and successful approach to portfolio design.

The lessons covered here and more made the 2016 Portfolio Seminar incredibly influential; it provided those who attended with a comprehensive basis for a strong portfolio concept. Thank you to all attendees, and those who helped execute this valuable seminar.

Students Stuff

More students recognized by the Ad Club

May 9, 2016October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

By Matt Low

Supporting the next generation of the local marketing/communications community is always a top priority of the Advertising Club of Buffalo. And so we’re once again pleased to recognize a handful of bright students as part of our annual Don Nichols Scholarship Competition. Samantha Lonczak, Ali Casarsa, Liankham Thang, Dylan Nowak, Rebecca Warthling, Nina Puccio, Christopher Vickers, and Jeffrey Marotta presented us with work worthy of praise.

The Don Nichols Scholarship Competition, now in its 18^th year, awards promising communications students a little financial help for their continued education. Each year, we present students with a thought-provoking theme that they are tasked with bringing to life, in any medium they choose – could be a poem, video, a painted brick, or a nicely designed poster. This year’s theme of “The 2016 Election” garnered entries from more than 40 talented students. But the work below rose to the top without much contention, name-calling, or yelling from a podium. You kids and your diplomacy.

Don Nichols founded the Albright Art School’s Graphic Design Department in 1950. He brought the program to UB, where he served as its head until his passing in 1987. He educated countless graphic designers, some of whom went on to national prominence. Nichols was awarded the Alex Osborn Award for Creativity from the Art Directors/Communicators of Buffalo, along with the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching from UB.

Samantha Lonczak - Don Nichols 2016

Samantha Lonczak of Villa Maria College took home first place.

Ali Casarsa - Don Nichols 2016

Ali Casarsa of Villa Maria College was awarded second place.

Liankham Thang - Don Nichols 2016

Liankham Thang of Villa Maria College won third place.

DylanNowak-DonNichols_web

Dylan Nowak of Villa Maria College received an honorable mention.

warthling--don-nichols_web

Rebecca Warthling of Villa Maria College received an honorable mention.

Nina Puccio - Don Nichols 2016

Nina Puccio of Villa Maria College received an honorable mention.

Vickers_DonNichols_web

Christopher Vickers of Buffalo State College received an honorable mention.

Jeffrey-Marotta-Don-Nichols-2016

Jeffrey Marotta of Villa Maria College received an honorable mention.

Students

2016 Student Portfolio Review Recap

April 19, 2016October 28, 2016Tim Bouchard

On Saturday April 9, Daemen College hosted the annual student Portfolio Review, an engaging event for students and professionals alike. The event was made possible with the contribution of agency art directors, designers, academic professors, successful freelancers and many other seasoned professionals who dedicated their time to review the student portfolios in sessions of timed intervals. Participating visual communications students included students from Buffalo State, Daemen, UB, Villa Maria, and even Kutztown University of Pennsylvania!

The 1:1 portfolio reviews took place from 10am-3pm, with a break for a lunch at the midpoint. Students reported they received lots of valuable feedback from professionals, and would highly recommend the event to others, one stating, “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

At the end of the day, professionals voted for the most effective portfolios for scholarship awards available to students continuing next year in their degree program. It was reported that all students had impressive portfolios, so it was a very tough decision!

The following students received the most accolades from the judges:

1st Place Angela Marini, Daemen Junior
2nd Place Samantha Lonczak, Villa Maria Junior
3rd Place Ali Casarsa, Villa Maria Junior

Congratulations to the scholarship winners and to all the students who participated in the event! And, thank you to the many professionals who gave up their Saturday to offer valuable feedback. We look forward to seeing more outstanding design work next year!

AdLab Blog Events Students

At BrandHack Some Strangers Got Really Creative Really Fast!

January 25, 2016October 28, 2016Tim Bouchard

I was fortunate enough to be accepted to the Ad Club Board of Directors this past summer of 2015. Prior to that, I was only a member of the club for one year. Both years, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the people I’ve met and the events I’ve attended. One of my goals when I joined the board was to try and help explore how to make events more interactive and fun. Being from the tech side of the creative world, I decided I would try and borrow from my friends in the tech industry and see if I couldn’t take the idea of an all day “hack-a-thon” and marry it with the design world’s creativity.

I enlisted the help of some wildly talented and highly regarded creative talent from the Buffalo area. Julie Zack (Designer: BrandEven), Mike LaDuca (Partner: LUMINUS), Monish Bhattacharyya (Creative Director: FourthIdea), and Michael Downey (Art Director: FARM). This crew would serve two very important purposes of helping shape and guide each rapidly compiled campaign idea as well as judge the final products and declare the winning Brand Hack campaign.

We had three main goals for this event:

Encourage team members to get to know each other. The teams were randomly assigned with an even distribution of talent types.
Bring students together with professionals so they can see and participate in the work flow process of a professional.
Make it challenging, but allow for creativity with no limitations other than theme and required deliverables.

Of course we had to make it worthwhile as well. Chelsea Turton, the board’s student liaison, created an amazing graphic of a rocket “idea” breaking through an alarm clock. We decided to build off that and after a few minutes of brainstorming, we googled “Rocket Trophies” and the rest was history.

We had 6 hours to fit in a creative briefing, production, presentations, and judging. The pressure was almost on me as much as the teams attending. We broke the day like this; 30 minutes for team introductions & creative brief, 4.5 hours for production, 45 minutes for 5 minute presentations (everyone went a few minutes over but it was ok), and 15 minutes for judging. Surprisingly, it actually worked really well!

The fluctuations in the day were amazing to observe. Early on before the briefing it was as loud as a high school lunch room. Everyone was chatting up a storm getting to know each other. Then after a moment of silence for the creative briefing, came the flurry of conversations as the teams started talking out concept ideas. Then, after Michael proclaimed around noon “You should definitely be into designing by now, 3 hours left!” the room went silent, like a good Thanksgiving dinner when everyone starts eating. It was pretty entertaining to watch as an outsider. Everyone gave great presentations and each team was very supportive of the others while they presented.

The challenge was to develop an awareness campaign that would help the fictional “Urban Food Bank” solicit donations year-round, rather than just the popular November & December Holiday months. A bonus would be to create an urgency for donating or funding toiletries which are an often overlooked aspect of the care provided by the bank.

I’m biased, but I think the event was awesome. Nobody seemed bored, everyone was engaged, and there was some really great work that came out of this.

And now I’m happy to share the campaigns that were dreamt up in 4.5 hours on a random Saturday in January by complete strangers. Starting with the winning campaign, the runner up, and the other great campaigns in no particular order. It really was amazing was great work came out of just 4.5 hours.

WINNER: “Roll Reversal”

Team Two’s campaign, “Roll Reversal”, is focused on increasing donations of toilet paper to the Urban Food Bank. This campaign is designed to target people when they are in a position to empathize with those in need of toilet paper, and usually have a mobile device in-hand.

We created vinyl wraps for use inside of public bathroom stalls to cover the full toilet paper rolls, making them appear empty, hopefully giving people that “Oh Shit” feeling of being out of toilet paper.

The ultimate goal of this campaign is to drive people to a landing page for the Urban Food Bank that is optimized for mobile conversions and provides an quick button to donate an amount of money equivalent to one roll of toilet paper.

Runner Up: “One More”

By giving just “one more”, you can change lives. “One more” is easy and is something everyone can do, but it makes a big impact. You’re filling a gap in your community by giving “one more” dollar or donation. Really show WHO the donations are going to by telling the stories of the people in need. Guarantee donations are doing good for your friends and neighbors. Make it fun, and something people want to do over and over. We would provide free bags that can be filled with donations and conveniently emptied at numerous drop off locations. We would utilize a number of tactics including a mobile app.

“Feed The Hunger Monster”

The goal of the “Feed the Hunger Monster” campaign is to increase food, toiletry, and monetary donations specifically in the spring to prepare for school being out in summer.

It’s tough to focus when you’re hungry or don’t feel your best. The monster is a physical representation of those feelings. “Feed the Hunger Monster” aims to show parents what kids can accomplish when they’re not worried where their next meal will come from, or if their classmates will mock them for their clothes or hygiene.

“Treats to Meals”

While you enjoy the delights of the season the Anderson family needs your help. Turn your extra money into meals for them by donating to the Urban Food Bank.Visit treatstomeals.com to help and donate.

“Metro Market”

MetroMarket makes it easier than ever to grow your community.

The MetroMarket truck stops by your home once a month to exchange food and toiletries for fresh fruits and vegetables grown in Buffalo’s own urban gardens.

We donate an equal shipment of fresh foods to Urban Food Bank.

It really is that simple.

ADDYS Blog Students

Student Members Shine at National ADDYs

August 11, 2015October 28, 2016Corey Crossman

We’re proud to announce that student members from SUNY Fredonia won a student silver at the American Advertising Awards (aka National ADDY Awards) in Las Vegas for their Efferention magazine design. The members of the group that put the piece together include: Maribel Avila, Alison Dyer, Kayleigh Forger, Lisa Hinterberger, Athena Kolokotronis, Anne Leue, Jon Mc Cray, and Jessica Wilcox. The Fredonia team won a student gold ADDY at the WNY ADDY Awards and a regional student gold at the AAF District 2 competition in order to qualify for the national competition.

The ADDY Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 50,000 entries every year in local competitions. The mission of the ADDY competition is to recognize and reward creative excellence in the art of advertising. Conducted annually the American Advertising Federation (AAF) hosts the three-tier competition, beginning with the local ADDY Awards, regional awards and then the national competition, the American Advertising Awards.

Students

Six Students Recognized by the Ad Club

May 4, 2015October 28, 2016Corey Crossman

The Advertising Club of Buffalo is pleased to recognize six bright communications students as part of our annual Don Nichols Scholarship competition. Jessica Massaker from Villa Maria College, Holly Norris of SUNY Buffalo State, Jessica Puskar of Villa Maria College, John P. DeJac IV of SUNY Buffalo State, Chelsea Turton of Daemen College, and Samantha Lonzak of Villa Maria College all presented us with remarkable work.

The Don Nichols Scholarship competition, now in its 17^th year, awards promising communications students a little financial help with their education expenses. Each year, we present students with a theme that they are tasked with bringing to life. And this year’s theme of “Gun Control” produced nothing less than stellar, thought-provoking work from both sides of the debate. Jessica Massaker took home first prize. Holly Norris took second and Jessica Puskar took third. Honorable mentions went to John P. DeJac IV, Chelsea Turton, and Samantha Lonzak.

Don Nichols founded the Albright Art School’s Graphic Design Department in 1950. He brought the program to UB, where he served as its head until his passing in 1987. He educated countless graphic designers, some of whom went on to national prominence. Nichols was awarded the Alex Osborn Award for Creativity from the Art Directors/Communicators of Buffalo, along with the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching from UB.

JessicaMassakerDonNichols_001 — Jessica Massaker’s Work

Final_HollyNorris2_001 — Holly Norris’ Work

don-nichols_chelsea-turton — Chelsea Turton’s Work

ADDYS Events Students

AAF District Two ADDYs Winners

April 15, 2014October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

You may have assumed the ADDYs concluded shortly after Buster Bison threw you a tee shirt during the show at the Tralf back on March 7.

Well the fact is, for those elitists who just insist on producing the highest quality creative, our local awards show was just the first stop.

District level judging was held in New York City late last month and Buffalo represented!

Three Golds and four Silvers were earned between Crowley Webb, Gelia, Print Collection and The Martin Group. In addition to the professional entry winners, St. Bonaventure University and Villa Maria College each had a student win Silver.

Here’s a look at the winning work:

Crowley Webb, ADDY Mixed Media, Gold (Advertising Industry – Integrated Campaign)

Crowley Webb, Beacon Website, Silver (Digital Advertising – B2B Website)

Gelia, Music Teachers Advocacy Poster, Gold (Collateral Material – Poster, Single)

Print Collection, See America Travel Poster Series, Gold (Collateral Material – Poster, Campaign)

The Martin Group, Lawley Marketplace Sales Kit, Silver (Sales Promotion – Sales Kit)

The Martin Group, 6×6 Lacrosse Packaging, Silver (Sales Promotion – Packaging)

The Martin Group, 6×6 Lacrosse T-Shirts, Silver (Direct Marketing – Apparel)

St. Bonaventure University, Step Up for Kids, Silver (Elements of Advertising – Copywriting)

Villa Maria College, The Bread Box, Silver (Sales Promotion – Packaging)

Results for all of the Clubs in District Two can be found here.

Next stop: Nationals in May. Winners of Gold at the District level advance automatically, Silvers have the option to pay to move on.

Congrats and Good Luck!

Students

Four Students Recognized By The Ad Club

April 11, 2014October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

The Advertising Club of Buffalo is pleased to recognize four bright communications students as part of our annual Don Nichols Scholarship competition. Jessica Puskar, Lucy Norton, Ali Casarsa, and Grace Gruarin, all students of Villa Maria College, presented us with remarkable work.

The Don Nichols Scholarship competition, now in its 16th year, awards promising communications students a little financial help for their education. Each year, we present students with a thought-provoking theme that they are tasked with bringing to life. And this year’s theme of “21st Century Icons” garnered entries from more than 40 talented students. Jessica Puskar’s work featured Malala Yousafzai and was awarded first place. Lucy Norton’s work featured Kate Middleton and won second place. Ali Casarsa’s work featured Tobias Frere-Jones and took home third place. The three students were awarded scholarships. The work of Grace Gruarin featured Joshua Fields Millburn and was awarded honorable mention.

Don Nichols founded the Albright Art School’s Graphic Design Department in 1950. He brought the program to UB, where he served as its head until his passing in 1987. He educated countless graphic designers, some of whom went on to national prominence. Nichols was awarded the Alex Osborn Award for Creativity from the Art Directors/Communicators of Buffalo, along with the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching from UB.

Take a look at some of the winning work: