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We’re Back-to-Back Champs!

Ally Balcerzak

At the beginning of the 2019-2020 club year, we made it a Board goal to build off of last year’s momentum and bring home back-to-back Club of the Year awards.

Well, fellow advertising/marketing/communications friends, we did it! AAF Buffalo is officially the 2020 Division 2 AAF Club of the Year, and President Josh Gumulak is President of the Year. 💪

This year, AAF National restructured the Club Achievement Awards, condensing the total number of categories down from eight to five. In addition to Club of the Year, AAF Buffalo also won awards in all five categories

  • Club Operations (first place)
  • Cornerstone Initiatives and Events (first place)
  • Membership Development and Communications (first place)
  • Programs (second place)
  • Public Service (first place)

While the long-form award submissions are crafted by members of the AAF Buffalo Board, the content we write about wouldn’t exist without the dedication and participation of our members — aka you and the Western New York advertising community.

via GIPHY

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years, attended events in the middle of snowstorms, and filled out a post-event survey to give us feedback on ways to enhance the member experience. You’re the reason our award submissions always max-out the page limit and include new, unique details year-over-year.

With that said, it’s time for us to go celebrate offline. Enjoy your summer and be sure to keep an eye out for announcements about membership renewal and next club year’s event plans!

Industry Updates Stuff

COVID-19 Return to Work – Agency Roundtable

Caroline Jette

In early May, AAF Buffalo facilitated a Zoom conference among several small and large WNY advertising agencies to discuss returning to work following the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this discussion was to promote idea sharing across WNY’s advertising leaders so that we all can implement the most effective return to work policies possible in a post-COVID-19 world.

The document represents ideas where consensus was reached that agencies should consider implementing, if resources allow.

Click here to download

Events Students

RECAP: PORTFOLIO REVIEW 2020

Lauren Carmer

Many thanks to the pro volunteers and students who participated in AAF Buffalo’s first attempt at an online Portfolio Review Day for area creative students. As the leading advertising professional organization in WNY, it is part of our mission to support future creatives, especially during an uncertain time. We put our heads together after COVID-19 forced us to cancel the physical Portfolio Review. After some planning, the day ended up being a success thanks to pro volunteers and Zoom Breakout Rooms. Students who registered in advance participated in several twenty minute interviews, where they had the opportunity to chat, ask questions, and share their work. Many colleges and universities were represented including Rochester Institute of Technology, University at Buffalo, St. Bonaventure, Villa Maria College, Daemen College, and Buffalo State College.

In order to offer opportunity to win an award to a wider range of students during such an uncertain time, we decided to give each Breakout Room one vote towards a standout student portfolio of their choice to receive a cash prize. Several students were awarded more than one vote. Congratulations to students who won kudos from the professional volunteers:

Crista Sukennik, Communication Design, Buffalo State College
Junyan Chen, Studio Art with Graphic Design Concentration, University at Buffalo
Lindsay Neilson, Graphic Design, Villa Maria College
Deztinhy Di Meo, Graphic Design, RIT
Maggie Blaisdell, Graphic Design, RIT

We look forward to hosting this important event for years to come, and will continue to grow and evolve it in an effort to best serve future creative professionals with an effort to make it fun and beneficial for pros as well. We truly appreciate the time, professionalism, and dedication of the pros and students who were involved with this event. See ya in 2021!

 

Blog

AAF Asks: Favorite Super Bowl Ad?

Greg Pokriki

Though the Buffalo Bills weren’t playing in the Super Bowl this year, our board still had plenty to pay attention to. Below are their favorite ads throughout the night.

Oh, and GO BILLS.

Jeff Quinn – Groundhog Day, Jeep

In three words, “Bill F*cking Murray”. It is always great to combine a classic movie with a new promotion, also while bringing in an all-time great comedian. While this is my favorite commercial I think Budweiser – “Typical American” & Google – “Loretta” are worthy of a nod when talking about great commercials from the 2020 Super Bowl. Go Bills!

David Seifert – Smaht Pahk, Hyundai 

TL;DR – solid mix of celebrity cast members here. I found the humor pretty enjoyable. Wasn’t too obnoxious, and I’m surprised I wasn’t annoyed by this. Reminded me of the Dunkin’ Donuts SNL skit from a few years ago, which is one I enjoyed. A close second for me was Tide’s multi-spot story with Charlie Day. Also, #BabyNut should have never been approved.  

Greg Pokriki – Loretta, Google

In a society so simultaneously suspicious of and dependent on technology, I thought this Google ad struck the right tone, lending a helping hand to an elderly widower clinging to the memories of his since passed wife. It was the only ad at my Super Bowl party that made everyone stop the bathroom breaks and snack runs to sit in silence and give undivided attention to the spot.   

Ally Ruiz Balcerzak – Love Takes Action, New York Life Insurance

It’s easy to go from heartfelt to cheesy in a Super Bowl spot, but New York Life Insurance nailed the balance with their Ancient Greek definitions of love. The narration, combined with the brief vignettes, is a great example of “show don’t tell” and brought the viewer’s own memories into the spot. This one stuck with me long after it aired — and didn’t get stuck on a semi-obnoxious loop in my head (looking at you Oikos…).

Jordan Lema – Groundhog Day, Jeep

An ad that is an extension of a classic film, that plays on the actual holiday and stars one of the most amazing personalities of all time is an instant classic. I WANTED to see this ad and I’m glad that did. Perfect. Also, the groundhog character was very lovable.
Honorable mention: All People Are Tax People (Remix), Turbo Tax 

Katie Hazel – Groundhog Day, Jeep

Jeep nailed it with this spot. You were smiling the whole time and they got to feature the Jeep throughout. The brilliance of capitalizing on actual groundhog day makes it special and one of a kind. Bill Murray was amazing. The other spots I loved were Google’s “Loretta” commercial – it brought tears to my eyes, Hyundai’s “Smaht Pahk”, and the Alexa spot with Ellen and Portia gave me a good laugh.

Josh Gumulak – Loretta, Google

I spent most of today thinking I was going to write about Hyundai’s superbly-funny, “Smaht Pahk,” which was unequivocally yesterday’s funniest spot. But, I keep coming back to Google’s spot. 

Who doesn’t enjoy a great love story? The picture Google painted in only 90 seconds was as vivid as any advertising I can remember. Plus, it showcased a number of the Google Assistant’s more impressive features throughout the entire spot. Lastly, from an evergreen perspective, it lends itself as a how-to manual for the product on its YouTube page.

Most importantly – it ends with a dog. How are more people not talking about this?

Other favorites: Amazon’s Before Alexa, Snickers’ Fix the World, Microsoft’s Be the One, Resee’s Take 5’s Rock, and Facebook’s Ready to Rock… it was a solid year for $5.6M a pop. 

Casey Kelly – Cool Ranch, Doritos

Sam Elliott’s moustache about 30 seconds in, nuff’ said.

McKenna Murray – Smaht Pahk, Hyundai 

Hyundai set the bar early in the night with it Smaht Pahk ad highlighting the Sonata’s remote parking assist feature. Its dialog, cast, and wicked good humor drove it home ~hands free~ and left me even more in love with John Krasinski.
Other favorites: Google’s Loretta, Players Coalition’s Corey Jones story, Rocket Mortgage’s Comfortable/Jason Momoa

Maura Noonan – Loretta, Google

Hey Google, pass me the tissues. I personally love a Super Bowl ad that can make me cry into my chicken wing dip (as should everyone), and this year’s Google spot was no exception. During a time where digital assistants are growing at a rapid pace, I felt Google positioned themselves as not just another robot voice, but instead as an extension of your daily life. The ad was well done that while the brand was definitely a focus, it wasn’t the forefront of the story. Making connections with your target audience is more important than ever, and Google nailed it with this one.
Honorable mention: Jeep. Bill Murray, all day.

Colleen Colkitt – Before Alexa, Amazon 

The laughs from this ad could almost make you forget Amazon is listening to all your thoughts.  Just kidding. They featured an embroidery cross stitch just seconds into the ad, which is definitely something that’s always “recommended for me” on my Amazon homepage and really caught my attention. But then, throwing the flaming log out the window to lower the temperature? Nothing but laughs from me. As someone looking for a commercial that’s not too heavy and doesn’t make me ugly cry (*cough* Google), this was the ad for me.

 

Announcements Blog Board Latest News Stuff

Club. Of. The. Year.

Dan Nesselbush

By Dan Nesselbush
Board members Tim Bouchard, Jaime Applegate, Dan Nesselbush, and Scott Bartels show off AAF Buffalo’s eight AAF Club Achievement Awards.

Yes, you read that right. Of the 200 American Advertising Federation chapters across the United States, your friendly neighborhood ad club known as AAF Buffalo left New Orleans with the title of 2016-17 Club of the Year! The honor also earned recognition for Scott Bartels as 2016-17 President of the Year during ADMERICA, the AAF’s annual national conference.

The accolades, earned through AAF’s Club Achievement Competition, resulted in an extra checked bag fee thanks to a stack of awards presented during the four day conference. We collected eight plaques in the competition which recognizes local advertising clubs for their initiatives in a variety of categories established to honor the significant contributions of the AAF network of professional advertising clubs and to encourage excellence in areas of club operations that contribute to the strength of the AAF’s member clubs.

AAF Buffalo is part of Division II (250-499 members) for the club achievement awards competition and became club of the year based on points earned for first and second place finishes in the following categories:

1st Place AAF Club Achievement Awards

  • Club Operations
  • Membership Development
  • Diversity & Multicultural Initiatives
  • Government Relations

2nd Place AAF Club Achievement Awards

  • Advertising Education
  • Communications
  • Programs
  • Public Service

Being honored as AAF Club of the Year was sweeter than a Sunday morning beignet at Café Du Monde, but the NOLA edition of ADMERICA offered so much more for our organization. It provided great opportunities for our executive board to hear from industry leaders and champions of diversity initiatives, meet with our fellow AAF chapters, attend a slew of workshops, and draw inspiration from the best of the best at the American Advertising Awards.

A huge thank you goes out to each and every member of our board of directors: Scott Bartels (HSBC Bank USA), Tim Bouchard (LUMINUS), Kyle Rogers (BlueCross BlueShield of WNY), Jaime Applegate (NOCO), Andrew Bevevino (Martin Davison Public Relations), April Brown (FARM), Teresa Carosa (Independent Health), Erin Collins (BlueCross BlueShield of WNY), Brita D’Agostino (Daemen College), Erin Haskell (Great Lakes Orthodontics), Brittany Klotzbach (Gelia), Jillian Minderler (Quinlan), Marcia Rich (Crowley Webb), Shannon Silva (dPost), Grace Gruarin (Telesco Creative Group), Alexa Godwin (Crowley Webb), club admin Tina Pastwik, and our student liaison Angela Marini. They balance their work and family obligations, yet still find a way to volunteer their time and energy throughout the year to make club initiatives happen.

It would be very remiss of us to not thank our members, corporate members, sponsors, and the employers of our board members for tremendous support throughout the year. Your participation allows our organization to thrive and create opportunities for all involved in the marketing communications field in Western New York and that backing is greatly appreciated.

All of those awards are the result of a very busy year, so we’re going to give everyone (except our board members) the month of July off. We’ll see you back at The Big Tip-Off on August 24 at Soho Burger Bar as we raise funds for our academic scholarship programs.

Blog Events Skillshop

Skillshop Recap: Public Relations 101

Dan Nesselbush
by Andrew Bevevino

“So what exactly do you do?” That’s a question that a lot of PR people get. PR is multifaceted to say the least, so it’s tough to put your finger on.

But, if you had to describe it, what would you say? Luckily, Martin Davison Public Relations employee Kelsey Hanks and I recently hosted Skillshop: Public Relations 101 at The Martin Group offices to discuss what PR encompasses.

What do PR people actually do?

There are many PR practices, so it’s difficult to come up with a one sentence definition. However, we spoke briefly about several areas that PR practitioners work within on a regular basis.

  • Advocacy: If an organization needs help gaining community and/or influencer support for a certain initiative, PR people can help craft the messaging around that cause or initiative by writing speeches and talking points, organizing forums or community meetings, placing stories with the media or administering media training.
  • Content marketing: When we talk about content marketing, we’re referencing blogs, podcasts, infographics or other content-based pieces of communications. This content has some sort of value for consumers (i.e. education or entertainment), and PR people help create that content and the strategies for promoting it.
  • Internal communications: Internal PR is useful for keeping employees satisfied and informed. A good example of internal PR is a company newsletter detailing notable employee news and company updates and accomplishments. PR people are often tasked with keeping tabs on company news and creating internal promotional materials.
  • Crisis management: When something happens that could damage a company’s reputation, its often the job of PR practitioners to minimize or eliminate that damage. Doing so requires careful crafting of a strategic message that is relayed through press conferences, media relations and various other PR tactics.
  • Social media: You can use social media to accomplish many of the same goals that accomplish with more traditional PR. You can use social to promote content you create internally or for clients (i.e. blogs, podcasts), or you can spread positive buzz through the various social media channels and tools.
  • Media relations: Media relations = getting your clients in the news. This is what a lot of people think about when they reference PR. If you’re pitching stories about your clients to reporters or bloggers, you’re practicing media relations.

These are just a few areas within PR that we discussed during the workshop. There are many more, and their applications vary depending on the situation.

What is newsworthy/pitching basics

We took a bit of a deeper dive into media relations and discussed what makes a story newsworthy as well as some basics for media pitching.

There are several aspects of a story that make it newsworthy. Human interest, awards, product launches, major accomplishments and original content are all good examples of characteristics that might catch a reporter’s eye.

But, when pitching a story to the media, you always have to make sure you have a good angle. The angle is the story’s point of relevance or uniqueness. Without a good angle, your story will be glanced over. During the workshop, we outlined strategies to finding a good hook, as well as some basic steps to reaching out to the news media.

10 ways to promote your brand or event

If you’re having a big event or launching a new product, you’ll definitely want some PR to spread the word. We talked about ways to promote your event or product using PR, and I’d lay those out for you now, but I’m sure you’d rather just look at this artsy infographic that details PR activations for those occasions.

We talked about a few other subjects during our presentation at The Martin Group, but these are some of the broader points we spent a little more time on. All in all, we had some solid conversation about PR basics that the attendees seemed to find interesting based on the feedback I received.

Thanks to all who came! We really enjoyed giving the presentation, and we hope to see you at more AAF Buffalo events in the future.