Message Wins South Dakota’s First National Gold ADDY® Award

Rapid City-based marketing and communications firm Message won a National Gold ADDY^® award for a video created on behalf of Black Hills Ammunition. Fewer than 75 gold ADDYs were awarded at the American Advertising Awards competition (formerly the National ADDY^® Awards) held in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 8, 2013. This was the first National Gold ADDY^® awarded to not only a Rapid City advertising agency, but also the first ever awarded to a South Dakota advertiser.

In addition, Message was awarded a Silver ADDY^® in the Sales Promotion-Sales Kit category for the 4 Year Survival Kit also created on behalf of Black Hills Ammunition.

With over 60,000 entries annually, The American Advertising Awards are the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, recognizing creative excellence and the very best advertising. The American Advertising Awards are unique among all advertising competitions. It is the only one that includes three rigorous levels of judging.

• Entries are first judged at the local level through competitions organized by AAF
member clubs

• Local winners then advance to 15 district competitions

• Finally, district winners advance to the national finals

Winning advertisers featured in the 2013 National ADDY competition included BBDO NYC, Ogilvy & Mather Atlanta, Leo Burnett Chicago, Draftcb, and Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

Message National ADDY® Winning Entries:

GOLD, Elements of Advertising-Visual
Black Hills Ammunition “It Started With Our Hands” Video

It Started With Our Hands

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SILVER, Sales Promotion- Sales Kit
Black Hills Ammunition, 4 Year Survival Kit

A full list of AAF-National ADDY® winners can be found here

Message Wins 7 Awards at AAF District 8 Regional ADDYs Competition

Rapid City-based marketing and communications firm Message earned seven silver Addy awards at the AAF-District 8 Regional competition in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for work created on behalf of Black Hills Ammunition and Slim Buttes Country & Western Vinyl Variety Hour. Message’s seven wins were the most among all winning advertisers representing Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. This is also the fourth consecutive year that Message has represented AAF-Black Hills and the greater Black Hills advertising community at the regional competition.

With over 60,000 entries annual, the ADDY Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. Each year the competition begins at the local level with 210 AAF clubs across the country. Entries must first be submitted in a local competition to be eligible for regional and national competitions. Local winners advance to one of 14 regional district competitions and District winners advance to the national finals. The National ADDYS® are held in conjunction with the AAF National Conference; June 5-8, 2013, in Phoenix, AZ.

Winning advertisers featured in the 2013 AAF District 8 ADDYs competition included Mono, Fresh Produce, Appleton Coated, Hunt Adkins, Colle McVoy, Olson, and Gaslight Creative.

A full list of AAF District 8 winners can be found here.

Message’s Jason Alley featured in OTA spotlight

At its heart, OTA is a network of creative community builders and change agents. A series of spotlights on OTA’s website focused on the best of the best. Jason Alley, Principal/Creative Director of Message, was among those selected to represent the Black Hills region.

View Jason Alley’s profile here:
http://ota.is/portfolio-item/jason-alley/

OTA:
OTA offers extraordinary experiences and engagements that educate, empower, and serve as creative catalysts for community-builders and change agents to improve the lives of all people living in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Now in its fourth year, more than 1,000 attendees have gathered to find inspiration and learn from 30 global leaders specializing in design, technology, entrepreneurship, community building, innovation, non-profits, branding, marketing, social media and movements. To learn more about OTA, visit www.otasessions.com

OTA 2013:
Online registration for the 2013 OTA Sessions is officially open! The event will take place on March 15th, 2013 at the Edith Mortenson Center on the campus of Augustana College. We have a limited number of tickets this year, so be sure to register early so you don’t miss out on this year’s amazing line-up.

Attendees will enjoy:

• An entire day learning from internationally-renowned thought leaders through presentations & performances
• Connecting with other attendees over breaks to take the conversation to a deeper level
• Special gifts from OTA
• A free lunch (and snack breaks)

Speakers in 2013 include: Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co, Ash Huang of Pinterest, Adam Braun of Pencils of Promise, Peter Buchanan-Smith of Best Made Co, Shaifali Puri of Scientists without Borders, Adam Leipzig of National Geographic Films, Nate Utesch of Ferocious Quarterly, and Jazzrock pianist ELEW.

Purchase OTA tickets here:
http://ota2013.eventbrite.com