DAILY MEMPHIAN | Aisling Mäki
The American Advertising Federation’s Memphis Chapter stayed true to the theme of this year’s awards, “A Lot of Winners,” during its 57th annual ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 24, at United Auto Exchange.
The AAF honored 38 Gold Addy winners, 40 Silver Addy winners, three student award winners, 11 “best of” award recipients and three judges’ choice awards.
DCA, Archer and Loaded for Bear were among the night’s big winners.
Creative communications consulting firm DCA won 10 Gold and 14 Silver Addy Awards, Best of Show, best of honors for video and interactive and a judges’ special award.
DCA also took home the Mosaic Award for its work on a video project titled “Art Memphis: We Don’t Make the Art.
The award recognizes “companies, agencies and individuals whose commitment to diversity and inclusion is evident through their creative work and organization-wide initiatives”.
Memphis creative agency Archer, previously known as Archer Malmo, took home six Gold and 12 Silver Awards, as well as best of honors for self-promotion and animation.
And multi-discipline branding agency Loaded For Bear won seven Gold and five Silver Awards, as well as best of awards for branding, apparel and public service.“
Every year, our board looks forward to organizing this competition to showcase the very best of the creative talent in our community,” said Katie Mars, AAF Memphis board president and partner at Pretty Useful Co.
Mars’ studio led the creative direction and organized the ceremony for this year’s American Advertising Awards.
“We’ve really enjoyed putting together the theme of ‘A Lot of Winners’: a used car lot hosted by Crazy Addy,” she said. “It’s been a lot of work but very rewarding, as well.”
This year’s 386 entries were judged by Sophia Latto of Orion Innovation in Edison, New Jersey; Mike Caguin of Periscope in Minneapolis; and David Soames of The Shop in Dallas.
Also honored was Cynthia Saatkamp, owner of Hemline, a Memphis-based marketing and brand strategy agency, with the Silver Medal Award, which recognizes remarkable lifetime achievements.
A fixture of the Memphis advertising community, Saatkamp’s career in the city spans more than 30 years. She has served the AAF Memphis chapter for more than a decade as a board member, executive committee member, president and past president.
Saatkamp’s service extends to the community at large, where she’s served on the boards of Grace-St. Luke’s Episcopal School, Junior League of Memphis, Midtown Memphis Development Corporation, Central Gardens Association and New Spark Performing Arts.
“Advertising is still more or less a boy’s club,” said Allie Mounce, co-founder at Pretty Useful Co. “Less than one percent of advertising agencies are owned by women. Cynthia and her work establishing Hemline as not only women owned but entirely staffed by women has made a real impact in the local landscape and the fabric of the Memphis advertising community.”
