Advertising, marketing group awards highest honors

Red Letter Communications of Cape Girardeau and The Wright Group of Perryville, Mo., won the Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals highest honors Friday during the annual ADDY Awards banquet.

The Plaza by Ray's was festooned with circus-inspired decorations for the event. The 2013 ADDYs entries represented the "best advertising show on earth" and the awards celebrate advertising's "art of illusion," said Richard Proffer, Tri-State secretary and emcee.

Red Letter Communications won Best of Show in the broadcast/multimedia division, for its STIHL Built in America campaign on behalf of STIHL Inc., a maker of power tools.

Another ADDY Best of Show Award went to The Wright Group for its collateral material brochure for RM COCO. (Shay Alderman)

The Wright Group won Best of Show in the print division category for a brochure it created for RM Coco.

Gold ADDY winners were:

• Acclaim Press for The Ambassador of Bourbon: Maker's Mark and the Rebirth of America's Native Spirit.
• Acclaim Press for The Kentucky Bourbon Experience: A visual Tour of Kentucky's Bourbon Distilleries.
• The Wright Group for RM Coco brochure.
• Saint Francis Medical Center for New Physician Reception Invite.
• Red Letter Communications for the SoutheastHEALTH Survivor campaign.
• Idyllic Enterprises for Best Idea that Never Flew -- River City Aquatics Swimming Club Logo.
• Red Letter Communications for the SoutheastHEALTH Neuroscience Bus Graphics.
• Horizon Media Group for the Sabona Jewelry Catalog.
• The Wright Group for The Bank of Missouri Brochure and Inserts.
• Saint Francis Medical Center for the Pink Up Cape campaign.

Silver ADDYs were awarded to 15 professional entries and bronze ADDYs were given for 17 entries.

In the student category, a Best of Show ADDY was awarded to Southeast Missouri State University AR416 students for their MAPC integrated advertising campaign.

Gold ADDYs in the category were awarded to:

• Southern Illinois University Group Project, "Toolbox" for Cuisinart.
• Southeast Missouri State University, AR408/MK343 students for Group 6 Discovery Playhouse Facebook Cover Photo.
• Southeast Missouri State University, MAPC Integrated Campaign.
• Southern Illinois University Group Project, "Hollywood" for Neil Lane Rings.
• Southern Illinois University Group Project, "Pet Head" for Pet Head.
• Southeast Missouri State University, Zack Tucker, Connect Airlines Identity.

In addition, six silver and 13 bronze student award winners were recognized.

Honored with a Judge's Choice Award was Steve Turner of the Southeast Missourian for his digital media campaign for Port Cape Girardeau. Judges unanimously selected the entry, which also received a silver ADDY, as deserving of special recognition.

Tri-State vice president Bruce Holt spoke about the "Advertising for a Cause" public service campaign, a grant for media exposure and production services for not-for-profit organizations. Past beneficiaries include Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Southeast Missouri Food Bank. Holt said $160,000 -- $10,000 from 16 regional media sponsors -- has been raised for the 2013 campaign. More information and applications to receive the can be found at tristateamp.com/programs/advertising-for-a-cause/.

Judges for the awards were Dr. Nancy Hendricks, director of communications at Arkansas State University, Dr. Myleea Hill, associate professor of journalism at Arkansas State University and award-winning advertising professional Lisa Moskal.

Gold ADDY winners are automatically eligible to compete in district competition in March against entries submitted by clubs in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. District winners will compete at the national level in June.

Tri-State AMP is a not-for-profit organization of communications professionals in the Cape Girardeau, Paducah, Ky., and Harrisburg, Ill., areas. More than 160 print, interactive, broadcast and multimedia advertising projects, all created, published or aired in the Tri-State AMP market area between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2012, were considered.

salderman@semissourian.com

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