Big Named Advertising Agency Of The Year
Big Communications, Inc. took home three top honors from the Birmingham Advertising Federation’s fifth annual Peak Awards, including the award for Advertising Agency of the Year. Peak Award winners were announced Tuesday, Aug. 15.
Leaders at the firm also earned individual honors. Big Communications Media Director Sally Russell Baio was named Media Director of the Year, and Client Services Director Michael Bell was named Advertising Account Executive of the Year.
“We have the best team we’ve ever had at Big right now,” said President John Montgomery. “I think these awards are a testament to the diligence and teamwork that I see at our company every day as well as a nod to our focus on producing results for clients.”
The Advertising Federation’s Peak Awards recognize media professionals and professional service people who strategize, produce, print, buy and sell advertising in the Birmingham market. While the annual ADDY Awards focus on honoring the ideas and art of advertising, the Peak Awards honor those who send those ideas into the world and use them to produce results.
Big Communications’ nomination highlighted four campaigns from the past year: “McWane Your Brain” for McWane Science Center, the public service campaign “Turn To Us For Life” for Cooper Green Hospital, “Do Your Share for Cleaner Air” for the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, and “The DiverseCity” for the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The nomination also highlighted some of the agency’s community projects, including the “Make It Funky” fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina victims that Big organized in October of 2005, raising $12,000 for the American Red Cross and other aid organizations.
“We love having fun and being creative with campaigns, but we never lose sight of our client’s goals,” Montgomery said. “Their goals become our goals, and every decision we make is about reaching them. In partnership with our clients, we change perspectives. We sell tickets. We motivate community involvement. We drive tourism.”
Bell, named Account Executive of the Year, serves as account executive for all the above mentioned clients as well as for Colonial Brookwood Village, the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and several others. Bell works with the clients to develop goals and strategies and manage the execution of those goals with Big Communication’s creative team.
Baio was honored as Media Director of the Year for developing media strategy for a long list of more than 15 clients at Big Communications, including Nationwide Insurance Co-Ops in Georgia and Alabama. Executives at Nationwide and at Colonial Brookwood Village submitted letters of support for Baio.
“I am particularly proud of Michael and Sally,” Montgomery said. “But I am also awfully proud of our entire team and thankful for our great clients, which helped us win Agency of the Year.
For more information, please contact Robin Oliver, Director of Public Relations, at 205-322-5646, ext.103 or email her at robin@bigcom.com
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