The Reno-Tahoe Amercian Marketing Association's Ace Awards event recognizes brand engagement excellence within our community. This year, over 140 nominations were submitted across 12 categories, the highest volume ever received!
Once we accounted for duplicate nominations and reached out to all of those who were nominated, we began the process of collecting more information about each nominated effort in the form of a survey, and collected countless supplemental links and attachments. These nominees were ultimately narrowed down to 52 finalists based on the board’s review of the submissions, which were then voted on by our judges to determine winners.
This year’s judges included the board members of our sister chapter in Charleston, South Carolina, as well as Reno-Tahoe AMA Professional Members. In addition to the 12 categories of awards, we'll also be giving out a People's Choice award (voted on by well over 1,500 people) and "Influencer of the Year," which is an award given to an individual within the community for their contributions to the marketing industry, collectively voted on by the board.
2. What is the Ace Awards?
THE ACE AWARDS IS AN ANNUAL EVENT HOSTED BY THE RENO-
TAHOE AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION (AMA). THE GOAL OF
THE ACE AWARDS IS TO RECOGNIZE AND ACKNOWLEDGE
MARKETING EXCELLENCE RIGHT HERE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
3. Special Thanks To All Our Amazing Sponsors
•Basecamp
•CPC Solutions
•Digiman Studio
•Fandango Movie Tickets
•Granlibakken Resort
•Hard Rock Hotel - Lake Tahoe
•Frauc.com
•JCML Media
•Nevada Art Museum
•Outlets at Sparks Marina
•Reno Aces
•Reno Air Races
•Reno News & Review
•Reno Type
•SilverBlu Media
•Squeeze In
•Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema
•This is Reno
•Whitney Peak Hotel
•Yoga Loka
Without sponsors, none of this could be possible. Thank you to all these inspiring local businesses for helping
this year’s Ace Awards be the best YET!
4. BEST IN:
Brand / Re-Brand
A MARKETING OVERHAUL OF A PRODUCT, BUSINESS OR
SERVICE AREA AND HOW IT CREATES A MEANINGFUL IMPACT
FOR THE BUSINESS OR ACHIEVE A KEY MARKETING
OBJECTIVE.
5. Clark & Sullivan
Rebrand
Stan Can Design
The primary goal of this
campaign was to update the
Clark/Sullivan brand to
better represent the people
behind it. We also wanted to
increase Clark/Sullivan's
total billings and create a
progressive look and feel
that would help them win
more contracting bids.
6. Fifty South
Virginia
Stan Can Design
We crafted a brand that totally
owned the historic
significance of one Reno's
oldest and most beautiful
buildings. All of our design
elements were rooted in
truths of the building, from
cast aluminum buttons that
inspired the logo, to the
terracotta outer walls that
represent the colors chosen,
to the tagline that both
illustrates the building's
purpose and challenges its
future tenants. The result is a
timeless brand that will serve
the building for at least as long
as it's served this city.
7. HATCH
Design on the Edge
The brand represents creative
thinking and has provided the
area with a unique
opportunity for artists,
photographers and models to
grow and develop there skills.
The brand is consistent, easy
to produce and cohesive
through all materials from
apparel to print. With the re-
brand a website, stickers, ID
badges, internal and external
signage, social media graphics
and business collateral were
developed.
8. The Jungle
Design on the Edge
The goal was to merge Java
Jungle and Jungle Vino into
one single location. With this
it was imperative we develop
a new brand that is easy to
reproduce and reflective of
the historical components of
the property. The Jungle
is a Reno institution and the re
brand of the logo was
important as they embarked
on a property merging and 25
years of business the client
wanted to upgrade the brand
to something beautiful,
unique and versatile.
9. Reno eNVy
Design on the Edge
The rebrand began with an
updated logo mark that was
transferred into external and
internal signage. A full responsive
e-commerce website was built
with an updated look and feel.
Professional photography was
established at 4 locations and
over 20 local models were used
within the shoots. The goal was to
create a lifestyle brand that
appealed to a local and statewide
audience. The launch of the new
line included over 20 new open
sourced designs and an
assortment of styles. The launch
of the Battle Born line was the
kick off for the brand.
11. BEST IN:
Cause-Related
Marketing
A MARKETING CAMPAIGN DEVELOPED BETWEEN A BUSINESS AND
A CHARITY OR CAUSE THAT DELIVERS BENEFITS FOR BOTH
PARTIES. THE CAMPAIGN NEEDS TO DEMONSTRATE RESULTS AND
HOW WELL IT WAS INTEGRATED WITH BROADER MARKETING
OBJECTIVES OF BOTH ORGANIZATIONS.
12. Art Walk Reno
Biggest Little Group
The idea of a downtown art walk
is not a new one. There have been
walks, highlighting local art and
the city’s public art, architecture,
culture, and history before. Last
year, Art Spot Reno decided it was
time to re-launch an art walk in
the downtown Arts District,
between Liberty Street and
Second Street, and Virginia Street
and Arlington Avenue, to coincide
with its grass-roots campaign to
promote and provide a platform
for the Reno arts community.
Now, restaurants, galleries and
businesses in the downtown Reno
Arts District are bustling every
first Thursday because of Art Walk
Reno.
13. Comida Local
Laxalt & McIver
Generating awareness of local
foods to the Hispanic
community of Northern
Nevada.
The campaign generated
awareness in-person through
the farming community, as
well to the public through
social media, web & radio
spots placements. The print
campaign helped reach
consumers at point of sale
through posters, decals and
table tents.
14. HPV Free NV
Infographics
Immunize Nevada
Utilize an online survey to collect
powerful testimonials on the
impact HPV has had on people so
that we could turn those into
infographics to use on all social
media outlets.
These infographics provide a
powerful message quickly, and
enable people on social media to
share them so that we can
educate Nevadans about the
impact of HPV and the fact that it
can cause a variety of cancers.
We also incorporated some
powerful facts to compliment the
testimonials.
15. Reno Startup
Deck
Economic Development Authority of
Western Nevada / The Abbi Agency /
Boost Creative
1) Curating the ecosystem. To help our
team and community members quickly
identify and communicate the relevant
community resources when speaking
with an Entrepreneur in person.
2) Attract entrepreneurs to Reno. The
deck highlights demonstrates the
abundance of the resources for
entrepreneurs in Reno and gives some
insights in the vibrancy and creativity of
the community.
3) Reinforcing the startup culture. The
deck attempts to reinforce the startup
culture by outlining the core values of
our startup community as ""The Rules"".
Example rules are Break rules and
dream, Open Doors and Listen,
Collaborate, And Pay it forward.
16. AND THE WINNER IN BEST CAUSE-RELATED MARKETING IS:
Reno Startup Deck
17. BEST IN:
Direct Marketing
A MARKETING INITIATIVE THAT DEMONSTRATES
STRATEGY, CREATIVITY AND RESULTS. IT TARGETS A
SPECIFIC AUDIENCE WITH A CLEAR MESSAGE, OFFER
AND CALL TO ACTION.
18. GameWorks Direct
Email Campaign
Estipona Group
Challenge: While those enrolled
in GamePerks (gaming
membership program) were
receiving regular emails with
quality offers, the emails were
only being opened and redeemed
at a rate of 9%.
Solution: EG redesigned the
emails, got rid of the text heavy
format, small stock photos and
unappealing clip art. Custom,
high-energy photography was
shot on property and used in the
campaign, copy was kept brief
and the offer was set out
prominently.
19. Jolly Happy Soul
Stan Can Design
To bring fun, charity, and
creativity into the holiday season
of Stan Can Design's friends and
family. We wanted people to do
good but also spend time with
their own families being creative.
The winner of Best in Snow would
earn $5,000 worth of creative
services for the charity of their
choice.
With over 1,400 votes for the top
3 entries, and multiple laugh-out-
loud creative ideas, it's easy to
see the success of our campaign.
We wanted people to have fun, be
creative, and keep charitable
causes in their mind and this
campaign did just that.
20. Personalization
Beyond First Name
Squaw Valley | Alpine Meadows
Our goal was to use CRM to
personalize emails beyond %%First
Name%%. By personalizing emails
based on a guest’s behavior we
wanted to increase email
engagement metrics as well as
revenue via an increased passholder
renewal rate.
We applied this philosophy to
various communication streams this
season and for 14-15 pass sales. The
stream that was the most
rewarding, though, was
communications to our passholders.
The three campaigns that I’m
submitting all tied to big picture
company goals in addition to the
goal of increasing email engagement
metrics and revenue via an increase
in renewal rate.
21. AND THE WINNER IN BEST DIRECT MARKETING IS:
Personalization
Beyond First Name
22. BEST IN:
Event Promotion
THE OVERALL PROMOTION OF AN EVENT THAT EXTENDS
THE BRAND EXPERIENCE TO CUSTOMERS AND ACHIEVES
MEASURABLE RESULTS FOR THE ORGANIZER.
23. Addy Awards
Jamie Kingham Stills + Motion
The campaign was extremely successful
due to it's dynamic nature and use of
local creatives and personalities from the
advertising and marketing industries. Our
entries and attendance were at their
highest numbers since 2009 and most
importantly our audience reach
expanded beyond the advertising
industry making it a much more diverse
event.
Entries came from a range of creatives
from areas that had never entered and
that diversity was reflected in the general
attendance. Overall the reach of this
campaign and it's effectiveness in
differentiating it from previous years
helped us not only have a much more
successful and wonderfully unpredictable
event, it helped raise more money for
scholarships and set us up for a even
more successful event next year.
24. Dear World
Nevada
University of Nevada, Reno
More than 60 recognizable individuals
participated in the VIP shoot, sharing
portraits via social media, using
#DearWorldNevada, resulting in
hundreds of user generated posts on
social media.
More than 60 students interacted with
the photographer at the Pizza with the
Dean event. Thirty were expected to
attend. Anticipated attendance at the
open portrait shoot was 100. More than
250 community members participated.
The Keynote address attracted 206+
attendees. Capacity was met, and the
event was live-streamed. Four DWN
participants shared their portrait for the
first time. One participant shared her
struggles with overcoming a meth
addiction and one mom shared her battle
with cancer. A strategic partnership
with ASUN was established allowing for
cross-promotion of DWN helping to
broaden event reach across the 18,000-
member student body.
25. Midtown Art
Walk
Living Stones Church
The Midtown Art Walk is Reno’s first
and largest event of it’s kind and has
become an expected staple of Reno
events. What distinguishes the
Midtown Art Walk from Reno’s
other many events is that is seeks to
revitalize and celebrate the offerings
of the city, and not just use the city
as a venue. The event has
continued to grow exponentially
year-to-year. The first year of the
Midtown Art Walk we had about 12
businesses participate. This year we
have a goal of 85 businesses and
90+ artists and performers all under
a one-mile stretch. In 2014 we had
approximate attendance of 5,000
participants all within a 4-hour
stretch on a Thursday evening!
26. Reno Craft Beer
Week
Don Vetter Vetter Pr, Inc. / Reno
Craft Beer Week LLC / Nevada Craft
Brewers Association
Expose residents and visitors to
Northern Nevada's dynamic craft
beer industry.
Create a collaborative, synergistic
schedule of compelling event which
attract beer geeks, ale rookies and
culinary adventurist while serving as
a showcase for Northern Nevada’s
breweries, restaurants, pubs,
businesses and experiences with
ties to our craft beer community.
61 total events
10,179 web site visits (60 days)
1,212 Facebook followers
City of Reno declares April 18-24
Reno Craft Beer Week
27. AND THE WINNER IN BEST EVENT PROMOTION IS:
Reno Craft Beer
Week
28. BEST IN:
Mobile
THE BUSINESS EFFECTIVELY USES MOBILE TO IMPROVE
HOW PROSPECTIVE / CURRENT CUSTOMERS INTERACT
WITH THEIR BRAND.
29. FCT Mobile
First Centennial Title
This app is the first of it's kind
in the Northern Nevada
market. It not only gives our
clients access to the latest
technology that gives them a
professional edge, but it
continues the brand of First
Centennial Title as the market
leader in both service and new
technology. First Centennial
Title is a locally owned and
operated business with a
national sphere of influence.
This mobile platform brings
our clients up to par with the
technology now being offered
in larger markets.
30. Rounds Bakery
Design on the Edge
The goals were to entice customers to
view the products online and allow for
convenient ordering and access to other
information such as menu selection,
community news, events and food
imagery.
With the Rounds mobile website we took
into account that people eat with there
eyes. We wanted to incorporate delicious
custom photography and a clean
interface that was easy to use for any age
or device. The navigation is easy to
access and the readable high contrast
and speed of site loading helps with
usability. The website launched in March
of 2015 and since then has received
13,318 page views, of which 55.04% are
mobile viewers that spend an average of
1.32 minutes on the mobile site and view
an average of 2.39 pages.
32. BEST IN:
Print
THE PRINTED PIECE DISPLAYS DESIGN, CREATIVITY AND A
STRONG THE CALL TO ACTION. IT CAPTURES ATTENTION AND
INTEREST AND HELPS CREATE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT FOR
THE BUSINESS OR ACHIEVE A KEY MARKETING OBJECTIVE.
33. High Fives
Foundation 2014
Annual Report
High Fives Foundation
The publication was well
received by Foundation
supporters. Reader feedback
demonstrated the value of
the publication. Readers
applauded the design and
esthetic of the publication,
as well as athlete features
and fund disbursement.
Two thousand, five hundred
copies were printed and
shared with donors,
prospective donors and
Foundation partners.
34. Myth or Truth
(Tobacco Prevention
Education)
KPS3 Marketing
To inform the content and design
of the collateral, KPS3 conducted
intensive research using primary
and secondary methods. We went
right to the source and conducted
multiple focus groups for each
audience. Through these groups,
we identified each audience’s
misconceptions in relation to
tobacco use. “There are worse
things than smoking” and “My
mom smoked while pregnant, so
my kid will be fine” were just
some of the misconceptions
voiced during the focus groups,
which ultimately served as
content for collateral. Armed with
the power of research, “Myths
and Truths” successfully combat
tobacco use in our community.
35. Reno Tahoe
Tonight
February 2015
Oliver X
Excellence Creates Demand RTT
was the first magazine to publish
contributing photographer Anicia
Beckwith, whose photos have since
appeared in British Vogue, Vogue
Photo, Italian Vogue and other more
internationally renowned
publications. The quality of the
design, layout, images and editorial
content in RTT has earned us “Best
of” honors in Reno News & Review's
“Best of Northern Nevada Reader's
Poll” for “Best Publication” two
years running in 2013 and 2014.
Our combined efforts to increase
editorial content, expose our brand
in mass media outlets and celebrate
the excellence of our contributors
has been the recipe for our success.
36. Reno Startup
Deck
Economic Development Authority of
Western Nevada / The Abbi Agency /
Boost Creative
1) Curating the ecosystem. To help our
team and community members quickly
identify and communicate the relevant
community resources when speaking
with an Entrepreneur in person.
2) Attract entrepreneurs to Reno. The
deck highlights demonstrates the
abundance of the resources for
entrepreneurs in Reno and gives some
insights in the vibrancy and creativity of
the community.
3) Reinforcing the startup culture. The
deck attempts to reinforce the startup
culture by outlining the core values of
our startup community as ""The Rules"".
Example rules are Break rules and
dream, Open Doors and Listen,
Collaborate, And Pay it forward.
38. BEST IN:
Public Relations
COMMUNICATIONS EFFORTS THROUGH PR AND TRADITIONAL
MEDIA OUTLETS THAT PROMOTES AWARENESS AND
CHANGES PERCEPTIONS OF SERVICES, CORPORATIONS, AND
ORGANIZATIONS TO CONSUMERS, EMPLOYEES, INDUSTRY
PROFESSIONALS, THE INVESTOR COMMUNITY AND OTHER
STAKEHOLDER GROUPS. THE EFFORTS MUST RELATE TO THE
OVERALL MARKETING STRATEGY AND IS NOT JUST A SINGLE
TACTIC.
39. Camels, Ostriches
and Zebras, Oh My!
RAD Strategies
Objective: Secure at least 10
journalists for media day and five
racing a camel.
Results: 34 media attended Media
Day; 15 journalists raced camels. In
partnership with the Nevada
Commission on Tourism, a group of
writers from Australia attended
representing Women’s Day
Magazine, second-highest
circulation women’s magazine in
Australia, and New Zealand
Women’s Weekly, the top circulation
women’s magazine in New Zealand.
Seven travel bloggers from Texas
attended as part of a Reno-Tahoe
FAM (familiarity) tour. These efforts
have laid the groundwork for 2015
coverage.
40. Nevada
Sesquicentennial
Celebration
The Glenn Group
The year-long Sesquicentennial
celebration was an enormous
success, far surpassing goals and
garnering praises from the Governor
and national attention. The Glenn
Group generated positive media
coverage through educating,
developing and leveraging
newsworthy items through print,
broadcast and electronic news
outlets, achieving significant media
awareness in Nevada and nationally.
• 1,516 print stories, advertising
value of $11,287,306.33
• 369 broadcast stories, ad value of
$290,599 • 851 online stories
valued at $21,687,017.51
• Eight proactive PR campaigns
41. Nevada Museum
of Art 36th Star:
From Territory to
State
Nevada Museum of Art
Over the course of the
exhibition, we generated more
than 100 news stories,
including a photo essay travel
feature in the LA Times online.
The community was abuzz
with the talk of the treasures
from the exhibition,
particularly the Emancipation
Proclamation. Over the four-
day period the Emancipation
Proclamation was at the
Museum, we gained 650 new
members, a record, far
surpassing our expectations.
Many of those individuals had
never before visited the
Nevada Museum of Art.
42. STJ500: Even
Cloistered Nuns
Need Publicity
Estipona Group
We employed a comprehensive PR
and social media strategy targeting
Catholics, Carmelites, spiritual
people, music lovers and
technophiles. The messaging
centered on the dichotomy of a
traditional Catholic order of nuns
employing technology (YouTube,
creation of a Twitter, FB and
Google+ page, etc.) to bring
attention to the event and help
create buzz.
Hundreds attended the event.
Additionally, the PBS documentary
premiered in March 2015 and has
the potential of airing nationwide.
As of the time of this writing,
YouTube views among the various
pages total more than a quarter of a
million.
43. Telling the
Whitney Peak
Story
Whitney Peak
Leading up to the opening, we
hosted several FAM tours and media
events that drew a combined 100+
media and meeting planner
influentials in local and regional
markets.
This yielded more than 70
independent pre-opening/opening
placements in local and regional
media, including front-page
coverage in the Gazette-Journal and
extensive, on-location broadcast
coverage. As we expanded our
outreach to national and
international publications, with a
focus on meeting planners, we
secured articles with Smart
Meetings, Meetings & Conventions,
Meetings Focus, Successful
Meetings and Collaborate.
44. The National
Council of Juvenile
and Family Court
Judges
KPS3 Marketing
• To garner national, regional and local
coverage with media relations efforts.
• Increase awareness of the NCJFCJ and
their work.
• Position the NCJFCJ staff and judicial
members as experts in their fields of
family violence, domestic relations and
juvenile law.
The NCJFCJ faced a challenge in achieving
their goals, with limited marketing
resources and only one full-time
marketing specialist on staff. With little
foundation, they needed to build the
necessary tools and processes to position
them for success.
In a short time, the organization was able
to disseminate easy-to-digest
backgrounders and talking points, and
create a segmented spokesperson list. A
process was implemented on handling
media inquiries. Media training was
developed for select staff members and
judges from across the U.S.
45. AND THE WINNER IN BEST PUBLIC RELATIONS IS:
Nevada Sesquicentennial
Celebration
46. BEST IN:
Social Media
THE WAYS A BUSINESS USES SOCIAL MEDIA TO ENHANCE
AND BOOST ENGAGEMENT AND AWARENESS WITH
PROSPECTIVE / CURRENT CUSTOMERS.
47. #NotACronut
Ashley Brune Communications / Rounds
Bakery
Rounds Bakery received a cease-and-
desist letter from New York’s Dominique
Ansel Bakery, creator of the wildly
popular Cronut, alleging that Rounds
Bakery used the trademark ‘Cronut’ for
its croissant doughnuts. Because Rounds
Bakery never used the term ‘Cronut,’ we
created a Twitter hashtag #NotACronut
for a series of tweets in which the bakery
snarkily apologized to Ansel Bakery using
a variety of trademarks in its apology. The
Twitter feud gained national momentum,
and was covered by notable national
outlets, such as USA Today, Huffington
Post, Perez Hilton and Jezebel. Since the
Twitter feud, Rounds Bakery’s croissant
doughnut is now fondly referred to as the
#NotACronut gaining recognition from
fans far and wide.
48. #ThinkReno
City of Reno / Office of
Communications &
Community Engagement
To creatively engage residents
and drive community interest
in collaboratively defining a
strategic vision for our city
300+ residents attended six
community forums to provide
insightful ideas about their
visions for Reno. 1000+
tweets, Facebook and
Instagram posts of residents
sharing their "i #thinkreno can
be..." ideas.
49. Reno Moms Blog
Reno Moms Blog
Our social media outreach as promotion
of our blog has been so successful that it
has led to our site being picked up in
other media outlets. We have a weekly
spot on Mornings on Fox 11, our
Mother’s Day contest was featured on
the Sunday Reno Gazette Journal on
Mother’s Day and we just secured a
monthly column in the Reno Gazette
Journal, and we were also featured on
Ron James in the Morning. We’ve also
become a go-to resource for local ad
agencies who want to promote their
clients with a mom-centric message.
All of this was accomplished with minimal
paid media, focusing on the quality of our
social media posts and our blog content
serving as the primary driving force to
creating this extremely successful online
community.
50. TMCC Gift of
Education
Campaign
The Abbi Agency
Strategy
• Seasonal Social Media Contest, “The Gift
of Education,” developed and open to
nontraditional students
• Crowdsourced stories of desire to return
to school from contest entrants and share
these stories to connect on emotional level
• Created infographic to show the
“Difference of a Degree”
• Printed infographics featured strategically
around community to promote contest and
campaign
• Individual points from infographic shared
in social media graphics and targeted to
local nontraditional students
Results
• 4,362 clicks to social media contest tab
• 102 total stories entered within the target
demographic
• 112,560 online impressions on campaign
• 454% increase in New Facebook Fans
• 404% increase in Impressions
51. Whitney Peak
Hotel
Whitney Peak
Our active engagement
illustrates just how diligent
our presence throughout our
first year of operations. From
March of 2014 (approximately
2 months prior to Grand
Opening) we boasted 2,154
page likes across all 4 brands
By “practicing the presence of
being present” we tell the
story of Whitney Peak every
single day, as engaging as we
can, in a voice we feel speaks
to our demographic.
53. BEST IN:
Video
THE VIDEO / FILM / COMMERCIAL CAPTURES
ATTENTION, INTEREST, DESIRE, AND LEADS TO ACTION.
IT HELPS TO DRIVE RESULTS FOR THE BUSINESS OR
ACHIEVE A KEY BUSINESS OBJECTIVE.
54. The Edge of
Impossible
The High Fives Foundation
The film premiered at the Nevada
Museum of Art in April 2014 to an
audience of 200 distinguished
guests from Reno, Tahoe and
beyond.
It runs 14-minutes in length and
has amassed over 14,600 views
between Vimeo.com and
Youtube.com. It has exceeded its
goal by being nominated for
awards at over 13 domestic and
international film festivals. It
won Best Short Documentary at
the Mammoth Mountain Film
Festival and All Sports Film
Festival. It won the Doing Good
award at the Lifetree Film Festival.
55. Reno Ronald
McDonald House
Norvell Family
Story
Ronald McDonald House
Charities Northern Nevada
The video itself is an example
of successfully identifying a
story that is equal parts raw,
vulnerable and human, and
one that the family was
comfortable telling, and
capturing it in a timely
manner.
It's an example of asking the
right questions in order to
prompt answers that viewers
can identify with, while
staying true to the story and
tracking back to the non-profit
organization's mission.
56. Washoe County
State of the
County 2015 Video
Series
SoSu.TV
The goal of producing the
videos was to provide a
resource of visual
storytelling to citizens,
employees and media to be
used all year long.
Since the launch, the videos
have been used by multiple
media outlets for coverage
of the County, the Human
Resources department for
new employee orientation,
not to mention social media
sharing and website views.
57. Secret Witness
Outreach
PATRICK MEDIA / CONSIDER IT
DONE
To educate and re-educate our
community as to the availability
of Secret Witness as a silent and
anonymous tool for law
enforcement and our area to
work together in making our
community a safer place to live
and raise a family.
As we say, you can make a
difference, one call at a time and
people are and because of these
efforts to stay in front of them,
we are making a difference...
together. Today, we see far too
much grief between law
enforcement, crime and
community...not in this market!
58. The Reno
Sessions
David Ware and Ford Corl
In 2014 we were honored to receive an
Emmy award for Best Arts and
Entertainment Program. We take an
incredible amount of care to ensure that
our audio and video mirrors that of a
professional recording studio or a large
budget video production. Not only has
this been good for patrons of Reno, who
strive for great locally produced
entertainment, but it has been hugely
beneficial to the hard working musicians
in the Reno area. These videos have
become a very useful tool to bands,
helping them achieve better exposure
and more credibility when attempting to
book shows in and outside of Nevada.
The Reno Sessions has and always will be,
a project we don't wish to profit from.
Our goal is purely to help promote the
growing arts movement in Northern
Nevada.
59. The World is a
Sick Place TV
Estipona Group
In the spot, we reminded viewers
that the flu virus can last outside
the body for up to eight hours,
though most of us are touching
these surfaces much earlier than
that. The spot featured members
of our different target audiences
in just a few of the situations
where germs live, including an
elevator, the grocery store, ATM,
gas station, high school and the
dreaded school bus.
The spot was intended to gross
people out, and it did, garnering
“emotional” feedback throughout
social media channels — in blog
comments and on Facebook.
61. BEST IN:
Web and Digital
THE WEBSITE DEMONSTRATES EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN,
CONTENT, FUNCTIONALITY AND USABILITY. THIS
INCLUDES THE OVERALL LOOK AND FEEL OF THE SITE,
ENGAGING CONTENT, NAVIGATION AND EASE-OF-USE
FOR VISITORS.
62. Arts for All Nevada
(VSA Arts)
Noble Studios / Noble Deeds
VSA had several needs. First, the
group was looking for a name
change and rebrand. VSA also was in
need of a digital overhaul. Donating
445 hours of time worth more than
$100,000, Noble undertook a
complete rebrand for the group,
which is now known as Arts for All
Nevada.
Noble conducted deep, quantitative
research of the group’s target
audience and overhauled its
website, making it completely
responsive across all device types as
well as ADA compliant. Moreover,
Arts for All now has a new site, logo
and brand that fully reflect the
group’s mission and one that, like
the group itself, is accessible to
everyone.
63. Butter & Salt
Gatherings
Boost Creative
Not only that, it’s everything it
needs to be and nothing more.
There isn’t clutter for the sake of
filling up the pages— only
essential information. You come
to the website, receive the info
you need, get a taste of what
Butter & Salt is offering and then
you’re done. It’s easy and quick to
navigate and find their contact
info to book an event.
Since launching this website for
Butter & Salt, they have been so
busy they can hardly keep up. It
might not have everything to do
with having a modern, interactive
and clean website (they are
amazing chefs after all) but I like
to think it helped a bit.
64. KPS3.com
KPS3 Marketing
We had several goals for our new site.
Most importantly we wanted to take a
quality over quantity approach with our
content, but still create a website that
would accurately reflect all of the work
we do and be a helpful resource for
prospective clients and future
employees. We wanted an easy-to-use,
responsive website that everyone at KPS3
would have a hand in building.
Every now and then it’s important to
“treat yo self,” and that’s exactly how we
redesigned our website. Last December,
KPS3 took the opportunity (and a solid
week) to focus on the vision and
development of a new KPS3.com.
Working from the ground up, we
completed all aspects of the site from
strategy and content to design and
development all in one week. Yes, one
week – all thanks to the love and
dedication of our crew.
65. noblestudios.com
Noble Studios
With the redesign of
NobleStudios.com, we took the
focus off of us and gave the
spotlight to our clients.
Several months in the making, the
new site features simplified
navigation and, of course, is fully
responsive across all device types.
The new copy is clean and
minimalist, with a touch of the sort
of humor Noblebots are known for.
With the new site, we are able to
highlight our three-part
Think/Make/Measure process,
which taps all Noble departments -
from the Strategy team to the
Creative Services department to the
Technical Services crew. We proudly
rolled out the AAF Addy-award
winning new site at the end of 2014.
68. BEST IN:
Integrated
Marketing Strategy
A COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN THAT STRATEGICALLY
USES A VARIETY OF COMMUNICATION DISCIPLINES,
SUCH AS ADVERTISING, PUBLIC RELATIONS, PERSONAL
SELLING, AND SALES PROMOTION AND COMBINES THEM
TO PROVIDE CLARITY, CONSISTENCY, AND MAXIMUM
COMMUNICATION IMPACT.
69. Greater Nevada
Credit Union
Greater Nevada Credit Union / KPS3
Marketing
When we launched the multimedia
campaign we focused the messaging on
how GNCU will be a partner to its
members each step of the way. From
digital to print and broadcast, the
campaign was distributed across multi
channels. We even used direct mail and
internal campaigns to garner the
excitement and the involvement of the
internal Greater Nevada team.
Since the launch of the client has seen
upward trends with their desired 16 to 44
year-old demographic. Specifically, GNCU
has seen increases in new member
accounts among members of this
audience. We are also happy to see that
GNCU has introduced three new
branches to northern Nevada within the
past year.
70. Nevada Health
Link
KPS3 Marketing
With the mixed-media
approach, we successfully
drove 20 million web visitors,
275,000+ callers to the call
center and filling out
appointment schedules. In
addition, the media campaign
exceeded projected goals in
every measurement category.
We are also happy to report
that key finding showed that
awareness of Nevada Health
Link and the healthcare law
improved - both were at
virtually zero prior to the
campaign.
71. North Lake Tahoe
Capitalizes on
Human Powered
Sports
The Abbi Agency
Position North Lake Tahoe as the
premiere recreational and sporting
destination 365-days-a-year, but
especially in fall, by leveraging an
existing audience through owned
channels.
The campaign resulted in a total of
five million impressions on social
media and overall increased
engagement of 1,200 likes per post
and 26 comments, 90 percent which
were positive in nature.
An unexpected result of the
campaign was local, regional and
national media attention. Media
attention highlighted the campaign
specifically as well as events and
activities that spoke to the core of
the campaign and ease of entry in
to these styles of sports.
72. University of
Nevada, Reno 2014
Recruitment
Campaign
University of Nevada, Reno Office of
Marketing and Communications
The University of Nevada, Reno’s highly
successful 2014 recruitment campaign
was truly integrated from inception to
implementation. Building on a solid
messaging platform established by a new
Marketing Communications Road Map,
the University’s MarCom team branded
the institution and codified it in a
publication entitled “The Hallmarks of
the University Brand.”
The results were impressive. In Fall of
2014, the University enrolled 19,934
students, an all-time record. It welcomed
the brightest class of students ever, with
record GPAs, ACT scores, and SAT scores.
It welcomed the most National Merit
Scholars and Presidential Scholars in its
history. Equally important, 41% of
incoming freshman identified as
culturally diverse, a new record.
73. AND THE WINNER IN BEST INTEGRATED MARKETING STRATEGY IS:
Nevada Health Link
74. BEST IN:
Non-Local Promotion
THE OVERALL PROMOTION OF A BUSINESS OR EVENT
THAT IS TARGETED TO AUDIENCES OUTSIDE THE RENO-
TAHOE AREA.
75. Bark and Borrow
White Rabbit
The goal of Bark 'N' Borrow's website was
to connect dog-owners to a local
community of trusted dog-lovers and
professional carers. We are launching an
APP soon and the site's alternative goal is
to garner interest and collect emails prior
to the launch.
People love their pets. We love them like
family. In order to launch this business
effectively we needed to demonstrate
that feeling online, which we did with the
cleanliness of the design and prominent
imagery of dogs and stories of the
connection between them and owners.
The site is clean, easy-to-use, it's social,
and most importantly..it's fun! It sets the
stage for the APP which will be just as
beautiful.
76. Celebration of a
Saint
Estipona Group
We employed a comprehensive PR and
social media strategy targeting Catholics,
Carmelites, spiritual people, music lovers
and technophiles. The messaging
centered on the dichotomy of a
traditional Catholic order of nuns
employing technology (YouTube, creation
of a Twitter, FB and Google+ page, etc.) to
bring attention to the event and help
create buzz.
We also engaged PBS in creating a 30-
minute documentary about the event.
Hundreds attended the San Jose event.
Additionally, the PBS documentary
premiered in March 2015 and has the
potential of airing nationwide. As of the
time of this writing, global YouTube views
among the various pages total more than
a quarter of a million.
77. Fallon Image
Campaign
PATRICK MEDIA / CONSIDER
IT DONE
To increase awareness and portray the
image of Americana that still lives in
Nevada for a community just outside
of our market, Fallon, Nevada. Fallon's
family and rural make up is a good
reminder of who we are and, this
message will also be reaching some
"feeder" markets as a tool for possible
relocation to Nevada.
78. IGT Montana
Machine Sales
Campaign
IGT
The results of the Montana
Machine campaign were
excellent. We achieved a
response rate 600% higher
than any previous effort. It
also generated the highest
opportunity revenue total of
any campaign to date. These
metrics are especially
compelling given the high
cost of purchasing new
machines and the normally
spending-adverse nature of
this customer segment.
79. AND THE WINNER IN BEST NON-LOCAL PROMOTION IS:
Bark & Borrow
Website
80. People’s Choice
IS IT A POPULARITY CONTEST? IS IT SHAMELESS SELF
PROMOTION? WHO CARES! IT’S AN AWARD AND PEOPLE
ARE VOTING FOR YOU. OUT OF 120+ NOMINEES, YOU
REIGNED SUPREME. TO US, YOU ARE MORE POPULAR
THAN CAT VIDEOS AND YOU DESERVE THIS PRESTIGIOUS
AWARD!
81. AND THE WINNER OF PEOPLE’S CHOICE IS:
Reno Ronald McDonald
House Norvell Family Story
82. LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST:
Influencer of the Year
TO THE RENO AMA BOARD, THIS AWARD IS THE ONE WE HOLD
THE CLOSEST TO OUR HEARTS. EVERY YEAR, WE ARE FORTUNATE
ENOUGH TO SELECT ONE PERSON FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT
WE HAVE WATCHED MAKE A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT. THIS IS OUR
WAY OF SAYING THANK YOU TO THE SPECIAL PEOPLE OUT THERE
THAT GO FAR BEYOND THE REST TO MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE IN
OUR COMMUNITY. IT IS OUR HONOR TO ANNOUNCE…
(WAIT FOR THE DRUMROLL)
84. A Gift To Our President
PLEASE HELP US IN THANKING TIFFANY BROWN FOR HER
COUNTLESS HOURS OVER THIS PAST YEAR IN MAKING ALL THIS
POSSIBLE.
85. Now It’s Time For The Real Fun To Begin
We know it is getting late, but you have made it this far. Let’s bring on the Raffle Prizes!!!
We hope to make you more excited than a kid in a candy store.