Minneapolis Firm mono Wins National Kelly Award for Excellence

NEW YORK, June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- mono, the Minneapolis-based branding and advertising agency, has won the Best Full Page Magazine Ad Campaign award at the prestigious Kelly Awards, for its work with Minneapolis-based furniture designer and manufacturer, Blu Dot.

The Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) Kelly Award recognized mono for its design and execution of creative quality for the ad campaign "Good Design," which featured bold, powerful images of Blu Dot's modern furniture.

The campaign appeared nationwide in magazines such as Dwell. Blu Dot credited the campaign with raising sales 27 percent, far outpacing its 18 percent goal for 2009.

Michael Hart, founder and creative co-chair at mono, said the award is among the most prestigious in the industry.

"We're proud of this win," said Hart, who along with fellow founder and creative co-chair, Chris Lange, flew to New York to accept the award. "We were competing against the biggest and best advertising agencies and campaigns in the country. We're in very, very good company with this win."

The Kelly Awards are bestowed annually to agency creative teams and advertising clients whose magazine campaigns demonstrate both creative excellence and campaign results.

mono was one of among a dozen national advertising agencies that were winners at the 29th annual awards. Other winners included advertising powerhouses Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

"mono's award proves the importance of strong design in winning campaigns," said Ellen Oppenheim, executive vice president/chief marketing officer, MPA.  "The clean lines and clever copy that echo the strength of the client's products entice consumers to learn more."

Hart said credit also goes to a brave client in Blu Dot.

"While tiny compared to BMW, Harley-Davidson and The Gap, Blu Dot has embraced the power of creativity and allowed us to create work that puts them on the national stage," Hart said.

The awards were presented by the Magazine Publishers of America and sponsored exclusively by RRDonnelly in 2010. Winners were selected by a panel of 26 judges of the top agency creative directors and senior level clients from across the country.

Details on the awards can be found at http://www.kellyawards.org

CONTACT:  Katherine Roepke, (612) 677-1717, [email protected]

About mono

Michael Hart, Chris Lange and Jim Scott opened mono in 2004 with the belief that simpler is better. mono is a Minneapolis-based company that believes in the power of simplicity, putting it to work to create innovative communications for clients that include Apple, Rolaids, Herman Miller, Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day, Blu Dot, General Mills, Sesame Street, and the Harvard Business School. For more information, go to www.mono-1.com.

SOURCE mono