Mono Named Small Agency of the Year by the American Association of Advertising Agencies

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- mono, the Minneapolis-based creative branding and advertising agency, has received the Small Agency of the Year award at the American Association of Advertising Agencies' (AAAA's) prestigious O'Toole Awards ceremony in New York City. This is the second Agency of the Year award for mono, a member of the MDC Partners network. In 2010, it took home a Small Agency of the Year award from AdAge in July.

The O'Toole Awards program is known as one of the toughest industry competitions. Rather than reward one great idea, the O'Toole Awards honor an agency's overall level of creative excellence. The honor was based on the agency's body of work, most notably for the campaigns mono has done this past year for Blu Dot, EMD Serono, and SC Johnson's Mrs. Meyers Clean Day.

"It's an honor to be selected by the 4A's," said mono founder and creative co-chair Chris Lange. "To win with BBH New York and BBDO New York is both gratifying and humbling."

Located in Minneapolis, mono was founded in 2004 by Jim Scott, Michael Hart and Chris Lange. The agency is based around the philosophy that the future belongs to the simpleminded and the belief that the brands that are single-minded with their message, yet innovative on how they connect with consumers, will be the big winners in today's complex media landscape.  

"We started this agency to be different, to be idea-centric, to be nimble and to invent simple, powerful brand ideas that help our clients become successful, modern brands," said Jim Scott, managing partner. "Winning this award makes us feel like we are on the right path and increases our appetite to do more great work for innovative clients."

This latest accolade comes to mono in the midst of an already stellar year for the agency. mono has nearly doubled in size in 2010 as a result of numerous new business wins including Rolaids, MSNBC, Parsons The New School of Design; and current client growth with Apple, Blu Dot and Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day. In addition, mono won a Cyber Lions at Cannes and received top honors for the Best Magazine Ad Campaign award at the Kelly Awards.

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, MSNBC, Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day, Blu Dot, Parsons The New School for Design, General Mills, Sesame Street, and the Harvard Business School. For more information, go to www.mono-1.com.

About the O'Toole Awards

Established in 1991, the American Association of Advertising Agencies' O'Toole Awards for Creative Excellence competition is one of the most competitive and highly regarded award programs in advertising. In order to win, an agency must submit an entire body of stellar work across several different clients. Its purpose is to recognize agencies that consistently set and maintain the very highest standards.

All proceeds go to the 4A's Foundation, Inc., which was established in 1997. A primary goal of the Foundation is to award scholarships to multicultural students of the advertising arts.

About the American Association of Advertising Agencies

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) is the national trade association of the advertising agency business. The 1,175 member agency offices it serves in the U.S. employ 65,000 people; offer a wide range of marketing communications services, and place 80 percent of all national advertising. The management-oriented association helps its members build their businesses, and acts as the industry's spokesperson with government, media, and the public sector. For more information, visit the 4A's Web site at www.aaaa.org.

SOURCE mono