Omaha's Bailey Lauerman, New York's Campfire Top 2013 Ad Age Small Agency Awards

PORTLAND, Ore., July 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Advertising Age celebrated the substantial contributions agencies with fewer than 150 employees make to the marketing and advertising community Thursday night with its annual Small Agency Awards here. Attendance at the fifth annual event doubled from last year, with more people attending both the day-long conference and evening ceremony. The number of entries for the competition was at a record high, across all categories. Profiles of all the winners will appear in the August 5, 2013, issue of Advertising Age.

"It continually inspires me to judge this competition," said Ken Wheaton, managing editor of Advertising Age, one of the competition judges. "There is nothing small about these agencies' ideas."

"This year's competition was fierce," added deputy managing editor Rupal Parekh, also a judge. "And we definitely see signs that more major marketers are turning to small and independent shops for creative solutions."

Bailey Lauerman, a 74-person shop headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, took the top honor of Small Agency of the Year. The firm won Small Agency of the Year in the Midwest Region last year. In the past 12 months, the shop appointed new CEO Andy Fletcher, consolidated its offices, changed billing and employee-payment structures, and continued its push beyond traditional advertising into research and development, software engineering, experiential space design and more. With clients including Bass Pro Shops, Union Pacific Railroad, and Walt Disney Co., the agency is projecting 7% revenue increase for 2013.

Previous Agency of the Year winners include: Pereira & O'Dell, San Francisco; and Rockfish Interactive, based in Rogers, Ark., which is now owned by WPP.

"Byzantium Tests," a campaign created by Campfire, New York, for Cinemax show "Hunted", took Campaign of the Year. "Byzantium Tests" included an immersive, interactive microsite, but began with a guerrilla out-of-home campaign featuring the show's security firm (Byzantium) alongside the words "We're not for everyone, just the 1% that matters."

Last year, Mono's "Human Doing" campaign for Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota was named Campaign of the Year.

Bruketa & Zinic, an agency in Zagreb, Croatia, won International Small Agency of the Year. And Denver-based Cactus nabbed Pro Bono Campaign of the Year for "Man Therapy," a campaign for the Carson J. Spencer Foundation & Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention.

Pro Bono Campaign of the Year is a new category for 2013.

The complete list of winners across the competition's 14 categories is:

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
GOLD: Bailey Lauerman, Omaha, Neb.
SILVER: Pollinate, Portland, Ore.

CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
GOLD: Campfire, New York: Cinemax's "Byzantium Tests"

SILVER: Mono, Minneapolis: Target Grocery's "Everyday Collection"

INTERNATIONAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
GOLD: Bruketa & Zinic, Zagreb, Croatia

CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR: PRO BONO
Cactus, Denver: "Man Therapy" for Carson J. Spencer Foundation & Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: CULTURE
Brokaw, Cleveland

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: 1-10 EMPLOYEES
GOLD: Standard Time, Los Angeles 
SILVER: Division of Labor, Sausalito, Calif.

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: 11-75 EMPLOYEES
GOLD: Red Tettemer & Partners, Philadelphia

SILVER: Crossmedia, New York

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: 76-150 EMPLOYEES
GOLD: WDCW, Los Angeles

SILVER: Eleven Inc., San Francisco

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: NORTHWEST REGION
GOLD: Copacino & Fujikado, Seattle 
SILVER: Mutt Industries, Portland, Ore.

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: NORTHEAST REGION
GOLD: Nail Communications, Providence, R.I.

SILVER: Our Man in Havana, New York

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: MIDWEST REGION
GOLD: Sullivan Higdon & Sink, Kansas City, Mo.

SILVER: Solve, Minneapolis

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: SOUTHEAST REGION
GOLD: Big Communications, Birmingham, Ala.

SILVER: Trone Brand Energy, High Point, N.C.

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: SOUTHWEST REGION
GOLD: TDA, Boulder, Colo.

SILVER: HAPI, Phoenix, Ariz.

SMALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: WEST REGION
GOLD: Threshold Interactive, Los Angeles

SILVER: Traction, San Francisco

Advertising Age is the leading global source of news, intelligence and conversation for the marketing and media community. Ongoing coverage of strategic topics like CMO Strategies and data-driven marketing is complemented by breaking news on digital, social media, and more. The 83-year-old media group produces more than 15 original rankings each year, including the 100 Leading National Advertisers and 100 Leading Media Companies lists, the Digital A-List, and the annual Agency Report.

SOURCE Advertising Age