Danielle Salley Creative wins Gold ADDY for mysterious self-promotion website

Danielle Salley Creative, a Lexington-based solopreneur creative agency, took top honors with a Gold ADDY from the Midlands chapter of the American Advertising Federation’s national awards program in the category recognizing creative self-promotion of an agency.

Founded in 2023, Danielle Salley Creative quickly carved out a niche as the go-to freelancer partnering with agencies and in-house marketing teams seeking strategic, thoughtful creative work. This award highlights the agency’s creative self-promotion campaign that spotlights its unique talents and the value it brings to clients. Danielle Salley is the company’s founder and creative director.

“When I started my company, I very intentionally carved out a niche to provide senior-level, flexible creative support for advertising agencies and in-house marketing teams that need experienced design leadership without adding permanent headcount,” Salley said.

With deep agency and corporate experience, Salley partners with teams during high-volume periods and major deadlines, integrating quickly to help elevate output.

“This award reinforces that strong ideas and execution are not tied to size,” Salley said. “Freelancers can bring agency-caliber thinking, speed and polish, and create work that stands out among the best in the market.”

An Interactive Campaign Built by a Two-Person Creative Team

To showcase her creativity and ability to nimbly collaborate with others, Salley joined with local creative copywriter Andrew Evans to develop Doom Board: A Multilevel Murder Mystery inspired by classic board-game mysteries. The Doom Board campaign invited agency and in-house creatives to explore online a fictional ad agency, uncover clues and solve a tongue-in-cheek “creative crime” in the days leading up to Halloween.

“We built an immersive Halloween-themed, interactive experience designed to reimagine self-promotion for the advertising industry that goes beyond traditional company marketing,” Salley said. “This campaign directly engages potential clients while showcasing the company’s creativity and collaborative approach”

Salley and Evans blended strategic concepting, narrative writing, visual storytelling and interactive design into a multi-day game that unfolded across a dedicated landing page and social media.

“What started as a seasonal creative experiment became a fully realized campaign about pressure, deadlines and knowing when to call for freelancer backup,” Salley said. “That message resonated and having the work recognized with a Gold ADDY validates both the idea and the execution.”

Unlike many award-winning entries produced by large creative teams, Doom Board was built through a small independent collaboration and demonstrates how freelancers can deliver work that competes alongside full-service agencies.

Advancing to Regional Competition

The American Advertising Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting thousands of entries each year across a three-tier system. Entries begin at the local level and advance to regional and national judging.

With its Gold ADDY win, Doom Board: A Multilevel Murder Mystery now advances to the regional tier of the American Advertising Awards, where it will compete against other winning work representing markets across North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

Danielle Salley Creative is the freelance design practice of award-winning creative director Danielle Salley, based in Lexington, South Carolina. With senior-level expertise in branding, advertising and digital design, Salley partners with agencies and in-house marketing teams to deliver strategic, thoughtful creative work. Learn more and read the award case study at www.daniellesalley.com.