Charleston American Marketing Association Honors Outstanding Local Marketing Professionals
March 18, 2015
CHARLESTON, SC – The Charleston American Marketing Association honored outstanding local marketers, public relations professionals and industry creatives at its 2015 Spark! Awards on March 11. Taking home the top honor of Marketer of the Year was Gina Ellis-Strother of the Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission.
Charleston areas marketers were invited to submit their work in a variety of categories during January. Board members from the Reno Tahoe AMA chapter judged the entries. Charleston AMA received almost 90 submissions — a record number of entries for its annual awards program.
“This is a chance to recognize the incredible marketing, PR and creative talents here in our Charleston community,” said Holly Fisher of H.A.F. Creative and president of the Charleston AMA chapter. “So many marketing professionals work behind the scenes creating logos, ads, websites and social media campaigns. It’s rewarding for our chapter to be able to put the spotlight on their efforts and give them much-deserved credit for their work in promoting so many of our local businesses and organizations.”
Ellis-Strother joined Charleston County Parks in 2013 where she lead the marketing team in developing the organization’s first marketing plan, launched a rebranding effort for the parks system, created a new website and developed and directed five TV commercials and several radio commercials. Additional promotions and PR creativity lead to record-breaking attendance and revenue at the parks along with extensive media coverage for the 25th anniversary Holiday Festival of Lights.
Runners-up for Marketer of the Year were Mary Roberts with the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition and Peter Wertimer of Chernoff Newman.
The 2015 Spark! Award winners are:
Best Commercial Photography
Jason Bennett for Firefly Moonshine & Patrick Davis
Best Book Cover
Advantage Media Group for “Out of the Question”
Runner-Up
Bob Durand for “What am I to do now, Mama?”
Best Copywriting
Town of Mount Pleasant for “Day in the Life”
Runner-Up
South Carolina Aquarium for “Show Us Your #FishFace”
Best Corporate Blog
Holly Fisher for Traveler of Charleston
Runner-Up
Holly Fisher for Allegiance Staffing
Best Direct Mail
The Brandon Agency for HTC chocolate mailer
Runner-Up
MWV for Summers Corner
Best Illustration
Andrew Barton Design for DryFins Clothing
Runner-Up
Advantage Media Group for Advantage Magazine
Best Inbound Marketing
Kiz Studios for Might & Mayhem
Best Logo Design
Bob Durand for Purple Pig Designs
Runner-Up
The Brandon Agency for Myrtle Beach Mutiny
Best Outdoor Signage
Holy City Hospitality for Hutson Alley
Best Package Design
BBIG Marketing for Feedstuff Sales
Best Print Ad
Town of Mount Pleasant
Runner-Up
Holy City Hospitality for Rue de Jean Savannah
Best Promotional Video
The Brandon Agency for CresCom
Runner-Up
Trident United Way, Chernoff Newman, Lunch & Recess for Trident United Way 2014 Campaign
Runner-Up
Adam Boozer for Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana CVB
Best Website
Obviouslee Marketing for Charleston Wine + Food
Runner-Up
The Brandon Agency for Williams Knife Co.
Runner-Up
Obviouslee Marketing for EventHaus Rentals
Best Re-Branding / Branding Campaign
Obviouslee Marketing for EventHaus Rentals
Runner-Up
South Carolina Aquarium for Good Catch
Best Event Promotion
Lowcountry Local First for Buy Local Block Party
Runner-Up
Town of Mount Pleasant for 2014 Holiday
Best Non-Traditional / Guerrilla Campaign
The Brandon Agency for Myrtle Beach Mutiny
Runner-Up
Lowcountry Local First for Buy Local
Best Public Relations Campaign
Touchpoint Communications for GotchaRide
Runner-Up
ByrdHouse PR for Zero George
Best Social Media Campaign
South Carolina Aquarium for “Show Us Your #FishFace”
Runner-Up
Trident United Way for “What Makes My Site Coordinator Experience Sweet”
About Charleston AMA
The Charleston American Marketing Association chapter provides a forum for growth and success by delivering relevant educational programming and networking opportunities for local marketing professionals. The chapter was founded in 2007 and has more than 100 members. For more information, visit charlestonama.org.
