ANA ECHO Awards
Rebranding an international direct marketing competition.
The Global Head of Creative at my previous agency was also on the board of the DMA. He came back from a meeting and gave my team and I a request: rebrand the ANA ECHO Awards. We knew we’d be up against at least 5 other agencies who had also been tasked with the same challenge. Along with the prestige and enduring nature of developing the chosen direction, the winning agency team would also get a free trip to Vegas to attend the award show and conference.
BEFORE + AFTER
Turning a dated award show into a prestigious honor.
Only the best work lives on. With a 90+ year history of recognizing and rewarding data-driven storytellers, the DMA International ECHO® Awards are committed to honoring the greatest among us.
Now and always, may our marching orders be to bolster the bold, champion the creative and strengthen the strategic. ECHO Forever is a campaign that will increase brand awareness, establish a strong tone and deliver a lasting impression of the power behind this prestigious award.
Lay a strong foundation with uncompromising aspirations.
For the first touch, we use concise headlines and actionable supporting copy to tell the complete story of the DMA International ECHO Awards. Attention-getting? Sure. Intriguing? Definitely. Click-Thru-Worthy? You bet.
Presenting to the board.
I designed and developed a pitch deck with my copywriting partner, which we shared with the board of directors. They were blown away by the work and said it was aligned with the ideal direction they wanted to go in. It ended up being between us and one other agency concept, but ultimately, our direction was the winner. I also ended up redesigning the awards that are given out to the winners, and they were produced by the Society Awards, which is the same company that produces the Oscar trophies each year.
THE RESULTS
+2x more entries in 2018
1k+ submissions
Judging the award show.
In August of 2018, I attended Round 2 of judging in NYC after participating in the online Round 1. I judged work across 5 categories over 3 days and met amazing markets from agencies around the world. The debate was engaging, educational and enriched by the amount of diverse work and judges alike.
Then in October of 2018, we attend the award show and conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV. It was an amazing opportunity to reconnect with the judges we met in New York, and to see our work implemented on a grand scale. In the booklet that accompanied the event, there was a page early on that called us out for our rebranding work specifically. We also received an honorary award, were invited onstage to accept it—and our image has been used on their marketing materials ever since (much to our amusement).
