Strickland & Company :: B to B Advertising

10.01.07

Strickland & Company Continues "Best Of" Streak in BMA ProAd Awards

Charlotte, NC -- Strickland & Company Integrated Marketing Communications of Charlotte received the Best of Show Award in the recent Business Marketing Association ProAd Awards competition. This is the fourth consecutive year that Strickland has won either Best of North Carolina or Best of Show in the annual business-to-business marketing competition. No other agency has ever earned as many consecutive "Best of" awards in the history of the ProAds.

This year's Best of Show-winning entry was a half-page ad for Sumitomo Cyclo Drives. The client, Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America (SMA), is headquartered in Chesapeake, Va. SMA is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Heavy Industries (SHI), one of the largest manufacturers of machinery in Japan, and a global leader in power transmission products.

"This is the perfect ad," said judge Greg Salerno of BJ Services in Houston, Tex. "The headline uses humor, but the humor is directly related to the product benefit. Together with the photo, it reinforces the benefit for the audience. This is a hard-working fractional-page ad." This is the first time an ad less than a full page in size has won the top award in the competition.

Strickland earned a total of 12 awards for business-to-business marketing excellence in this year's competition including three gold, two silver and six bronze awards in addition to the Best of Show.

Last year, Strickland won Best of North Carolina for S&D Coffee's Buffalo & Spring product introduction campaign. In 2005, a full-page ad Strickland created for Galvan Industries, Inc. was awarded Best of Show. An industry advocacy campaign for the National Electronic Distributors Association earned Strickland Best of North Carolina honors in 2004.

The BMA's ProAd Awards recognize the best in business-to-business marketing in the two Carolinas. Entries are judged on both creativity and results. Categories include advertising, direct marketing, public relations, interactive marketing, catalogs and collateral material.

Strickland & Company is a full-service business-to-business integrated marketing communications firm serving clients throughout the Southeast since 1993. For more information, contact Kirby Strickland at (704) 537-9008; fax (704) 537-5321. Visit Strickland & Company online at www.stricklandco.com.