Local Advertising Firm To Receive National Attention
For over a decade, PRINT Magazine has been publishing a Regional Design Annual. This homage to graphic design receives more than 20,000 individual entries and only around two hundred are chosen as worthy entries into the yearly publication. They whittle down the entries in a stringent process of selection, picking only 5% of the first-rate winners from each region of the country that represent the best design, illustrations, and photography in the United States. This year, The Martin Group is proud to receive that honor.
The Martin Group was founded in 2001 and has quickly risen to the top in the ranks of WNY’s strategic branding and creative marketing firms. It utilizes its proprietary Brand Fuel process – a mixture of research, positioning, and creative invention – to create brands for organizations large and small. Their winning entry this year was a brochure designed for the Toronto office of Hodgson Russ LLP.
The brochure is featured with this post and highlighted the law firm’s US-Canadian cross-border representation. The Martin Group wanted to convey to potential clients the experience of the law firm while simultaneously appealing to the progressive nature of Toronto. The success The Martin Group has had only means bringing more attention to the existing and thriving companies here in Buffalo. The Regional Design Annual will be released in October 2008 and will be read by people all over the country.
The brochure has received even more accolades, one coming from the Legal Marketing Association who gave it a “Your Honor Award,” a Gold ADDY from the Ad Club of Buffalo, and a Silver Award from the Regional ADDY Awards. Mohawk Paper, who produces the paper the brochure is printed on, paid to have additional copies made for their own promotional purposes because the brochure was such a hit.
To learn more about The Martin Group, visit their website.
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wudenbachs
Good to hear more world-class kudos to a local company.
Another local firm that comes to mind is P22 type foundry who had a few designs in Print magazine over the years.
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Gioia
Gotta love press releases run verbatim! It means one of two things: the release was either really well written and needed no adjustments OR the editors are lazy. You can decide!
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sambo
Press Releases by advertising firm usually are well written.
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Gioia
You'd hope so. You'd also hope that the media outlet choosing to run a press release could give it a little flair -- say, the Buffalo Rising angle for this case -- to make it especially relevant to the audience reading it. Having worked at ad agencies, I feel this would be more objective if people understood that plenty of other firms win these same awards or greater accolades, they just don't send all their news around. It's up to the media outlet to do some investigating to make sure the news they're running truly is newsworthy.
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MichaelB
Congrats to the Martin Group, I cannot wait until they move into their new home on Main Street at 477.
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EliGeorge
Below is the press release verbatim. The only thing taken from it was the strategy The Martin Group used for the brochure (I couldn't think of a better way to put it). We do not run press releases verbatim, and if we do, we have no problem saying so.
The Martin Group Wins Prestigious Advertising Awards for Hodgson Russ Brochure
Buffalo, NY – The Martin Group (TMG) of Buffalo has been selected to appear in PRINT magazine’s Regional Design Annual 2008 for a corporate brochure the agency designed for the Toronto office of Hodgson Russ LLP. The Martin Group’s winning brochure was among 20,000 entries received by PRINT, which selects just 5% of the entries for inclusion in the exclusive Design Annual.
“The Design Annual showcases some of the best marketing from across the country,” says TMG President and Founder Tod Martin. “So, it is clearly an honor for our work to be included.”
The Hodgson Russ brochure highlights the law firm’s U.S.-Canadian cross-border representation. “Our challenge was to emphasize the longevity of their experience in this arena, while simultaneously appealing to the progressive nature of the Toronto marketplace,” says Creative Director and brochure designer Dion Pender.
“We achieved this by starting with the firm’s corporate colors of dark brown and blue, and then infusing the brochure with a bright orange,” explains Pender. “We then incorporated perpendicular headlines and historical sepia photographs, like a man jumping a puddle, to extend the crossing theme.”
The brochure received a “Your Honor Award” by the Legal Marketing Association, which recognizes the best in legal advertising from across the country. It was also awarded a Gold ADDY from the Ad Club of Buffalo, as well as a Silver from the Regional ADDY Awards. The piece was such a success that Mohawk Paper (the company that produces the paper upon which it is printed) paid to have additional copies made for their own promotional purposes.
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sambo
Eli The Martin Group isn't the only ad firm winning awards. This makes me think that BRO has an agreement with The Martin group or Hodson Russ. Why are you defending what you wrote? If BRO had credibility you wouldn't have to defend yourself.
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JiminyCricket
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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EliGeorge
sambo - We have no arrangement with them. BRO receives numerous press releases from various sources. We got an e-mail detailing their award, and wanting to highlight some success from a company in Buffalo, it was given the green light to be written. You make it seem as if I or BRO is completely aware of what every company in Buffalo is doing and what awards they may or may not be winning. That certainly isn't the case and if the other companies in Buffalo are winning awards and send out a press release that winds up in our inbox, those often times get written. If you look back to just over a week ago, I wrote a story about Solar Liberty. I even say in the post that 25 other companies in the area were also honored. So why Solar Liberty? Pretty simple - they sent out a press release and we got it. That's pretty much how it works. I'm not defending this because I'm trying to cover anything up. I was blatantly accused of being a shoddy writer who is too lazy to write something original and instead copies press release verbatim. I think anyone would stand up to defend themselves against such an assault.
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Bufago
I don't know the one about the things in doctor's officers was pretty boring too and yet an award winner as well and a press release to boot.
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