3/6/04 – PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - BUSINESS

3/6/04 – PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - BUSINESS - By Teresa Lindeman
SMALLER IS BETTER. TOP PRIZES AT LOCAL AD SHOW GO TO SMALL FIRMS.
Sometimes, as any Oscar watcher knows, the
big-budget thrillers walk away with the top
prizes. But not always.
The top two awards handed out at last night’s
annual gathering of the Pittsburgh Advertising
Federation went to a piece done for a small
East McKeesport card and collectibles shop
and a campaign for funky South Side furniture
store Perlora.
Small ad shop Garrison Hughes grabbed a
Judge’s Award of Excellence with work for Fran’s
Card shop that featured a baseball card showing
former Cincinnati Reds hustler Pete Rose and
the line, “Some Roses say ‘I love you’ more
than others.”
Downtown agency Fredette & Associates’
stylish “Better living through furniture”
campaign for Perlora picked up a judge’s
award for art direction.
Other large agencies did fine, too. Downtown
agency Blattner Brunner took home the
most prizes, but its stash of 12 Addys and
ARTICLE CAPTION: Judge’s Award of Excellence went to Garrison Hughes
for Fran’s Card Shop. The ad features a Pete Rose baseball card.
11 certificates of merit was smaller than in past
years. Ten United, based in Downtown’s Gateway
Center, won four Addys and four certificates.
Station Square’s Marc USA/Pittsburgh collected three Addys and five certificates to tie with the Strip District’s Mullen.
That left almost half of the 88 awards given for smaller shops. Garrison Hughes, the firm started by two former Blattner Brunner
executives, won five Addys and five certificates. “I’m so glad to see the awards shared by a wider number of firms this year,”
said David Case, president of the ad federation and of his own Downtown firm PMI. “That supports our belief that there is a
tremendous amount of talent all across the Pittsburgh area.”
The ad federation reported a 14 percent increase in entries over last year, to 625 from 550 a year ago. That’s still down from
700 in 2001, before the industry hit a slump. Local winners here go on to district and then national competitions.