2014 O’Toole Award Finalists Selected Winners to be Announced at 4A’s LA ‘Transformation’ Conference

New York, NY – March 13, 2014 – The 4A’s, the leading trade association representing the advertising agency business, has selected the finalists for its celebrated 2014 4A’s O’Toole Awards for Creative and Media Excellence (see list of nominees below).

The winners will be announced at the association’s annual conference, “Transformation: The Idea Effect” Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles March 17 and 18.

“The O’Toole Awards continue to be the premier prize to reward best-in-class representation of an agency’s entire catalogue of work,” said 4A’s President and CEO Nancy Hill. “As one of the most competitive awards in our industry, media and creative winners are setting the bar by which future advertising will be judged. In addition, these awards help fuel future talent with the donated proceeds funding scholarships for multicultural students pursuing careers in advertising.”

The O’Toole Creative Awards, dubbed the creative prizefight of the year, will be presented Monday, March 17 at 4pm by Susan Credle, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett USA.

The O’Toole Media Awards will be presented to the 4A’s member agencies that consistently drive media excellence through innovation, transformation and creativity in media planning and/or buying functions. Joe Apprendi, CEO of Collective will present the O’Toole Media Awards on Tuesday, March 18 at 3:15pm. Collective is the founding sponsor of the Media Awards and will donate $30,000 to the 4A’s Foundation, which uses funds to underwrite scholarships for multicultural students in media and create arts. Each winner will receive $10,000 for a charity of their choice and are encouraged to donate to the 4A’s Foundation.

“Agencies that most effectively get their work seen should be celebrated,” said Mr. Apprendi. “We’re pleased to partner with the 4A’s to help recognize these deserving agencies, and at the same time help fund scholarships that will create a pipeline of talent for our industry.”

2014 O’Toole Awards Finalists

Creative O’Toole Awards
O’TooleBox

  • BBDO New York Lowe’s, “Vine Fix in Six Campaign”
  • Leo Burnett New York, United Nations, “#theworldneedsmore”
  • Leo Burnett Chicago, Sprint, “Honor This”

Large Agency

  • BBDO New York
  • Leo Burnett Chicago
  • CP+B
  • The Martin Agency

Mid-Size Agency

  • Barton F. Graf 9000 LLC
  • BBH New York
  • BBDO Atlanta

Small Agency

  • Baldwin & Fitzgerald +CO
  • mono

Media O’Toole Finalists
Large Agency

  • Horizon Media
  • Mindshare

Mid-Sized Agency

  • BSSP
  • Spark

Small Agency

  • Butler/Till
  • Duncan/Channon
  • Meers Advertising

Since 1991, the O’Toole Awards have recognized the highest level of excellence for an agency’s body of work on behalf of multiple clients, with entries open to creative agencies of all sizes, including international agencies. In 2013, the 4A’s added the category for media planning and buying excellence.

About the 4A’s
The 4A’s is the national trade association of the advertising agency business. Its membership comprises virtually all of the large, multinational agencies and hundreds of small and mid-sized agencies from across the United States that employ some 65,000 people. More than 1,200 member agency offices representing some 750 agency brands who offer a wide range of marketing communications services and place 80 percent of all national advertising are served by the 4A’s. The management-oriented association, founded in 1917, helps its members build their businesses and acts as the industry’s spokesperson with government, media and the public sector.

About the O’Toole Awards
Established in 1991, the 4A’s O’Toole Awards for Creative Excellence competition is one of the most competitive and highly-regarded award programs in advertising. In order to win, an agency must submit an entire body of stellar work across several different clients. Its purpose is to recognize agencies that consistently set and maintain the very highest standards. All proceeds go to the 4A’s Foundation, Inc., which was established in 1997. A primary goal of the Foundation is to award scholarships to multicultural students of the advertising arts.

About the 4A’s Foundation
The 4A’s Foundation has administered over $2 million dollars in scholarships to multicultural college students on behalf of member agencies that seek to build a pipeline of talent. Since its inception in 1997, over 350 advertising professionals have benefited from the Foundation’s resources and it continues to attract top agencies from around the country who are reinvesting in the Foundation.

About Collective
Collective is a leading data-driven multi-screen company that connects brand marketers to audiences with highly personalized experiences across display, video and mobile advertising. Collective’s multi-screen data optimizes targeted creative to break down traditional media silos and deliver highly personalized creative coordinated across devices. Headquartered in New York with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and India; Collective has been recognized on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and Inc. 500/5000 lists. Collective is backed by Accel Partners, Greycroft Partners and iNovia Capital. To learn more about Collective, visit www.collective.com.