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AWARDS

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Each year, the Ad Age Small Agency Awards uncover and honor small, independent agencies that are producing innovative and exciting work. These teams strategize and execute groundbreaking ideas to compete with work done by some of advertising's oldest, largest and most sought-after partners.

Our Small Agency Awards will be proceeding as usual—with one small change. The entry forms ask for revenue figures and we will still be requiring them. However, given current economic headwinds, no entry will be penalized for showing a loss. This is a hard time to win new business and convince clients to spend more, so rest assured that a dent in your financial column will not rule you out from being considered for an award. What counts, as always, is your creative product, your strategic thinking, your outcomes for clients and your responsiveness to your employees. View last year's winners.

The Small Agency Conference & Awards will go virtual this year! Stay tuned for updates. 

All finalists will be notified in July.

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Questions? Contact Nicole Nelson

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CATEGORIES

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Agency of the Year: Overall 
Regional, international and size winners do not need to enter separately or pay an extra fee They are chosen from the entrants to the Agency of the Year category

Agency of the Year: by Size. Awarded in three size categories: 1-10, 11-75, 76-150

Agency of the Year: Regional 
Awarded for the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, West, Northeast and Northwest Regions of the U.S.

Agency of the Year: International
Awarded to international entrants who enter the Agency of the Year category

Experiential Agency of the Year 

Experiential Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer. 

Media Agency of the Year NEW

Media Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer. 

Newcomer Agency of the Year NEW

Newcomer Agency of the Year will award one gold and one silver agency with 150 employees or fewer. Agency must have been in business for 18 months or less. Agencies founded after September 1, 2018, are eligible. 

Campaign of the Year: B-to-B

Campaign of the Year: Digital

​​​Campaign of the Year: Experiential

Campaign of the Year: Integrated

Campaign of the Year: Media NEW

Campaign of the Year: Pro Bono

Best Agency Culture

Agencies may win in more than one category. We award gold and silver in all categories.

Ad Age reserves the right to withhold or add awards as the quality of submissions dictates. 
 

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INFO

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Eligibility

Entry is open to agencies in three size categories:

•    1-10 people
•    11-75 people
•    76- 150 people

All agencies of all marketing disciplines are eligible to enter. Entrants must be majority-independent owned, or in other words, at minimum, 51% privately-held. Agencies who are not eligible are those who are either majority or fully-backed by a holding company (by this we mean firms like WPP, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, Interpublic Group of Cos., Havas, Aegis or MDC Partners) or other firms, such as a publisher, marketer, etc.

Dates for submitted work

When discussing revenue/growth for the Small Agency of the Year award you should refer to 2019 financials and staff headcounts, giving as much guidance as possible for 2020 business. As far as submitting examples of work, all work done between January 1, 2019, and March 1, 2020 is eligible.

Entry fees

•    Agency of the Year: 1-10 Employees: $250

•    Agency of the Year: 11-75 Employees: $295

•    Agency of the Year: 76-150: $350

•    Experiential Agency of the Year: $295

•    Media Agency of the Year: $295

•    Newcomer of the Year: $295

•    Campaign of the Year - Experiential: $295

•    Campaign of the Year - Media: $295

•    Campaign of the Year - Integrated: $295

•    Campaign of the Year - Digital: $295

•    Campaign of the Year - B-to-B: $295

•    Campaign of the Year - Pro-Bono: $295

•    Best Agency Culture: $295

Final deadline Extended!

May 7, 2020, at 5pm EDT
 

Here’s what you’ll need for:

Agency of the Year (and International)

Campaign of the Year Categories

Agency Culture

General FAQ

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JUDGES

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The winners for all of the Ad Age Small Agency of the Year and Agency Culture categories are handpicked by the editorial staff at Ad Age. For the Campaign of the Year awards, an esteemed jury convened by Ad Age will choose the winners. See below for this year’s 2020 Small Agency Campaign of the Year award judges.

 

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Doug Cameron

Founder and Chief Strategy & Creative Officer

DCX Growth Accelerator

Doug Cameron

Founder and Chief Strategy & Creative Officer

DCX Growth Accelerator

Doug Cameron is founder and chief creative officer of DCX, a 10-person creative and strategic agency headquartered in Brooklyn with offices in Madrid. Founded in 2015, DCX was named Ad Age Small Agency of the Year, Silver, across all sizes and regions in 2019. Also in 2019, DCX’s “Palessi” campaign for Payless Shoes won Ad Age Small Agency Campaign of the Year, Experiential, Gold, and DCX’s “Bulletproof Schools” effort for gun safety won Ad Age Campaign of the Year, Pro Bono, Silver.

DCX’s unique business model requires the agency to put 20% of its profits into Situationist art pranks that advance social causes. The agency’s work has been featured nationally on the likes of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America, Ellen, ESPN and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

DCX’s clients include P&G, William Grant, Fiverr, Indeed, Beech-Nut Baby Food, Mastercard, The Rockefeller Foundation, King Arthur Flour, BurgerFi, Affinity Pet Food and Pay Up Climate Polluters.

Cameron co-authored the book “Cultural Strategy,” which was published by Oxford University Press and has been described as one of the most influential books in marketing. Before DCX, he founded Amalgamated, an agency that he and his partners built to $150 million in billings. Cameron spent his first seven years in advertising at Cliff Freeman & Partners. Before that, he traveled the world as a street musician, performing for the likes of Princess Stephanie of Monaco, Frida Lyngstad of Abba and David Ogilvy. Cameron is a graduate of Dartmouth College, an avid cyclist and a skilled bagpiper.

 

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Jordan Doucette

Partner

No Fixed Address

Jordan Doucette

Partner

No Fixed Address

Jordan Doucette has a natural talent for communicating, storytelling and collaborating with people. Her commitment to understanding clients’ marketing and business challenges and her ease with multiple communications channels have allowed her to make significant creative impacts on a wide array of accounts at agencies in both Canada and the U.S. Most recently, she joined No Fixed Address from Leo Burnett Chicago where she held the role of chief creative officer.

Doucette’s work has been recognized by most major award shows such as Cannes Lions, the One Show, D&AD, ADC, Effies and the ADDYs. She has always been actively involved in the industry, participating in programs such as the Google’s Women Will conference and podcast series and the Cannes Lions Festival See It Be It initiative. Additionally, Doucette was a former instructor at OCAD and was part of the Advertising and Design Council of Canada which works to inspire creativity and encourage the highest possible quality of work in this country.

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Steven Erich

President and Co-Founder

Erich & Kallman

Steven Erich

President and Co-Founder

Erich & Kallman

Steven Erich is the president and co-founder of Erich & Kallman, an award-winning, independent, San Francisco-based creative agency. Their focus on speed has brought them both AOR assignments and project work for marketers such as General Mills, Carl’s Jr., Hershey’s, Chick-fil-A, Kelly Services and New Belgium Brewery among others. In 2019, the agency was named to Ad Age’s A-List as an Agency to Watch and also won Gold for Agency of the Year: West at Ad Age’s Small Agency Awards.

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Shannon Simpson Jones

Co-Founder

Verb

Shannon Simpson Jones

Co-Founder

Verb

Shannon Simpson Jones is co-founder of Verb, a marketing consultancy that is redefining how consumers experience and interact with brands. Verb gives brands a new type of partner, providing a holistic approach to integrated and experiential campaigns, brand partnerships and proprietary platforms. At Verb, Jones leads a diverse bi-coastal team, working with clients including Netflix, Everlane and Spotify. Jones is a natural-born leader; inspiring her team to reach new heights and deliver for clients by staying ahead of the curve on industry trends. She also has exceptional business leadership skills: Jones co-founded Verb just over two years ago, and she has already been on some of the industry’s largest stages including SXSW, Fast Company Innovation Festival and CultureCon. Additionally, Jones was named to the 2019 Ad Age 40 Under 40 list.

 

An avid seeker of innovation, Jones has continued to keep her clients and her team on top of the latest trends in culture and entertainment. She is especially skilled in identifying key business challenges brands face and prioritizing and managing resources to solve them. Utilizing these skill sets, Jones has also been working to build a platform in the death care industry to support people with end of life planning.

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Ryan Kutscher

Founder and Chief Creative Officer

Circus Maximus

Ryan Kutscher

Founder and Chief Creative Officer

Circus Maximus

Ryan Kutscher is founder and chief creative officer of Circus Maximus, an acceleration agency that adds agility, speed and creativity to brands. At Circus Maximus, Kutscher works with brands such as Procter & Gamble, Shake Shack, Ro Pharmacy, Coca-Cola and Hershey’s. He also provides global experience and rigor to scale-up brands such as Icelandic Provisions, Hu Kitchen, Mack Weldon and Ethos Insurance, among others. 

 

Circus Maximus was awarded Ad Age Small Agency of the Year in 2017. Kutscher’s ambition with Circus Maximus is to rewrite the rules and capabilities of modern creative services through technology, strategy and a nimble global network of creative professionals, along with some good old fashioned hard work.

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David Littlejohn

Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director

Humanaut

David Littlejohn

Co-Founder and Chief Creative Director

Humanaut

David Littlejohn is co-founder and chief creative director at Humanaut, a creative agency with a mission to get good things inside people’s brains. He has spent the last 15 years working as a copywriter, creative director and equity partner in several startup ventures. Littlejohn worked with CP+B and other top creative agencies to create integrated ad campaigns for Domino’s, Toyota, VW and Best Buy’s Twelpforce, which took home a Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. He started Humanaut in 2013 in Chattanooga, TN with the goal of building an ad agency that works with startups and emerging brands that are making things better for people and the planet.

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Krystle Loyland

Co-Founder and CEO

Preacher

Krystle Loyland

Co-Founder and CEO

Preacher

Krystle Loyland is co-founder and CEO of Austin-based advertising agency Preacher. There, she has helped build modern, quality-obsessed and insightful brands such as Tommy John, Crate and Barrel, ESPN, StreetEasy and Vital Farms. She has been instrumental in getting big corporations such as MillerCoors, Beam Suntory, and Coca Cola to find some more soul in the business by joining the Preacher family.

 

Loyland has been named to Ad Age’s coveted Women to Watch list and her agency was honored at Ad Age’s Small Agency Awards in 2018 and 2019. She was also named among the Top 100 People Who Make Advertising Great by the 4A’s. 

 

Before Preacher, she held the roles of head of new business at Mother New York and account director on brands like Google, Starwood Capital Hotels, Reading is Fundamental and Tanqueray. Her previous agency experience includes Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Strawberry Frog and the Richards Group. She lives with her family in Austin, Texas and is competing to be the best pitmaster in her household.

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Thas Naseemuddeen

CEO

Omelet

Thas Naseemuddeen

CEO

Omelet

As CEO of Omelet, Thas Naseemuddeen is tasked with the growth and future of the independent creative agency. As a career-trained strategist at some of the top agencies in the world, she’s championed work that pushed the boundaries of content and creativity with brands such as Target, Google, Red Bull and Scooter Braun Projects at agencies that include BBH, Deutsch and TBWA Chiat/Day. With this pedigree, she’s now shaping the future of independent agencies at Omelet. Naseemuddeen also takes great pride in being “the first former-figure-skating-coach-Canadian-Sri-Lankan advertising agency CEO.”

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Anselmo Ramos

Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer

GUT

Anselmo Ramos

Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer

GUT

Anselmo Ramos is the co-founder and chief creative officer of GUT, an independent global creative agency with offices in Miami, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. He, along with his co-founder Gaston Bigio, opened GUT in 2018 with the goal of being the go-to agency for the world’s biggest brands who are looking to do brave work and long-term, bold brand building.

Prior to co-founding GUT, Anselmo co-founded global creative agency DAVID and was the former head of its U.S. flagship in Miami. There, he was the creative leader behind Burger King’s famous “Proud Whopper” campaign as well as other successful brand campaigns including DAVID’s first-ever Super Bowl spot, “Wiener Stampede” for Heinz, and Heinz’s “Ketchup’s Got a New Mustard” campaign. Under his leadership, DAVID recently won two prestigious Grand Prix awards for Burger King’s “Burning Stores” and “Google Home of the Whopper” campaigns at the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival. Also, under his leadership, DAVID Miami was named to Ad Age’s 2017 Agency A-List Standouts and Creativity Innovators List, Adweek’s 2017 Breakthrough Agency of the Year and Ad Age’s 2017 Innovator Agency of the Year, and he’s been featured on Adweek’s Creative 100 List, which highlights the industry’s most vital leaders in tech, media and marketing. Over the course of his career, Anselmo has won a total of 201 Cannes Lions to date.

Ramos got his start in advertising at 20 years old, and after four years he moved away from his home in Brazil to work for Y&R Lisbon, Madrid and Miami as well as Lowe New York. During his time abroad, he won multiple prestigious awards from Cannes Lions, the One Show, CLIOs and D&AD, among many others. In 2007, he returned to Brazil to become chief creative officer of Ogilvy Brazil, the agency responsible for Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches,” which won the first Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes Lions for Latin America. Ogilvy Brazil was also named Cannes Lions Agency of The Year in 2013, the first Ogilvy office to ever win this award.

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Tina VonderHaar

President and CEO

Brighton

Tina VonderHaar

President and CEO

Brighton

As a business consultant, Tina VonderHaar was so impressed with one of her clients that she first joined them, then four years later bought them, and that’s how she became CEO of Brighton in 2008. Over the course of just five years, she grew the agency from 40 employees to more than 60 professionals. Today, they are hovering around 75 employees and growing.

Having spent more than 10 years in business consulting at Accenture, she firmly believes that effective marketing is multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary, and she ensures that Brighton brings together the best part of an ad agency with the best part of a consulting firm.

The agency provides integrated marketing solutions for clients in a variety of specialty areas where it has honed expertise that enables them to provide business solutions as well as actionable integrated marketing programs. These include agriculture, food, pet and what it calls “family” industries incorporating everything from healthcare to education to recreation.

Brighton’s approach begins with insights that shape the strategic direction of a brand and builds toward a comprehensive planning, development and management framework that connects people to the brand with relevant content at a relative time. It offers comprehensive key services including strategic consulting, branding, advertising, influencer engagement, content creation, digital marketing, interactive design and development and in-house audio and video production.

The agency’s clients, global and national leaders as well as regional and local firms, present unique challenges and objectives. Whether helping with a single project or managing an entire brand, Brighton’s philosophy is the same: Tactical execution is only as good as the thinking that goes into the plan. VonderHaar believes that building a successful brand means building a long-term relationship with customers. “It’s not just a conversation; it’s a relationship,” she says.

As a result, she gets in deep with clients and their brands, to the point of sitting in the homes of so-called “interesting” consumers and hearing about everything from pet peeves to pet projects. A woman with many passions, she is more up to date on current music than Rolling Stone, but loves her ’80s faves. Every summer, she reads one book a day for a week on the Delaware beach in Rehoboth and spends most weekends visiting her oldest son at Georgetown University or visiting colleges with her youngest son. A connoisseur of red wine, well, any vintage is perfect when relaxing on a porch at Innsbrook watching the sunset —and, no, not far away in the Alps of Austria, but at a beautiful namesake lake community just an hour from home.

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Frances Webster

CEO

Walrus

Frances Webster

CEO

Walrus

Frances Webster is CEO of Walrus, a full-service advertising and media agency she co-founded with Deacon Webster in 2005. Before Walrus, Webster was CMO at Mad Dogs & Englishmen and BSSP. A graduate of the University of the South (Sewanee), she is a member of the university’s board of trustees. She also sits on the 4A’s Eastern Region Board. As an active proponent of the industry, she is a regular speaker at industry conferences such as Advertising Week, 4A’s Management Practitioners Forum and Ad Age’s Small Agency Conference & Awards. Webster appeared on the Ad Age Ad Lib podcast, and has been featured in publications including The New York Times, Huffington Post, Adweek, Campaign US, Business Insider, The Drum, and Ad Age.

 

*More judges to be announced soon. 

 

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