The American Advertising Federation of the Ozarks recognized Jay Nicholson for his career contributions in the industry during the 33rd annual Addy Awards on Feb. 25.
Nicholson took home the lifetime achievement Silver Medalist Award, after being selected by AAF board members.
“To achieve that award meant great things to me, having (served as AAF’s) past president, having been ninth district lieutenant governor – what can I say? It was an honor,” said Nicholson, whose 92-year-old parents were among the 200 guests at The Diamond Room, 2340 W. Grand St.
Nicholson, who has run The Nicholson Agency since 1981, claims among his clients Hoover Music, Corporate Business Systems, Hickory Hills Country Club and Realtor Ethel Curbow.
“We were shocked that (Nicholson) hadn’t won before,” said Carrie Grant, Addy chairwoman and the multimedia sales manager at Springfield News-Leader.
Last year’s Silver Medalist winner was Angela Smith, owner of ADsmith Communications.
AAF of the Ozarks, which is among 200 ad clubs under the Washington, D.C.-based American Advertising Federation, presented more than 150 Addy awards out of roughly 300 entries selected by a panel of advertisers who work outside of the Springfield area, Grant said.
Bass Pro Shops and Noble were among the night’s leaders, with roughly 20 and 15 awards, respectively.
The more than 40 Gold award winners qualify for entry into the 9th district competition, which is scheduled March 17 in Cape Girardeau.
Other special recognition awards in the Ozarks chapter were:
- Best in Show-Broadcast: Plank Productions Inc., Silver Dollar City’s 2011 Radio campaign
- Best in Show-Print: Noble Communications, Inspiration campaign for VT Industries
- Best in Show-Interactive/Multimedia: Jackson & Appleton, We’re Debt Free video for College of the Ozarks
- Ad Professional of the Year: KOLR and KOZL General Manager Mark Gordon
- Anita Ludwig Award: KOLR and KSPR Sports Director Tom Mast
- Homer Tindle Award: KY3 Inc. Sales Manager Kim Hurschman
- Jane Meyer Nonprofit of the Year: Wish I May; and
- Judge’s Choice: DL Media, Wish I May campaign.
Branson-based Jackson & Appleton co-owner Robin Jackson said the firm’s We’re Debt Free video was produced for College of the Ozarks in advance of an October presentation by best-selling author and radio host Dave Ramsey.
“(College officials) really wanted to tell the story of how they are debt free, both the college itself and the students. It commissioned a special piece to be made for the evening, and of course, since then (the college) has been showing it all the time, which is awesome,” Jackson said of the piece the school has marketed on its Web site. “It all started off as, ‘We want to show Dave Ramsey how smart we are financially.’”
A second video for C of O earned three-year-old Jackson & Appleton another Addy. The company produced We are College of the Ozarks for a spring campus appearance by President George W. Bush. She said the school made sure the president had a television in his waiting area and played the video before his speech as way for him to learn about the school.
“You’re only as good as the work your clients give you to produce,” Jackson said. “Some years you get really lucky as we did this year.”
Jackson and business partner Nicholas Jay Appleton have worked in the ad business since 1997, working previously for The Vacation Channel’s video production company in Branson. Jackson & Appleton’s clients include Silver Dollar City, Vetter Health Services, Central Bancompany and White River Valley Electric Cooperative.
A third Addy for Jackson & Appleton was for a 30-minute documentary produced for an annual meeting at White River Valley Electric. Jackson said the company traveled to Haiti for a week to follow White River employees as they helped teach Haitian electrical workers about safety hazards.
“We were kind of blown away at the amount of amputees that we met that worked for the electric co-op there,” she said, citing a lack of safety practices. “The linemen that went, they thought they were going there to restore power to Haiti after the earthquake, and it ended up that they were on an educational trip. As it says in the documentary, these guys may not be heroes, but they may have saved a life being over there for three weeks just teaching what they take for granted here in the United States.”[[In-content Ad]]
