The American Advertising Federation-Louisville opens the call for nominations for its “Hot 10” Award, honoring young professionals.

Louisville, KY-April 4^th, 2013 - The American Advertising Federation-Louisville (AAF-Louisville) today announced the call for nominations for the 2013 “Hot 10” Award.  This award recognizes young professionals under age 32 in the advertising industry who demonstrate skill, hard work, and professionalism well beyond their years.  The Hot Ten showcases young people in the advertising and marketing profession who contribute to the economic, social, and cultural landscape of Louisville.

Both members and non members of the AAF-Louisville can nominate or be nominated for the Hot 10.  Nomination forms must be returned to AAF-Louisville by Monday, May 6 at 5:00 p.m.  Once all nominations are received, a committee will review all candidates and select the top ten nominees.

In order to qualify for the Hot Ten award, nominees must work for a business where the primary source of income is in the advertising or marketing field, or hold a position closely related to the advertising or marketing industry in Louisville. The nominees must be no older than 32 years of age as of May 6, 2013, and must demonstrate a solid work ethic, interest in community activities, and proven leadership skills.  Selected candidates also must be willing to accept their award at the June 13^th luncheon.  For more information about the Hot Ten, please visit:  http://www.louisvilleadfed.org/

The American Advertising Federation - Louisville, with more than 700 members, represents Louisville's $1 billion advertising industry and is a Division I member of the American Advertising Federation. Originally incorporated on January 30, 1908, today’s AAF-Louisville is the area’s oldest membership organization for marketing, advertising, and other communications professionals. To learn more, visit www.louisvilleadfed.org.

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Our very own Jason Clark was in Washington representing AAF-Louisville at the AAF Advocacy and Action Day on the Hill. Read about Clark's experience and takeaways in the link below.

http://viastudio.com/2013/04/22/aaf-louisville-day-on-the-hill-report/

They arrive early. They work late. And sometimes they save the day. Now it's your chance to recognize young professionals under 32 in the ad industry who demonstrate skill, hard work and professionalism well beyond his or her years. Take a moment and nominate someone as one of the Louisville ad industry's "Hot 10." Go ahead, give them a chance to find out what the spotlight feels like. They deserve it, don't you think?

The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m. Monday, May 6. Be sure to read the eligibility requirements on the nomination form. Click here for a copy of the form and then email the completed form to

Once again this year, AAF-Louisville will be awarding scholarships to college students who are juniors or seniors interested in a career in some aspect of advertising, PR, and/or marketing communication. The $2,500 Bud Ballard Scholarship is open to all returning students with a minimum 3.0 GPA while the $2,500 Diversity Scholarship program targets U.S. citizens of African-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American, Asian-American, Middle Eastern or Pacific–Island descent. Applications must be postmarked by Friday, April 5, 2013. Click here for the application.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Current360, a full-service advertising and branding agency, will donate seven iPods to Kosair Children’s Hospital on Thursday. The iPods are pre-loaded with over 20 apps for children and will be made available to patients.

“Kosair plays a vital role in our community and the health of our children,” said Current360 President Rick Schardein. “We know these iPods are going to a great home, and we hope they help put a smile on a child’s face during the holidays.”

The company is donating six iPod Touches and one traditional iPod. The iPod Touches are pre-loaded with apps, ranging from the ever-popular Angry Birds to Words with Friends. The hospital can also load the iPod Touches with apps. Also included is an early-generation 80 gigabyte iPod, which was donated by a Current360 employee.

The donation will be made on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 11 a.m. in the lobby of Kosair Children’s Hospital at 231 E. Chestnut St. in Louisville. The iPods will be presented by Current360 to Kosair employees. Media members are invited to attend.

About Current360:
Current360 is a full-service advertising and branding agency with offices in Louisville, Ky. and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The company combines traditional, digital, social and mobile marketing services all under one roof. Current360 is an employee-owned company and has been named to Inc. magazine’s list of fastest growing private companies for three consecutive years. For more information about the company, visit current360.com

AMERICAN ADVERTISING FEDERATION OF LOUISVILLE BRINGS IN PRESIDENT OF VIRTUAL AGENCY TO ADDRESS THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING INDUSTRY

Greg Henderson, President of RedRocket Connect, to Speak on the Virtual Agency Trend and the Future of Ad Agencies LOUISVILLE, Ky.  (November 28,2012) – The American Advertising Federation – Louisville (AAF – Louisville), one of the leading AdFed Chapters in the Country, is hosting Greg Henderson, president of integrated, virtual agency RedRocket Connect, for a presentation on virtual agencies. The event, titled “Virtual – Fad or Future?” is set to take place on December 6 at 11:30 a.m. at The Olmsted in Louisville. Henderson, based in Columbus, Ohio, opened one of the first successful virtual ad agencies in the country with co-founder and Creative Director Terry Followell.

“It’s an honor that such an esteemed group of more than 700 members would invite me to speak on a topic, which I believe, is changing the advertising world,” said Henderson. “It is an exciting time to be in the advertising business, we believe a unique confluence of factors; scarcity of talent, price pressure and enabling technologies means that the virtual approach is not a fad but the future of advertising as we know it.”

Henderson has had a distinguished 20-year advertising career working with such marquee brands as Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, MD Anderson, TJX Companies and Brunswick. In 2011, they opened the “virtual” doors of RedRocket Connect, an integrated, marketing communications firm providing digital and traditional solutions by bringing together a dream-team of ad people to do great things for clients large and small. With no brick and mortar building, RedRocket Connect operates entirely virtually and is one of the first advertising agencies in the country to do so.

“AAF-Louisville is always interested in the leading edge of the advertising industry and were pleased to have the opportunity to host such a forward thinking presentation,” said AAF-Louisville President Jen Bryant.

Henderson will speak on the virtual trend and will discuss how he and his partner are solving industry challenges, such as scarcity of talent and unprecedented budget pressure, by embracing the power of virtual. To learn more about the event or to register to attend, visit www.louisvilleadfed.org.

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Christy Belden, VP of Public Relations and Social Media

cbelden@leapfroginteractive.com

502-212-1390

(November 12, 2012) LOUISVILLE, KY—The Louisville Chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) will host the 13^th annual High School Marketing Challenge on Thursday, November 8 and Wednesday, November 14.

AAF - Louisville and Humana, with support from PNC, have teamed up to tackle a major issue affecting teens in the community – depression – either for themselves or someone they know. This year’s marketing challenge is to create a marketing/advertising campaign that increases awareness of teen depression – and ways to overcome it. Acting as advertising agencies, the teams of students are asked to create a compelling message to influence fellow teens to recognize depression and respond to it successfully. During this two-day event, 22 high school advertising teams present and compete in a judged competition. The panel of judges includes representatives from the Louisville advertising industry, AAF-Louisville, and Humana. The top three teams will be awarded a cash prize; teams will also be recognized for honors including Best Use of Social Media, Best Written Presentation, and more. In addition to the cash prize, the first-place team is invited to an AAF-Louisville Annual Membership Meeting & Awards Luncheon to share their award-winning presentation to the AAF membership.

This year, participating area high schools include: Atherton, DeSales, DuPont Manual, Fern Creek, Pleasure Ridge Park, Sacred Heart, Shawnee and Southern High School. The first day of competition (November 8) took place at the Sullivan College of Technology & Design’s Energy & Technology Building (3901 Atkinson Square Drive); day two of the competition (November 14) will be held at The Green Building (732 E. Market Street).

For more information on the High School Marketing Challenge, visit www.louisvilleadfed.org or contact Mary Gratzer at 502-895-2500.

The American Advertising Federation - Louisville, with more than 700 members, represents Louisville's $1 billion advertising industry and is a Division I member of the American Advertising Federation. Originally incorporated on January 30, 1908, today’s AAF-Louisville is the area’s oldest membership organization for marketing, advertising, and other communications professionals. To learn more, visit www.louisvilleadfed.org.

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For Immediate Release

Contact:

Christy Belden, VP of Public Relations and Social Media

cbelden@leapfroginteractive.com

502-212-1390

(November 12, 2012) LOUISVILLE, KY—The American Advertising Federation (AAF) – Louisville has issued its annual Call for Entries for the 2012-2013 ADDY® Awards Competition, referred to locally as the Louies. Winning a Louie is the first step in the three-tiered national ADDY® creative competition, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, with the competition culminating at the AAF national conference in June.

The 39^th annual Louie Awards competition recognizes the breadth of creative talent in the Louisville advertising market. The Louie Awards honor advertising excellence in all media, including: interactive, out-of-home, public service, print, and broadcast advertising. This year, a number of new categories have been added including: tablet, web-based and mobile applications, social media (B2B and consumer), GPS & Location technology, and responsive web design.

In addition to being logged in through the ADDY software, available at www.louisvilleadfed.org, physical entries must be received by December 12, 2012. Entrants may turn in their work on December 12 from 9 a.m. – 5 pm. at the new drop-off location, Interactive Media Lab (124 N. 1^st Street). Those wishing to turn in entries prior to December 12 may bring them to the AAF-Louisville’s new office at 130 St. Matthews Avenue by appointment.

Louie Award winners will be announced during an awards presentation on Friday, February 22, 2013. For more information on entering the Louie Awards, please visit louisvilleadfed.org or contact the AAF-Louisville office at 502-895-2500.

The American Advertising Federation - Louisville, with more than 700 members, represents Louisville's $1 billion advertising industry and is a Division I member of the American Advertising Federation. Originally incorporated on January 30, 1908, today’s AAF-Louisville is the area’s oldest membership organization for marketing, advertising, and other communications professionals. To learn more, visit www.louisvilleadfed.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Brad Luttrell
502.794.2242
brad@current360.com

Kentucky advertising agency bucks industry trends by diversifying,
sees tremendous growth during recession as a result

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – An agency in one of the densest advertising markets in the Midwest is calling the industry’s bluff on the trend of niche-service agencies.

Current360, a full-service advertising, marketing and digital agency in Louisville, Ky., has increased its operating income to well over 15 percent higher than the industry average during the recession. The president of the company credits much of the success to expanding services.

“We have increased our staff by well over 300 percent in the past four years despite the down economy,” said President of Current360, Richard Schardein. “The recent trend has been selling a niche service, but we’ve found success in expanding our core competencies. We’ve added five departments in four years.”

The agency is also putting its money where its mouth is by completely rebranding to reflect its dedication and capabilities as a full-service agency. As of mid-October, Current360, previously CurrentMarketing, dropped “marketing” to refrain from emphasizing a single service. The company also purchased another agency and secret shopper service in Florida to expand into a new market and diversify its skills, most notably in research.

When Schardein started the company in a spare bedroom, it was far from full service. Fast forward 28 years and Current360 has made Inc. magazine’s list of fastest growing companies in the US for the third consecutive year (then listed as CurrentMarketing).

“We saw the opportunity early to expand with digital media and haven’t looked back,” said Vice President, Emerging Media, Katy Miller. “We firmly believe a single agency gives clients a more synergistic approach than using several outfits for their needs.” 

The agency maximizes its profit margins with in-house services, the largest portion of work outsourced merely being printed items. Less outsourcing gives the agency a competitive advantage by allowing greater control of time constraints and budgets, which increases the profitability of projects.

Through its growth, the company has remained committed to its offbeat culture and giving back to the community. During the recession, Current360 has donated $1.6 million in time and services to the Louisville area and Schardein is hopeful to make a similar impact in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. community as well.

The South Florida agency, previously Electrum Marketing, was also rebranded with the name Current360. The secret shopper service, CIMA Insight, will rebrand as CurrentInsight. With the additional team members and services, Schardein believes the sky is the limit for the company he started nearly three decades ago.

“More often than not a client’s needs transcend the boundaries of what a typical agency does,” Schardein said. “We do not want to be an ad, marketing or digital agency. From high level brand strategy, all the way down to doing the embroidery for business uniforms, we want to be an everything-agency. Period.”

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled that the proposed Food and Drug Administration rule to require large graphic warnings in tobacco advertising and packaging violates First Amendment protections for commercial speech.  The 2-1 ruling prohibits the FDA from mandating that 20% of advertising and 50% of the front and back of packaging be used as a “mini-billboard” to present the government’s anti-smoking message.

The Court noted that the First Amendment does allow – in certain narrow circumstances – the government to require factual and non-controversial information to be displayed.  However, the Court said the proposed warnings are not purely factual because they are “primarily intended to evoke an emotional response, or at most, shock the viewer into retaining the information in the text[.]”  It goes on to hold “many of the images do not convey any warning information at all, much less an accurate statement about cigarettes.”

Getting to the bottom line of what is required under the First Amendment, the majority opinion stated, the “FDA has not provided a shred of evidence—much less the ‘substantial evidence’ required by the APA—showing that the graphic warnings will ‘directly advance’ its interest in reducing the number of Americans who smoke.”

This opinion is important not just for tobacco, but for any other potentially disfavored product or service.

AAF joined with our sister association the ANA to file an amicus brief in the case defending the free speech rights for advertising and commercial speakers.