DIGITAS' BROOKE SKINNER NAMED TO CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS "40 UNDER 40: 2012"

Leading business news publication, Crain’s Chicago Business, has honored Brooke Skinner on its annual “40 Under 40” list, which recognizes rising talent in the Chicago market.

As SVP and Brand Strategy Lead for the Chicago and San Francisco sectors of Digitas, Skinner is responsible for the $1 billion Team Sprint account, and has also helped win several global brand accounts. She has quadrupled the size of her team to 16 since joining Digitas in 2011.

Skilled at reaching audiences across media channels, Skinner says advertising today is “all about what’s going to motivate people to engage with a particular product, service, and company. It’s no longer just about, ‘What are we going to say to you?’”

“She is an extraordinary observer of the human condition,” says Tony Weisman, president of Digitas Chicago. “When I met her five years ago, when we were both working at DraftFCB, I immediately recognized her as a rare talent. Today, she’s the best planner in Chicago.”

MillerCoors Takes Two ADDY “Silver” Awards

Congratulations to our MillerCoors team – the “Miller Lite Brad K”. and “Miller Lite Fantasy Football Smack Banners” campaigns both received “Silver” in the regional Chicago Advertising Federation ADDY Awards.

For “Brad K”, MillerCoors tapped NASCAR’s Brad Keselowski, driver of the brand’s Sprint Cup Series Goodyear racecar. Brad Keselowski wasn't exactly a household name: even diehard motorsports fans had no idea who he was. But, he's someone people should get to know, so MillerCoors decided to make him famous by putting him into rich media banners where racing fans could ask him anything they wanted. (Seriously, anything.) Brad also visited the Miller Lite Brewery:  

As the Official Beer of Fantasy Football, Miller Lite wanted to reward fantasy football players with something that had never been done before. So this past season, Miller Lite’s banner ads were transformed into customizable smack-delivering devices. It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you trash talk the game.  

 

Whirlpool TV Spot Wins “Ad of The Year”

Congratulations to our Whirlpool team – their “Food Processor” TV commercial was named “Ad of the Year” in the “Appliance” category for 2011 by Ace Metrix, the leader in measuring creative effectiveness across television and digital video.  The “Food Processor” ad spotlights the KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor with ExactSlice™ System, featuring the first-ever externally adjustable slicing lever in a countertop food processor.

In its “Ad of the Year” write-up, Ace Metrix praised the “Food Processor” spot for:

• It's ability to connect with men. The spot performed very well among the male audience, even scoring consistently well with the generally difficult 50+ crowd.
• Its ability to incite "desire" with women ages 21-35.
• The overwhelmingly positive responses to the ad, given verbatim.

Ace Metrix looked at every ad from a number of different dimensions – from components of Persuasion such as Desire, Relevance, Attention, Information, Likeability and Change to the different Watchability states from highly engaged to channel surfing.

Digitas Wins Best Agency For Integrated Media At iMedia Awards

We're excited to announce that Digitas has been named “Best Agency for Integrated Media” by iMedia Connection in their inaugural iMedia Agency Awards! The winners were decided by the public, so a big thank you to everyone who cast a vote for Digitas! We're honored by your support. And congratulations to our sister agencies, Starcom and Razorfish, who were also honored for "Campaign of the Year" and "Best Agency for Out-of-Home." 

2011 has been a great year for us, coming off OMMA Magazine's "Agency of the Year" win and Streaming Media Magazine's "The 100 Companies That Matter Most in Online Video." A big thank-you is in order for our employees - your talent, commitment, and in the words of iMedia, "ongoing passion for integration and bringing big, out-of-the-box ideas" is what makes our agency a winner.

So, thank you all! And see the full list of iMedia Agency Award winners here.

Digitas’ Wade Rifkin Named One of Adweek’s “Top 10 Digital Media Buyers (30 and Under)”

Wade Rifkin, associate director at Digitas was recognized as one of Adweek’s “Top 10 Digital Media Buyers (30 and Under)."

The feature, which appears in this week's online and print issue of Adweek (coincidentally themed their "Digital Issue"), honors Wade and other rising star media pros whose unique approaches to media have played a critical role in successful campaigns for marquee brand clients.

Wade's inclusion is quite an honor and makes complete sense. He is a leader of the team that brings American Express' Small Business Saturday to market and he is instrumental in developing and implementing key program elements in the areas of data targeting and social marketing. Wade champions the intersection of technology and brand advocacy and can 'code the matrix' of social marketing like none other.

Congratulations Wade!