The following is a project I completed for my JOMC 50 Electronic Resources class. The project is called the "Treasure Hunt" and my topic, or mission really, was finding the top creative advertising agencies in the country. If you have any comments on this assignment, please email me.


Table of Contents:

Section Ia: Introduction
Section Ib: Search Engines and Keywords
Section II: Print and Non-Print Sources
Section III: Electronic Journal Sources
Section IV: Web Pages
Section V: Internet Essay on Pop-Up Advertising
Notes for Essay
Websites for Essay

The Top Creative Advertising Agencies in the United States

Section Ia: Introduction

There are not many specific things I know about my topic, The Top Creative Advertising Agencies in the United States. Currently, I have my guesses as to which agencies are most creative, BBDO, Ogilvy and Mather, Wieden and Kennedy and the Martin Agency. I know Adweek, Advertising Age, and Creativity would be good sources that would concentrate on creative ad executions. I am also aware of awards agencies can win for their creativity such as the One Show pencils and the Kelly Awards. Creativity is very subjective but I feel like the winners of the advertising industries awards are the best bets when it comes to choosing the top agencies. My strategy would be to check all the different advertising awards agencies could win for creative and compare the names that appear on the most lists, noting campaigns.

Questions I would like to answer include the obvious, “Which agencies in the US are the top for creative advertising?” I would also like to answer why they are the most creative, including which campaign work got them there, who their clients are and what awards they have won.

My intended audience would include people who already have an interest in the industry. Perhaps creatives who are job searching for the best agencies available. The medium would be magazines like Adweek.

Section Ib: Search Engines and Keywords

UNC Library Catalogue
advertising agenc? AND creative
su advertising AND creative

Academic Universe Lexis-Nexis
“one show awards”
“ANDY awards”

Search Engine on Web <http://www.altavista.com/>
ad agencies and advertising awards winners
ad agencies and advertising awards winners “addy awards”


Section II: Print and Non-Print Sources

Two print sources from UNC Libraries:

The book. Regional & national ADDY winners. Vol. 1. Baltimore: ACC Publishing, 1995. Davis Folio – HF5816 .B66.

Clio awards 2000. Gloucester: Rockport Publishers, Inc., 2001. Davis – HF6146.T42 C5 2001.

One non-print source from UNC Libraries:

Weinberger, Marc G., Leland Campbell, and Beth Brody. Effective radio advertising [sound recording]. New York: Lexington Books, 1994. UL Media Resources Center 65-CD868.


Section III: Electronic Journal Sources

Click here to go to UNC's Electronic Sources Database

(2002, November 18). Top 25 Agencies. B to B [Online], p. 18, 2739 words. Available: LexisNexis Academic [Accessed: 2003, February 1].

(2002, December 13). Creative Agency of the Year – Mother. Marketing [Online], p. 5, 1991 words. Available: LexisNexis Academic [Accessed: 2003, February 1].

(2003, January 13). Images of the Week. Advertising Age [Online], Volume 74, p. 38, 1 p., 151 words. Available: Business Source Elite [Accessed: 2003, February 1].

O’Connell, Vanessa. (2002, August 28). Which Agency Should Get an Emmy? – Not ‘Nail Gun’ or ‘Amnesia’ Or Even the Olympians, But the Patriotic Offering. The Wall Street Journal [Online], p. B10, 7 paragraphs. Available: ProQuest Company [Accessed: 2003, February 1].

Parpis, Eleftheria. (2003, January 20). Western agency of the year 2002; Motorskills; Goodby, Silverstein & Partners moves to the front of the pack in a Saturn. Adweek [Online], 1268 words. Available: LexisNexis Academic [Accessed: 2003, February 1].

White, Erin. (2002, June 12). Cannes Ad Festival Feels Chill of Industry’s Recent Downturn. The Wall Street Journal [Online], p. B3, 13 paragraphs. Available: ProQuest Company [Accessed: 2003, February 1].


Section IV: Web Pages

Title of Web page: The One Club
Web address: http://www.oneclub.com/
Brief Description: The One Club is responsible for giving out the One Show awards to honor creativity in advertising. This website gives information about the One Club such as their mission and the Board of Directors. Visitors to the site can also download a list of award winners and get information about the clubs magazine, “one.”
Source of Web site: The One Club for Art and Copy

Title of Web Page: Breaking News: 21st Annual MPA Kelly Awards Carmichael Lynch Wins Grand Prize
Web address: http://www.kellyawards.org/about/press_releases/051402_kelly_winners.html
Brief Description: Press release about the most recent recipients of the Kelly Awards. Includes links to photos of finalists’ and winners’ campaigns. The page tells a little bit about the winner and finalists and the companies they worked for. It also includes side links with information about the contest itself.
Source of Web site: MPA Kelly Awards

Title of Web Page: The Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame
Web address: http://www.adslogans.co.uk/hof/index.html
Brief Description: This web site concerns the best advertising slogans as determined by a competition sponsored by ADSlogans Unlimited. The link above takes the viewer to the introduction site. From there viewers can link to the 2000 and 2002 top tens and to the 2002 new members. They can also link to a site about the panel of judges and an alphabetical listing of members, among other things.
Source of Web site: ADSlogans Unlimited

Title of Web Page: Top 100 Advertising Campaigns
Web address: http://www.adage.com/century/campaigns.html
Brief Description: List of the top 100 ad campaigns of the 20th century with an accompanying article. This list provides a reference to which agencies have been successful in the past and which campaigns got them there. The article is more of a history of creativity in advertising.
Source of Website: Bob Garfield for Advertising Age

Title of Web Page: 2002 Addy Award Highlights
Web address: http://www.aaf.org/awards/addys_highlights.html
Brief Description: Pictures from the 2002 Addy Award ceremony. The page also includes links to a list of winners and silver winners and a list of judges. The site also includes Best of Show Broadcast and Print links to view.
Source of Website: American Advertising Federation


Section V: Internet Essay on Pop-Up Advertising

TITLE: Is it the end for pop-up advertising?
(TOPIC AREA: Net Trends and Trivia)

Pop-up ads have been around since the middle of 1997 (1). Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance service defines pop-up advertising as “any ad that spawns a new browser without user input, and includes pop-up ads that focus to the front or back (pop-under) of the active browser.”

In September of 2002, of all the companies that advertise online, only 9.2% use pop-ups. Even more interesting, 80% of pop-up ads come from the same 63 companies with 2,145 companies splitting the remaining 20% (2).

Consumers, however, have expressed annoyance at pop-up ads and companies are starting to fight against them to please customers.

AOL, who began to sell pop-up ads in 1995, announced in 2002 its plan to drop pop-ups. The company plans to stop selling ads, which means it still has to honor already signed contracts to advertisers. It will also continue to use pop-ups for AOL and Time Warner Cable companies. Plus, members can still see pop-up ads on the Internet sites they go to through AOL (3).

iVilliage also stopped using pop-ups on its site. Readers of the site deemed pop-ups worse than slow loading pages, junk e-mail and broken links. In response, the company had its advertisers change to less obtrusive ways of advertising (4).

Perhaps at the lead of the anti-pop-up movement is Earthlink, Inc. The Internet service provider now has Pop-Up Blocker for its customers (5).

Although the software can get in the way, sometimes blocking out unintended things, surfers can retaliate against pop-ups with ad blockers. By July of 2002, 5 million people had downloaded Pop-Up Stopper; 7.7 million people had downloaded AdAware; and almost 100,000 people had downloaded Guard-IE. It is estimated that 5% of surfers use ad blockers(6).


Notes for Essay:

(1). Kuchinskas, Susan. (1998, October 9). Addicted to advertising. Brandweek [Online], 1126 words. Available: Buisness Source Elite [Accessed: 2003, February 2].

(2). (2002, September 4). Less Than 10 Percent of Internet Advertisers Use Pop-Up Ads, According to Nielsen//Net Ratings; Few Advertisers Employ the Technology, Despite Ubiquity of Pop-Up and Pop-Under Ads. PR Newswire [Online], 823 words. Available: LexisNexis Academic [Accessed: 2003, February 2].

(3). Angwin, Julia and Mylene Mangalindan. (2002, October 16). America Online Will Put Down Its Pop-Up Ads. The Wall Street Journal [Online], p. B1, 14 paragraphs. Available: ProQuest Company [Accessed: 2003, February 2].

(4). Smallbridge, Justin. (2002, August 19). The ‘pop’ in ‘pop-up’ advertising doesn’t stand for popular. Financial Post [Online], p. FP12, 1085 words. Available: LexisNexis Academic [Accessed: 2003, February 2].

(5). (2002, August 19). EarthLink Becomes First Major ISP to Include Anti-Pop-Up Ad Feature With Internet Service. PR Newswire [Online], 659 words. Available: LexisNexis Academic [Accessed: 2003, February 2].

(6). Miles, Stephanie. (2002, July 24). Web Pop-Up Ads Spawn Arms Race. The Wall Street Journal [Online], p. B.3F, 23 paragraphs. Available: ProQuest Company [Accessed: 2003, February 2].


Websites For Essay:

Title of Web Page: New Netscape punctures pop-up ads
Web Address: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-977767.html
Brief Description: Article discussing Netscape 7.01’s inclusion of pop-up blocking.
Source of Web site: Paul Festa for CNET Networks, Inc.

Title of Web Page: Gator Fires Back at Pop-Up Lawsuit
Web Address: http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/1378401
Brief Description: Article about the lawsuit against Gator Corporation filed by publishers whose sites have been invaded by Gator pop-ups.
Source of Web site: Christopher Saunders for internetnews.com

Title of Web Page: Stop with the pop-ups!
Web Address: http://money.cnn.com/2002/02/12/technology/popups/index.htm
Brief Description: Article on pop-ups’ present, future and consumer’s choices to fight them.
Source of Web site: Richard Richtmyer for CNNMoney

Please feel free to email comments.