ANA announces finalists for 2006 Multicultural Excellence Awards.

The Association of National Advertisers today announced the finalists for the 2006 Multicultural Excellence Awards. Now in its sixth year, the awards recognize ANA member companies and marketers that have produced outstanding multicultural advertising campaigns that ran between June 2005 and May 2006.

The 2006 grand prize award recipients in each category will be announced at a special ceremony during the ANA’s Multicultural Marketing Conference scheduled for November 12-14, 2005 at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, CA.

Finalists were named in six categories. They are listed below (company/brand and agency) in alphabetical order within each category.

African American
LifeScan – OneTouch Ultra 2, Anderson DDB
McDonalds – Spicy Chicken, Burrell Communications
Tyson Foods, E. Morris Communications

Asian
MetLife, IW Group
State Farm Insurance, interTrend Communications
Wells Fargo, DAE Advertising

Gay & Lesbian
Stolichnaya Vodka, Double Platinum

Hispanic
Cablevision, GlobalWorks
Georgia-Pacific – Angel Soft, La Agencia de Orci
PepsiCo – Sierra Mist, Dieste Harmel & Partners
Proctor & Gamble – Tide, Conill Saatchi & Saatchi

General Market
Bermuda Department of Tourism, GlobalHue
Lowe‘s Companies, BBDO New York
Merrill Lynch, Boathouse Inc

Campaign with Significant Results
Illinois Lottery, R.J. Dale Advertising and PR, Inc
Verizon Communications, Burrell Communications
Washington Mutual, IW Group

The awards are sponsored by the ANA Multicultural Marketing Committee. The committee, which was established in 1998, helps ANA members share knowledge and best practices in marketing to America’s burgeoning ethnic markets. A portion of the proceeds collected from the awards submission fees will be used to help fund scholarships for high-potential multicultural students who plan to pursue careers in advertising and/or marketing.

The Association of National Advertisers leads the marketing community by providing its members insights, collaboration and advocacy. ANA’s membership includes 370 companies with 8,000 brands that collectively spend over $100 billion in marketing communications and advertising. The ANA strives to communicate marketing best practices, lead industry initiatives, influence industry practices, manage industry affairs and advance, promote and protect all advertisers and marketers.