ANA Announces finalists for 2008 Multicultural Excellence Awards.

The Association of National Advertisers today announced the finalists for the 2008 Multicultural Excellence Awards. Now in its eighth year, the awards recognize ANA member companies and marketers for their work in producing superior multicultural advertising campaigns that ran between June 2007 and May 2008.

The 2008 grand prize award recipients in each category will be announced at a ceremony on November 17 during the ANA’s Multicultural Marketing Conference. The event runs from November 16-18 and is being held at The Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton, Florida. For more information on the conference or to obtain a complete agenda, please visit http://www.ana.net/events/conferencemtg/MCC-NOV08.

This year the ANA has added a Digital Media category, which recognizes outstanding work across all ethnic segments. In addition to digital, finalists were named in five other categories. Each category below lists the brand and agency involved in alphabetical order:

African American
Partnership F A D F A, Prime Access, Inc.
McDonald’s, Burrell
The Black Rep, Rodgers Townsend

Asian
Allstate Insurance, Kang & Lee Advertising
State Farm Insurance, interTrend Communications
Toyota Motor Sales, interTrend Communications

Digital Media
Cadbury Dentyne, The Vidal Partnership
Miller Lite, Tapestry
M&M Mars, BBDO

Hispanic
Blue Cross Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of California
McDonald’s, Alma DDB
MTV Tr3s , mTVU

General Market Category
State Farm Insurance, DDB
McDonald’s, DDB
Merrill Lynch, Merrill Lynch (In house)

Campaign with Significant Results
Allstate Insurance, Burrell
Blue Cross Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of California (In house)
Energizer, Grupo Gallegos

The awards are sponsored by the ANA Multicultural Marketing Committee. The committee, 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.