Association Of National Advertisers Creates New Multicultural Excellence Awards.

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) announced that it has created new Multicultural Excellence Awards to recognize outstanding advertising targeted to multicultural consumers. The awards, developed by the ANA’s Multicultural Marketing Committee, will be given in five categories: African-American, Asian, Hispanic, General Market and Other Multicultural Markets (e.g., Native American, Russian, Polish etc.).

Honorees will be revealed at a special dinner at ANA’s third annual Multicultural Marketing Conference to be held November 4-6, 2001 at The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne in Key Biscayne, Florida.

“Our primary objective in creating these new awards is to recognize and celebrate outstanding multicultural advertising campaigns and the companies that boldly embrace these rapidly growing segments of the population,” notes James D. Speros, Chief Marketing Officer, U.S., Ernst & Young and Chair of ANA’s Multicultural Marketing Committee.

“Since it was established three years ago, the ANA Multicultural Marketing Committee has developed into a vibrant resource for sharing insights and best practices in brand building in the multicultural marketplace,” said John J. Sarsen, Jr., ANA president and CEO.

Submissions Criteria

To be considered for a Multicultural Excellence Award, companies must submit three advertisements per campaign entered to demonstrate the scope of their work. Campaigns can include work from any media (i.e., television, radio, magazines, newspapers, out-of-home, Internet). Entries must be received by the ANA no later than August 15, 2001. There is a $500 fee for each campaign submitted for consideration. Eligibility is limited to campaigns created for ANA member companies that ran for at least a three-month period between June 2000 and May 2001. (ANA member companies’ advertising agencies may submit campaigns on their behalf.)

Entries will be judged on their creative excellence and relevance to the category for which they are submitted by a panel comprised of members of ANA’s Multicultural Marketing Committee and a select number of distinguished guests with expertise in multicultural marketing.

Funding for Scholarships

A portion of the proceeds collected from the awards submission fees will be used to help fund scholarships for high-potential students from multicultural backgrounds who wish to pursue careers in advertising and/or marketing. Funds will go to each of the companies honored with an ANA Multicultural Excellence Award. The honorees will then select the scholarship recipient.

Entry forms for the ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards can be accessed on the ANA’s Web site at http://www.ana.net/com/com.htm

The Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) is the industry’s premier trade association dedicated exclusively to marketing and brand building. Representing more than 300 companies with 8,000 brands that collectively spend over $100 billion in marketing communications and advertising, the Association’s members market products and services to consumers and businesses. ANA serves the needs of its members by providing marketing and advertising industry leadership in traditional and e-marketing, legislative leadership, information resources, professional development and industry-wide networking.