Annual Richmond Ad Club awards hand out big wins for Martin Agency, Alice Blue

Guests took to the Hippodrome for the Richmond Ad Club’s annual awards. (Jonathan Spiers photos)

Some of the Richmond advertising scene’s best work was honored Friday night at the Ad Club’s annual “Richmond Show.” 

Over 250 attendees donned their Hawaiian shirts, espadrilles and other resort wear (the theme for this year’s show) to toast 60 award-winning spots, advertisements, students and local ad industry movers and shakers at the annual awards show, held this year at the Hippodrome in Jackson Ward. 

With around 220 submissions from 35 local agencies, awards were presented across five categories— advertising, design, interactive, production and student work. 

The Martin Agency took home Best in Show in advertising for its OREO x Coca-Cola “Besties for a Limited Time” campaign that saw the two brands pairing up for some specialty products. Martin was the brains behind the two brands’ releasing Oreo-flavored Coca-Cola soda and Oreo Coca-Cola cookies last September. 

Best in Show for design went to agency Alice Blue for its 50-second animation for Free Guitars 4 Kids, a Minnesota-based nonprofit. The clip features former “The Voice” contestant Katrina Cain singing Queen’s “Break Free,” and shows a young girl “unplugging” from the stresses of the digital age with a guitar. 

The night’s top award for student work went to VCU’s Brandcenter for BIC, called “Small Pen Big Idea,” which tells the story of creation through the viewpoint of one of the famous ballpoint pens. 

“In the beginning, there was the pen, and that pen was a BIC,” the 60-second spot intones. “Then came the great uncapping, and ink stained the star-paved firmament.”

Best in Show for interactive went to local agency the Grits Collective for its website that blends creative direction, photography and motion, while the top production award went to Mondial for Papa John’s new brand platform Better Get You Some. The spot contains the catchphrase “Better ingredients. Better pizza. Better get you some.” Mondial worked with the Martin Agency on the project. 

Plenty of other works also took home some gold, silver and bronze awards, from “Teddy Grahams Revenge Bears” earning a medal for Brandcenter students, to a sobering spot from Spang TV and Two Tango Collaborative taking home a medal for a motorcycle safety commercial for the DMV.

The Ad Club unveiled a new look for the Bridge Award this year.

This year, the Richmond Show’s “Bridge Award” also received a sleek, personalized upgrade, with the awards now displaying the names of the winning advertisements. 

Honored as this year’s Ad Person of the Year was Amy Baril of Two Tango Collaborative.

A longtime advertising and marketing exec, Baril has served as the ad agency’s president since late 2021 and CEO since 2022. She also currently serves as president of the American Marketing Association’s Richmond chapter. 

Amy Baril. (Courtesy Richmond Ad Club)

“The team at Two Tango Collaborative brings creativity, grit and heart to every project,” Baril said. “We’re lucky to work with clients who trust us to challenge the norm and take brave leaps—and lucky to be part of a creative community, thanks to the Richmond Ad Club, that makes space for that kind of work to thrive.”

“Baril’s creative energy is infectious, her leadership is unconventional yet inspiring, and her impact on Richmond is undeniable,” said Two Tango executive creative director Erin Sarro. 

Some young Brandcenter students were also honored at the awards, with VCU undergraduate student Sidney Finley receiving the Womxn in Advertising Scholarship, and VCU Brandcenter graduate student Samantha Khan receiving the Excellence in Creative Education Scholarship. 

Both Finley and Khan will receive $2,000 from their scholarships. 

The Ad Club also took the time to announce its new president. Succeeding president Bridget Guckin, who has served in the one-year term role since last May, is Erin Rebmann. Rebmann previously served as the Ad Club’s vice president.

She will now serve as the president alongside her work as a web design & development manager at Brandito. 

“This advertising community is overflowing with creativity and passion. Let’s keep making connections, trusting in each other and showing up with support for one another,” Rebmann said upon the announcement.

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