Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 20, 1994 TAG: 9402150295
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Therefore, local ads are not comparable to the high-budget work on national television.
But despite showing that much of the work was done on very tight budgets, commercials for local television are strong, said Tina Jade Wong, art director for Cramer Kresselt, an agency in Chicago.
The three judges for the Roanoke-Lynchburg advertising market's annual Addy awards saw "some nice things" for television, Wong said.
Television advertising created in Roanoke illustrates the problems and the strengths of the local industry, according to the judges who reviewed the work.
The judges especially cited work by The Packett Group for B&D Comic Shop and Shenandoah Life Insurance Co., ads that cost less than $750 a spot to make.
They also cited advertising created by The Maddox Agency for Lewis-Gale Hospital; these ads cost more than $2,500 per spot to produce.
The judges said they were impressed by local radio advertising, particularly work by the radio stations themselves.
"Some radio stations do better than the [advertising] agencies do," said\ Lynn Fredericksen, art director for Ogilvy & Mather in Houston.
Wong and Fredericksen were interviewed during their visit to Roanoke on Jan.
14-15, when they judged local entries for the annual Addy Award event. The\ advertising awards were presented Saturday night at the Roanoke Airport\ Marriott.o
The third judge was Dave Smith, senior writer for Humphreys Price\ Advertising in Memphis, Tenn.
In the radio category, WROV was cited for its advertising fo
in Memphis, Tenn.
In the radio category, WROV was cited for its advertising for Acme Business Machines, Comfort Rest Water Beds and Southern Photo Print.
Fredericksen said only one radio entry this year had a jingle.
In all categories, Fredericksen said, "the best of the work here can compete with pieces done in a lot of other places."
A lot of the local work, Wong said, is worthy of inclusion in annual publications that feature the best advertising pieces in the nation.
The strength of the local market is that "people here care about good work" and do "national caliber work" equal to Milwaukee or San Francisco, Fredericksen said.
The client, not the agency, dictates the medium, whether it be a pamphlet or television, Wong said. It's up to the agency to work in that medium.
The clients also must take some credit for the success of the ads in the Addy show, Smith said, because it's the client that allows an agency to work well.
Even though The Packett Group captured the most awards by far, the Addy show in Roanoke was "not a rout," because there are many creative people doing good work, Fredericksen said. A dominant agency raises the level of excellence for others to meet.
The judges said they made no awards in several categories and gave only lesser citations in some categories.
"We all enter shows, too," Fredericksen said. "We don't want to win an award that doesn't mean anything."
Wong said she would be happy to have any of the Roanoke prize-winners in her own portfolio.
Despite the good work, however, three major agencies have closed in Roanoke in the last four years.
Wong said failures and mergers are going on throughout the U.S. advertising industry. A lot of small boutique agencies in Chicago have been acquired by larger firms, she said.
Fredericksen said her firm, Ogilvy & Mather, is 35 percent smaller than it used to be.
It's hard to get an advertising job, she said. Few places teach how to put together the books of sample work and application letters.
Getting a degree in marketing these days doesn't mean an agency will hire you, she said.
"You have to be persistent to get anyone to give you a chance," Fredericksen said.
Wong said agencies today will not take a chance on hiring someone new to the industry when, for virtually the same money, they can hire someone with experience from a downsized firm.
Wong said people in advertising are working harder. Those, like her, whose job it is to create "push ourselves." Long hours of work are common.
Clients are slow to take chances these days, Fredericksen said, but "the smart ones take chances."
She singled out Shenandoah Life Insurance Co. as an example of a local company that uses attention-grabbing materials.
"That's risky for an insurance company," she said, but "readers like that. It registers with the public. It's intelligent."
by CNB