Thirteen may be your lucky number. This year marks the 13th annual Small Agency Awards, in which Ad Age recognizes the best small (150 or fewer employees) shops in the country.
Prior winners have included Translation, Highdive, Cartwright, Mischief@NoFixedAddress and Special Group U.S., all now well-known agency names. This year's deadline for awards is April 27, and this year additional categories have been added to recognize employees who have contributed to your agency's success.
But don't just take it from us—here are three reasons why agencies should enter, as cited by Steve Boehler, founder of consultant Mercer Island Group in a recent blog post in which he interviewed previous winners.
1. It's a new business builder
"It's like a yearly injection of biz dev. I don’t want to assume anything in this business, but so far, we have consistently seen our phone ring/website traffic increase/Google search traffic increase," Mark Fitzloff, founder of Opinionated, told Mercer Island.
"We hear all the time that clients searching for an agency found us because of Erich & Kallman winning Small Agency of the Year," said Kate Higgins, chief growth officer at that agency.
2. Winning can put your agency on the map
"As a business, landing on an Ad Age 'Best Of' list is critical. It signals to potential clients that out of 14,000-plus marketing agencies, Walrus is considered one of the best," said Frances Webster, CEO of Walrus in the post. "It’s essentially a de facto shortlist."
Added Lori Gaffney, CEO of BPN: "It has been a great calling card for approaching potential clients. It makes 'cold calls' a bit less cold. It’s also a clear point of distinction from our competitors."
3. It's a great morale builder for employees
"Winning Small Agency of the Year has been a huge morale boost and validation for our team," Alan Brown, DNA Chairman-CEO told Boehler.
"Our efforts have taken time, money and attention—and this recognition validated our efforts." Trey Harness, president and partner at Curiosity, told Mercer Island. "For our team, it’s like reaching the 10,000 foot base camp on a mountain. It’s a signal of progress and appreciation for our work."
How to enter
This year we're added new categories to honor the people behind the work and the agency's success. New this year are categories for Creative of the Year, Account Director of the Year, Media Planner of the Year and Strategic Planner of the Year as well as Purpose-Led Agency of the Year. Click here to apply by April 27.
For a look at last year's winners, go to AdAge.com/SmallAgencyAwards2021.
Winners of this year's Small Agency Awards will be honored both in Ad Age's print and online editions in July. An awards ceremony to honor the winners will be also held at Ad Age's Small Agency Conference, which will be in-person this year, July 26-27 in Chicago. We hope to see you there!
