For Immediate Release
Media Inquiries: Sarah Malpeli
SMITH
(941) 315-1226
smalpeli@smithadv.com

SMITH Agency Takes Top International Creative Awards at the 2008 Summit Creative Awards

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (May 7, 2009)—SMITH, a fully-integrated advertising and marketing agency with offices in Fayetteville and Raleigh, N.C., Sarasota, Fla. and Hilton Head Island, S.C., was recently honored three awards in the 2008 Summit Creative Awards® competition for its creative work for the Convention & Visitors Bureau, Pinehurst/Southern Pines Aberdeen Area (Silver Award), the Brunswick County TDA (Gold Award), and St. John’s Episcopal Church (Silver Award).

“We are honored to be selected for three Summit Awards and are very proud of our creative team for the exceptional work they do for our clients,” explained SMITH President Gary Smith.

The Summit Creative Awards recognizes and celebrates the creative accomplishments of small and medium sized advertising agencies and other creative groups with annual billings of $30 million or less. Over the fifteen years, the competition has established itself as the premier arbiter of creative excellence for firms of this size.

This year's creative competition included companies from the following 26 countries: Australia, Austria, England, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and United States.

“Winning a Summit Creative Awards is a significant accomplishment. The combination of our excellent judges and the tough judging criteria ensures that only deserving entries receive Summit recognized,” said Jocelyn Luciano, executive director for the Summit International Awards. “It was an exciting year to watch and listen to the judges’ debate the details of individual entries. Making the decisions of which ones receive the top spots is hard.”

Winners were selected in categories that include print, broadcast, emerging media, online advertising, marketing materials, direct mail, political, corporate video, public service, best idea never produced, industry self-promotion, brand redesign, and student competition.

The International Summit Awards (SIA) organization was founded in 1994. The organization conducts the Summit Creative Award, the Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award and the Summit Emerging Media Award. The 2008 competition is the 14th year for the creative competition. Additional information about the Summit International Awards organization, its competitions and winning firms can be found on the Summit Awards web site at www.summitawards.com.

SMITH is an advertising and marketing agency driven by discovering what makes people who they are and what motivates their decisions, and then planning strategic communications accordingly. The 35-year-old firm offers fully-integrated services that include brand development, account planning, marketing research, interactive services, creative, media planning/buying and public relations.

SMITH’s clients include regional, national and global companies in travel and tourism, healthcare, consumer products, real estate and financial services. The SMITH team has honed its planning and creative skills on blue-chip and Fortune 500 brands including Hershey, BMW, Coca-Cola, ESPN, WebMD, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and American Express, as well as leading travel destinations such as Hilton Head Island, Pinehurst, Augusta, Sarasota, and Asheville. SMITH is also a corporate partner and the agency of record for the Southeast Tourism Society.

For more information on SMITH, call (800) 421-1973 or visit www.smithadv.com.