How To Win The Ad Age Small Agency Award? Twice?

First of all, enter to win The Ad Age Small Agency Award. This advice might sound like a no-brainer but if you do not step up to the plate and swing, your chances of getting a hit are rather limited.

Portland’s Pollinate stepped up to that plate and has won Ad Age’s Small Agency of The Year Award — twice. 2X! I was so fascinated by the agency’s success that I interviewed Ben Waldron, one of its co-owners, for HubSpot’s Agency Post.

I Like Advertising Awards

I am a fan of awards because awards are one of the primary criteria that clients use to select agencies from the thousands of agency choices that are out there. Clients need help in the same way you might actually go to see the movie that won that Oscar. In fact, I am a big fan of fame itself as I have written in my blog post, Fame And Advertising Agency Business Development.

Stand Out

One of the key reasons that Pollinate stood out is because it created, the Made To Order Customization Platform, a digital marketing platform for its clients.

Peter: Pollinate won Advertising Age’s Northwest Small Agency Award in 2013 and2015 — Wow, Twice … Why do you think you won? Does Pollinate have a secret sauce?

Waldron: I believe that we won for completely different reasons between 2013 and 2015. In 2013, we were a dark horse entry where we were recognized for having a great portfolio of clients like Wilson Sporting Goods, Sur La Table, and Danner that we supported with quality creative and digital work. In 2015, we came in with strong positioning about how Pollinate helps clients create Brand Fanatics. The best example of this is in the Made To Order Customization Platform that we created that allows users to co-create products with their favorite brands.

Peter: A lot of agencies are “digital.” Tell me more about why Made to Order Customization helped you stand out.

Waldron: How could it not? Every brand is looking to offer some level of customization or personalization, but it is about as complex a problem as it gets. Made To Order is a digital system that solves the nuts and bolts problems of connecting all of the services (customization options, visualization, ecommerce, and manufacturing). The other piece, and just as important, is how to offer a customization platform to the public that is true to the brand and not a one-size-fits-all formula. That is where Pollinate’s brand, UX, and creative talents come in to provide a unique experience. It our belief that custom product experience should be custom to the brand.

The Made To Order Customization Platform offers clients a marketing tool; the Made To Order Customization Platform is unique to Pollinate and gives them distinction and the Made To Order Customization Platform is agency IP. Oh, and the Made To Order Customization Platform helped them to win awards and get lots of new incoming contacts from prospective clients because… clients use awards help clients make the decision on who to call.

Here is a list of the top advertising awards…

Head over to my ad award resource list.