AICPA, Capstrat Earn Five MarCom Awards for National Ad Campaign

Capstrat, a strategic communications firm in Raleigh, N.C., along with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), earned five MarCom Awards from the Association of Marketing & Communication Professionals. The MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communications professionals.

The award-winning work was created for the AICPA's financial literacy program, 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy (www.360financialliteracy.org). The program is a national volunteer effort of the CPA profession to help Americans understand their personal finances and develop money management skills. It focuses on financial education as a lifelong endeavor—from children learning about the value of money to adults reaching a secure retirement.

"The Capstrat team impressed us from day one with its energy and creative drive," said Janice Maiman, AICPA vice president – communications. "Ultimately, we hope recognition like this will draw more attention to the 360 effort and its important message."

The campaign received three gold awards, two platinum awards and one honorable mention.

• Platinum – Overall radio ad campaign
• Platinum – "Wish List" radio ad script
• Gold - Overall advertising campaign
• Gold – Newspaper ad
• Gold – "Monica’s Life" radio ad script
• Honorable mention – "Monica's Life" single spot

"We appreciate the opportunity to do great work for great clients," said Karen Albritton, president for Capstrat. "Our goal is always to create the most compelling and effective work that delivers results. Winning awards is just icing on the cake."

Each year, more than 5,000 MarCom Awards entries are submitted by U.S. and several foreign organizations.

This year, winners were selected from more than 200 categories in six forms of media and communication efforts – marketing, publications, marketing/promotion, public service/pro bono, creativity and electronic/interactive. About 18 percent of entries won the platinum award, the organization's top honor.

To view samples of some of Capstrat's award-winning work, please visit http://www.capstrat.com/cs/portfolio/byclient.cfm

Capstrat is a full-service strategic communications firm with offices in Raleigh, N.C., and Washington, D.C. The company's services include public relations, public affairs, marketing communications and interactive communications.

This year, the agency has accepted seven ADDYs and nine Boom Awards for its design achievements, five Telly awards for Web and broadcast work, and five Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for excellence in the communications industry. Capstrat also earned gold and silver SABRE awards from the Holmes Report and an honorable mention from PRWeek for Small Agency of the Year.

For more information about Capstrat, please visit www.capstrat.com.

About the MarCom Awards

The MarCom Awards is an international competition for marketing and communication professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of marketing and communication programs and print, visual and audio materials. Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops and freelancers.

The competition has grown to perhaps the largest of its kind in the world. A look at the winners shows a range in size from individual communicators to media conglomerates and Fortune 50 companies.