The American Cancer Society Names The Martin Agency/Ingenuity Media as Agency of Record
American Cancer Society Awards New National Advertising and Public Relations Accounts
ATLANTA – October 23, 2008 – The American Cancer Society, the nation’s largest voluntary health organization, has selected The Martin Agency (Richmond, Va.) and Brodeur Partners (Boston, Mass.) as its new general market advertising and public relations agencies of record. Together, both agencies will be tasked with the renewal of an iconic American charitable brand.
“As the nation’s original and premier cancer nonprofit, the American Cancer Society enjoys high saturation levels of brand awareness,” said Greg Donaldson, national vice president for corporate communications for the American Cancer Society. “However, our organization sees opportunities to galvanize its contemporary relevance in today’s highly competitive nonprofit marketplace.”
T.G. Madison Advertising (Atlanta, Ga.) has served as the American Cancer Society’s nationwide advertising AOR for the past 10 years. The agency produced the Society’s first-ever paid advertising and brand building efforts in 2000 featuring “Hope. Progress. Answers.” At that time, the organization was the first of the traditional legacy charities to strategically invest in paid advertising efforts to support its mission activities. Over the years, T.G. Madison created 42 campaigns for the Society including memorable, Effie award-winning colon cancer awareness creative; and in September 2007, helped the organization launch a groundbreaking, nontraditional nationwide public awareness campaign focusing on access to quality health care. The latter initiative has since been nominated for a public service Emmy award from the National Television Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to developing advertising, T.G. Madison demonstrated a personal commitment to the fight against cancer, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars and tens of thousands of man hours to the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission, through direct participation in community cancer awareness and fundraising events.
“We have had a long and extraordinarily productive working relationship with T.G. Madison,” said Donaldson. “Sadly, times change and so does the nonprofit landscape. As the demands of good stewardship require us to routinely examine our advertising and public relations agency relationships, we entered into an extensive and thorough review of the marketplace. After the process, it became clear that we had a tough choice to make. In the end we chose to take our brand in a radically different direction. Both Martin and Brodeur demonstrated innovative thinking and an innate ability to yield keen insights, while demonstrating formidable experience and prior successes that we believe will help the American Cancer Society to achieve our goal of eliminating cancer as a major public health problem.”
Porter Novelli (Washington, D.C. / Atlanta, Ga.) has served as the Society’s public relations agency of record for the past eight years. The agency primarily supported the Society’s nationwide ongoing prevention and early detection campaigns, in addition to the strategic promotion of both the 2006 World Cancer Congress and World Conference on Tobacco Or Health in Washington, D.C. The firm also handled publicity for the 2006 Celebration on the Hill™ – an event hosted by the Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkSM – that mobilized 10,000 cancer survivors to meet with members of Congress on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Porter Novelli did not participate in the recent agency search; although T.G. Madison did choose to compete.
Pile and Company, a Boston-based strategic agency search and consulting firm, managed the nationwide review process.
The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 13 regional Divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across the United States. For more information anytime, call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.