Reputation Ink wins ADDY award for holiday marketing campaign

American Advertising Award honors creativity, originality, creative strategy

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Content marketing and public relations firm Reputation Ink has won a silver ADDY award for its holiday card game, “Crimes Against Content: The Content Marketing & PR Party Game,” in the self-promotion category. The annual ADDY Awards in Jacksonville is conducted by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). This is the firm’s first ADDY entry. It was judged on creativity, originality and creative strategy.

“The holiday season is the perfect time to thank your clients and recognize their value to your company,” said Michelle Calcote King, principal and president, Reputation Ink. “You can do this while also demonstrating your capabilities and brand through a creative, strategic approach to a holiday card.”

Reputation Ink sent the “Crimes Against Content” cards to clients and friends of the agency as well as thought leaders in the content marketing industry.

“Cards Against Humanity is a popular, well-loved adult party game that is often spoofed, but we’ve never seen one dedicated specifically to the content marketing industry,” said Heather Kingry, Reputation Ink’s vice president of content. “The goal was to create something that would be shared and create a buzz. We not only received great feedback from clients, but also had unexpected interest from people on social media asking for a copy of the game. We’re most excited about the positive feedback from the content marketing queen herself, Ann Handley.”

While focused on digital marketing, Reputation Ink instead chose to use printed paper cards to stand out amidst the numerous online holiday greetings that now dominate the industry. Graphic designer Sharon Obeso created a modern holiday design and format: she used mini credit card sleeves to hold each card set, which were then placed in a tri-fold card. The team assembled and stuffed 21,000 parts all in-house.

“It was a great team-building experience. We even had a client stop by to help assemble the cards, and of course we were accompanied by lots of music and wine,” Kingry said. “The least helpful team member was our office dog Boomer, who kept eating the glue dots.”

The game poked fun at the content marketing and public relations industry, as players were prompted in a piece of the game’s description: “It’s less Christmas miracle and more total mockery of this industry we’re in together, full of marketing ScenarEOs (SEO—see what we did there?) and solutions you should take to heart—whether you choose to Play Nice or end up on Santa’s Sh*t List with us.”

“This piece was hyper-targeted to a content marketer,” said King. “We knew not everyone would appreciate the edgy humor or understand the marketing lingo, but our target market would.”

King continued: “It’s all about targeting. We chose to use humor, which if used the right way, can work wonders for a brand.”

Reputation Ink’s past holiday cards have used clever wording to educate their audience on content marketing with various formats, including a Christmas story spin-off and poetry. The firm has made this year’s award-winning card available for digital download on its INKsights blog.

About Reputation Ink

Reputation Ink is a content marketing and public relations firm focused on building reputations. The firm’s professionals provide marketing strategy, messaging, public relations, writing and content marketing services. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., Reputation Ink’s clients span the country and include leaders in a range of industries including law, architecture, engineering, construction, industrial, technology, healthcare, energy and real estate. For more information visit www.rep-ink.com.