The Mississippi Press Association met this past weekend in Jackson. This is where our papers have a chance to find out how they compare with other papers around the state. The mid-winter meeting focuses on advertising and market, and the summer is about editorial content.
The issue that I was pleased most with was the fact that the Magee Courier won the Advertising Excellence Award again, and the Simpson County News won a third place in Advertising Excellence in their circulation category.
Nancy Brown of the Courier won a first place best color advertisement for a Gene Polks Pharmacy ad. The judges commented that they “Loved everything about this ad. Clean and easy to read. Color really pops.”
Marsh Bratcher of the Simpson County News won a first place for an ad for Stephens clothing in Mendenhall. The judges commented that is was a great ad as well as being fun and easy to read.
Nancy won a second place award for an ad for Simpson County Academy.
Under the category Best Financial Ad, Nancy Brown took a first place with a bridal ad for PriorityOne Bank.
In healthcare Nancy won a first place for the Pediatric Clinic of Magee and a third place in the same category for the Pediatric Clinic of Magee.
One of the biggest accomplishments is when a single advertiser sweeps all different awards in a category. Nancy’s Leaf River Veterinary ads did so in the Best Services Category.
Under the same category, Best Service Ad Color, Marsha Bratcher won a first place for the Stubbs Law Firm. The judges commented on how well the ad stood out because of the creativity. Marsha also won third place in the same category for Sullivan’s Towing Service.
Under the category of Best Restaurant, an ad for The Vault won a second place award. Marsha won a second place in her circulation category for Burger Shack.
Speaking of clean sweeps for the same category, in Best Political Advertising, Price Wallace ads won all three spots in his race for Representative District 77.
Best Small Space Ad went to Leaf River Veterinary Services ads.
Not only did the papers do well in newspaper ad services but they also did well in Best Editorial Section -Glossy. The Source magazine, which we publish each fall, won a first place award for the staff. The judges commented- “well written and well done overall.”
The staff won second on Best Promotion Advertising Section on the annual Bridal Edition.
Marsha Bratcher won a third place award on Best Theme Page for the Mendenhall Chamber of Commerce.
Under the category of best Series of Ads - All Weeklies, Nancy Brown won best series for the Sleep Center and second place for Leaf River Vet. Third place went to Marsha Bratcher for New Beginnings.
In the category of Magazine Ad for Healthcare, Nancy Brown won a first place for Medicomp Physical Therapy. The judges commented, “This category was difficult to judge because of the many excellent submissions. However, the funny photo made this ad edge out the competition. It must have take a lot of effort to get such a diverse ad together.”
Nancy took second place in the same category for Family Vision Clinic.
It is really nice to get recognition from your peers but even more special is the fact that your hometown newspapers are able to create attractive advertisements and in turn help to improve business for our community!
