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Times ad department wins awards
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The award-winning Times advertising staff; front, from left, Trent Sexton and Melisa Sizemore; back row, Sam Jameson, Sherrie Jones, Chris Campbell, April Seymour, Janie Cobb, Eddy McIlvain and Tom Pearce. - photo by Tom Reed

The Times advertising department won 21 awards, including 12 first-places, during a recent ceremony at the Georgia Press Association’s annual advertising conference in Athens.

The awards included two first-place and four second-place awards for ads designed for The Times’ sister publication, The Paper, which services Braselton, Hoschton and Chateau Elan.

“It’s always nice to be recognized by your peers, but the recognition that really matters is that which comes from our advertising partners when they tell us their ads brought them customers,” said Dennis Stockton, publisher of The Times. “Study after study has shown how effective newspaper advertising can be, and we take a lot of pride in the creative effort we make for our advertisers. We’ve got a great staff, and they do an outstanding job for our customers.”

In the GPA competition, The Times competes against newspapers with a paid circulation between 15,000 and 39,999. Papers in the category include those in Athens, Rome and Marietta.

All entries in the GPA contest were published during the 2009 calendar year. The ads must have been conceived, written, designed and sold by newspaper staff members. Ads created by advertising agencies were not permitted.

The Times’ first-place awards include:

  • Best color real estate ad for Norton Guaranteed Mortgage, designed by Eddy McIlvain.
  • Best color motor vehicle ad for Carriage Kia, designed by Chris Campbell.
  • Best health care ad for Guilford Immediate Care, designed by McIlvain.
  • Best food ad for Sonny’s Real Pit BBQ, designed by Campbell.
  • Best service/institutional ad for Riverside Military Academy, designed by McIlvain.
  • Best home furnishing and appliance ad for Real Deal Furniture, designed by Campbell for The Paper.
  • Best spot-color ad for Red Carpet Costume Ball, designed by Sam Jameson.
  • Best classified section, designed by Jameson.
  • Best signature page, a full-page ad on which multiple advertisers appear, for a Christmas promotion, designed by Janie Cobb.
  • Best signature page for the Braselton Antique and Gardening Festival, designed by McIlvain for The Paper.
  • Best nontraditional advertising for a promotion, sponsored by Turner Wood and Smith Insurance and Walters Management Co., in which every Hall County high school received spirit cards featuring the school logo.
  • Best advertising campaign for a series of ads promoting the newspaper’s high school football coverage.

The Times’ second-place awards include:

  • Best color real-estate ad for Cobb Investments, designed by Cobb.
  • Best full-color ad for Blue Laser Group, designed by McIlvain.
  • Best newspaper promotion for a series of ads promoting The Times’ online photo reprint service.
  • Best out-of-print news promotion for “Fishin’ for Your Business,” in which advertising representatives dropped off bags of goldfish crackers to prospective customers, created by Melisa Sizemore.
  • Best special section for Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s new North Patient Tower.
  • Best food ad for Key West Bar and Grill, designed by Jameson for The Paper.
  • Best full-color ad for Key West Bar and Grill, designed by Jameson for The Paper.
  • Best service/institutional for Lanier Technical College, designed by Jameson and McIlvain.
  • Best signature page for All Aboard Art Trax, designed by McIlvain for The Paper.