It’s easy to catch yourself thinking back to the way things were, back when you started in advertising. There likely was less technology, we communicated with our clients different and maybe even your current employer wasn’t in business yet. The theme of the 2022 AAA show “The Way Things Were” was created and conceptualized by our Agency of Record, ZLR Ignition.

During the awards show, the winners of the Emerging Advertising Leader and Volunteer of the Year were announced. These winners were both nominated and voted on by AAF members. To read more about each of the winners, you can visit the AA Awards page.

Emerging Advertising Leader: Jenn State, Black Tie Creative
Volunteer of the Year: Jenny Cross, TwoTone Creative

The show had 167 professional entries from 22 different companies and 14 student entries from both Drake University and Iowa State University.

Our three judges were Josh Blasingame, Diane Gibbs and Frank Stegmaier. Each of the judges was offered the opportunity to select a Judge’s Choice award winner. The following were the professional Judge’s Choice winners.

Judge’s Choice

• ICON Water Trails Badges, Strategic America
• 80-35 Music Festival Posters, Red Dot Advertising
• JR’s SouthPork Ranch, Red Dot Advertising

The top selected entry for both professional and student competitions were awarded the coveted, Best of Show award. The winners were:

• Student: Malocchio Kombucha, Paige Klein, Iowa State University
• Professional: Reading Coffee Branding, Avidity Creative

Congratulations to all of our 2022 American Advertising Award winners! You can view the full winners book here.