Fancy Rhino CEO Isaiah Smallman helped lead his agency to win four gold Addys.Chattanooga Addy Winners2013 Best in Show• Winner: Fancy Rhino – Build Me A World Trailer• First Runner Up: Area203 Digital – Cloudswell Logo• Second Runner Up: Melinda Taylor – Chattanooga Whiskey Women campaign2013 Gold Addy Awards Totals• Chattanooga Publishing company – 4• Fancy Rhino – 4• Area203 Digital – 2• Cleveland State Community College – 2• Neathawk Dubuque and Packett – 2• Steven Ratajczyk Design – 2• Life Care Centers of America – 1• Two By Four – 1Source: 2013 Addy Awards
Chattanooga-based Fancy Rhino took home an armful of awards last week, winning the top advertising prize for an emotional sepia-toned trailer that promotes a film about the Howard School.
Like the Oscars are to movies, the Addys honor creative work in the advertising industry. Wins at the local level lead to regional face-offs, and the winners of those events enter the final, national tier of competition.
Fancy Rhino’s 2012 movie, “Build Me a World,” tells the story of what was then one of Tennessee’s worst schools, a contrast with Chattanooga’s growing image as an economic and technological powerhouse. Fancy Rhino won Best In Show for the trailer, also winning top honors for a handful of other promotions it created on the road to becoming a full-featured ad agency.
Led by CEO Isaiah Smallman and chief creative officer Drew Belz, the young creative agency scored four gold Addys, tying the Chattanooga Publishing Co. for most golds.