The entertainment industry has the Academy Awards, musicians the Grammys and the advertising industry has the AdColor Awards, as in the 2011 AdColor Awards held Sept. 17 at the home of the Oscars — the Beverly Hilton. The lavish evening of celebration came together flawlessly as a roomful of the most talented creatives in the nation, recognized and honored their peers and leaders in the marketing and media industries. Among those spotted on the red carpet were CNN’s Soldedad O’Brien, comedian George Lopez, Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee and the accomplished singing group, the Committee.
Tiffany R. Warren, founder of the AdColor Industry Coalition, explained that the AdColor Awards were established to celebrate the accomplishments of diverse role models and industry leaders. “Every year our mission is enhanced, our purpose is refined and our numbers grow,” adding one of her favorite quotes, ‘It doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.’ ”
And then the calvacade of advertising, marketing and media stars took to the stage in an almost dizzying whirl of anticipation and appreciation. Award winners Kenji Summers of BBH Green and Sarah Torres of CNN were among the first of the evening’s honorees, with Summers giving an enthusiastic acceptance speech while asking members of the audience to stand and be recognized for their future marketing contributions citing that there numbers are 270 million strong and their buying power extends well into the billions of dollars. “Being young black and cool is not a skill set, it’s a privilege,” Summers said.
But the 2011 AdColor highlights include several acceptance speeches by minority and non-minority honorees including: Dorothy
Thompson, founder of Streetlights, an industry training and employment organization, and the evening’s first honoree; Jennifer of Deutsh, who rapped a sometimes humorous and sometimes emotional acceptance speech; and Weisden, who offered an incomparably passionate mandate decrying the critical nature of diversity and inclusion in the marketing and advertising industries.
A report released at the 2011 AdColor Awards Conference on Friday, Sept. 16, titled “5 Truths of the Digital African American Consumer” cited a surprising fact: Approximately 27 million African Americans spend an average of 32 percent of their time online, second only to in media consumption to television. –roz edward
