By Russ Klettke
Simple Points, Skilled Craftspeople and Landscape Superheroes
2019 LAMMY Award winners announced in San Diego
The popularity of Landscape Architecture Magazine, with a pass-along readership of 50,000 every month, is not restricted to the breadth and depth of article copy. It’s a delight to read because it’s also a pleasure to look at. Who in this business doesn’t enjoy perusing photos and renderings of the projects and installations featured on page after page of the magazine?
Often, the eye falls on the advertising with as much keen interest as the articles. Both offer striking visuals of landscapes and products. Both offer solutions that speak to the triumphs of landscape architecture. The importance of good advertising is made clear in the annual LAMMY Awards, made at the Annual Conference on Landscape Architecture and EXPO. The winning advertising cited in San Diego in November illustrate this well.
Judges SuLin K. Kotowicz, PLA, ASLA (VIRIDIS Design Group, Grand Rapids MI), John Royster, ASLA LEED AP BD+C ENV SP (Big Muddy Workshop, Inc., Omaha NE) and Falon Mihalic, PLA (Falon Land Studio LLC, Houston TX), together with Brad McKee, LAM editor, selected 2019 LAMMY winners in three categories: Most Persuasive, Best Graphics and Best Message.
Best Graphics: Landscape Forms
“Bad advertising conveys just product characteristics,” says Falon Mihalic. “This ad encapsulates the benefits of the product.” That works for visual as well as non-visual products, she says, because product marketing helps her to explain those benefits to her clients. “Clear articulation – sometimes with one amazing bullet point, not a paragraph – is what works.”
Most Persuasive: Madrax/Thomas Steele
Jolene Giberud, who is the Madrax/Thomas Steele marketing manager, created this advertisement in-house. “We wanted to show the hand-crafted, made in America aspect of our products,” she says. “We give credit to who our people are and let customers see the people behind our product as they work in Waunakee, Wisconsin.”
Judge SuLin Kotowicz adds how knowing landscape architects is the key to persuasive messaging: “Evocative, human-oriented messages that hit you in the heart strings have exponential impact.”
Best Message: Victor Stanley
Brad McKee remarked about the bright colors used in this ad. Emma Skalka, Hon. ASLA and vice president of sales and marketing for site furnishings manufacturer Victor Stanley, says that was part of the task. The ad calls attention to new technology in a product category, litter receptacles, that isn’t typically considered technological (electronic sensors in receptacles provide actionable data to cities, campuses and property managers, which measurably and significantly improves the efficiency of their operations and reduces their carbon footprint).
“Landscape architects are superheroes,” she adds. “This sensor is a tool that helps them improve our environment by reducing CO2 emissions.”
To preview the winning advertisements, visit the Landscape Architecture Magazine blog.
Full page or greater advertisements in the October 2021-October 2022 issues of LAM will be considered for a 2022 Lammy Award. Awards will be announced and distributed at the ASLA Annual Conference and EXPO on Friday, November 11, in San Francisco, CA, during the Lammys reception.
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