Colle+McVoy Promotes Senior Creative Staff

MINNEAPOLIS, April 12, 2012 – Colle+McVoy announced today promotions in its senior creative leadership. Mike Caguin has been named chief creative officer and Eric Husband has been promoted to executive creative director.

“This is wonderful recognition for two leaders who have guided the agency through years of strong growth, transformation and record-setting recognition,” said Christine Fruechte, president and CEO, Colle+McVoy. “As we continue down this path of expansion, we have the leadership in place to drive growth for us and our clients.”

Colle+McVoy has experienced six consecutive years of growth fueled by a significant investment in its social media and digital offering, organic growth from existing long-term client partners and the addition of new clients inspired by its ability to revitalize iconic brands, including most recently Indian Motorcycle and Mountain Hardwear. The agency’s work has received more national and international recognition than at any other time in its history and has been recognized by the O'Toole Awards, the Effies, the Webby Awards, The One Show, Communication Arts and Cannes Lions. It was also named a Best Place to Work in 2011 by Outside magazine, Advertising Age and the Star Tribune.

“It’s a great time to be at this agency,” said Caguin, who has led the creative team for the last three years as executive creative director. “Eric is an exceptional creative, our talent is at an all-time high and our clients are doing exciting things.”

Under Caguin’s leadership, the creative department has grown more than 35 percent in the last year alone. In addition to his time at Colle+McVoy, Caguin has worked at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners and TBWA/Chiat/Day, among other agencies. He has worked with numerous leading national brands such as BMW MINI, Cannondale, Caribou Coffee, ESPN, GT, Indian Motorcycle, Infiniti, InterContinental Hotels, Land O’Lakes, Nestlé Purina, Nissan, Novartis, Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, Sun Microsystems and Yahoo! His work has been recognized by The One Show, The One Show Interactive, D&AD, the Webby Awards, Cannes Lions, the Effies and the Kelly Awards.

Husband (previously group creative director) has been with Colle+McVoy for more than six years leading creative on numerous accounts, including Caribou Coffee, Schwinn, Mongoose Mountain Hardwear, Nestlé Purina and Explore Minnesota Tourism. He’s also created work for Target, Kellogg’s, BMW MINI and Sun Microsystems and spent time at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, as well as several local agencies. He’s won every color of Effie award (bronze, silver, gold), been recognized by the Kelly Awards, the Webby Awards, The One Show, and Cannes Lions. His work has been featured as ESPN's Play of the Day and enthusiastically discussed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
 

MINNEAPOLIS, May 5, 2010 - The Colle+McVoy creation, www.YearbookYourself.com, won two Webby Awards in the Best Use of Social Media category of The 14th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed as the "Internet’s highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.

"This is a tremendous honor since this category represents the most cutting-edge work in social media, an area that every company is looking to leverage." said Mike Caguin, executive creative director, Colle+McVoy. "This award recognizes the hard work of many people, as well as the forward-thinking vision of our client partner, Taubman Centers."

YearbookYourself.com won both the Webby Award given by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) and the People’s Voice Webby Award in the Best Use of Social Media category. The previous iteration of the site won the People’s Voice Webby Award last year in the Viral Marketing category. With nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 U.S. states and more than 60 countries worldwide, the 14th Annual Webby Awards is the biggest in its history and continues to be the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. YearbookYourself.com was one of only five finalists in its category and was voted the people’s favorite after more than 700,000 votes were cast online. The cross-section of winners hailing from 14 countries will be honored at an event hosted by B.J. Novak of NBC’s The Office. in New York City on June 14. A full list of winners can be found at www.webbyawards.com.

"The Webby Awards honor the very best of the Internet," said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. "YearbookYourself.com’s achievement is a testament to the skill, ingenuity and vision of its creators."

The unparalleled Webby win is the latest award for Colle+McVoy, which was also recently honored with four awards in The One Show and won the 2010 Adweek Buzz Award for YearbookYourself.com in the online category.

Over the last two years, YearbookYourself.com became an instant hit and a pop culture phenomenon for client Taubman Centers. The site was featured on more than 45,000 Web sites, blogs and media, including USA Today, Tech Crunch, ESPN, VH1’s Best Week Ever, The Early Show on CBS and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Numerous high-profile personalities embraced it, including Lance Armstrong, Pee-wee Herman and Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, who changed his profile picture to a Yearbook Yourself photo. The fun was wildly infectious and there were more than 28 million total visits to the site in the last two years. Once "yearbooked," the site easily allowed people to send their pictures to friends and post them to blogs and social networking sites (this year alone, more than 16 million Yearbook Yourself photos were shared via email or posted to Facebook). And the Yearbook Yourself Facebook fan page garnered more than 70,000 fans.

MINNEAPOLIS, April 13, 2010 - The Colle+McVoy-produced Web site www.YearbookYourself.com won the award in the online category of the 2010 Buzz Awards. The Buzz Awards honor the best in brand/media integration and recognize campaigns that catch fire, produce brilliant product placements and use media in innovative ways that invade pop culture.

"Winning this award in the online category is a real honor and a testament to our digital expertise," said Mike Caguin, executive creative director, Colle+McVoy. "Generating buzz for a client is one thing, but creating something that becomes a pop culture phenomenon is rare. We are grateful for our forward-thinking clients like Taubman who appreciate transformative ideas."

There is only one winner per Buzz Award category (17 total) and YearbookYourself.com is the only winner in the online category, which recognizes the most attention-getting and effective use of the online medium to market a product, such as through a blog, short film or a viral e-mail campaign. As a result, the site will be profiled in a full-color spread in the May 3rd Buzz Awards section in Adweek, Brandweek and Mediaweek and online. This is the second Buzz Award for Colle+McVoy, which won in 2007 for the Minnesota State Lottery Don’t Belittle Powerball campaign. A full list of 2010 winners can be found at www.adweekbuzz.com..

Over the last two years, www.YearbookYourself.com became an instant hit and a pop culture phenomenon featured on more than 45,000 Web sites, blogs and media, including USA Today, Tech Crunch, ESPN, VH1’s Best Week Ever, The Early Show on CBS and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Numerous high-profile personalities embraced it, including Lance Armstrong and Pee-wee Herman, and Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, changed his profile picture to a Yearbook Yourself photo. More than 15 million visitors uploaded photos to the site to see themselves with classic hairdos and in vintage outfits spanning five decades. Once "yearbooked," people sent their pictures to friends and posted them to blogs and social networking sites (more than 11 million Yearbook Yourself photos were shared via email or posted to Facebook). And the Yearbook Yourself Facebook fan page garnered 70,000 fans.

Named agency of record for second-largest coffeehouse operator in America

MINNEAPOLIS, February 20, 2009 - Colle+McVoy received a strong shot of new business after being named agency of record for Caribou Coffee, the second-largest company-owned gourmet coffeehouse operator in the United States. The agency was selected after a very competitive and challenging search.

"Colle+McVoy’s approach was very courageous. Their creative ideas pushed our brand in a more innovative direction, which we believe will help differentiate it for today’s customers and future generations," said Caribou Coffee Senior Vice President of Marketing Alfredo Martel. "The team presented a comprehensive strategy to drive growth and create long-term value, as well as actionable solutions for our immediate needs."

"We have been given an amazing opportunity to help Caribou Coffee become the leading gourmet coffee brand in the world," said Christine Fruechte, president and CEO, Colle+McVoy. "Every idea we create needs to be engaging and tell the brand’s memorable story through groundbreaking programs." Colle+McVoy ended 2008 with revenues at an eight-year high, driven, in part, by high-profile assignments from ESPN, Yahoo! Messenger, Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, and Manhattan Toy Company, to name a few.

Colle+McVoy will share in the brand strategy and planning, as well as manage the day-to-day execution of all marketing campaigns for Caribou Coffee, including brand identity, package design, interactive, advertising and promotions. The scope includes consumer marketing via all channels (trade, retail and online). Program budgets have not been finalized.