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The American Marketing Associate (AMA) announced the winning marketers and agencies behind the most effective marketing communications campaigns for 2007 on Wednesday night at its 40th Annual Effie Awards Gala in New York. Olson was honored with three trophies; Gold, Silver and Bronze.

"We're one of the few agencies that concentrates less on putting hardware on a shelf and more on achieving significant success with building brand communities for our clients' brands," says Kevin DiLorenzo, president at Olson. "Our gratification comes from the moving the needle in our clients' business, which is why we hold the Effie in such high regard. Winning an Effie award has become a global symbol of achievement, as the Effies honor marketing communications ideas that work."

The agency's wins include Gold for its "Driven to Discover" campaign for the University of Minnesota; Silver for the Nike Bauer Hockey's "Crazy Love" campaign; and Bronze for the "It's a Sign" campaign for the Basilica Block Party.

The University of Minnesota campaign "Driven to Discover" earned Gold in the category of Government/Institutional. To showcase the University's passion to search and its fundamental need to discover, the campaign, communicating the idea that we are all search engines, was born. Olson introduced "Search TV" and "Search Print," first-of-a-kind media forms that begin with someone in the community posing his/her single greatest question, at which point we literally search through competing promos for the answer, ultimately provided by a U of M professor.

Olson's campaign "Crazy Love" for Nike Bauer Hockey earned Silver, the highest placement in the category as Gold was not given in this year's competition. This campaign set out to invite hockey crazy kids to interact with the Nike Bauer brand community and get them to express what hockey means to them. In other words, our big idea was to tap into the players' "Crazy Love" for the game of hockey by putting the brand where they already were - in locker and each other and the professionals.

While Reebok launched a full-scale TV campaign, Nike Bauer hit the streets - literally - creating face-to-face interactions through a mobile marketing truck tour stopping at key hockey events, tournaments and retailers.

Earning Bronze in the Culture and the Arts category is the "It's a Sign" campaign, promoting the rock concert fundraiser The Basilica Block Party for the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Facing competition with three rare, live performances by local legend and musical icon Prince on the same night, Olson's big idea was to deepen the community's engagement with the Basilica Block Party through signs from a higher power. Using a tease-and-reveal campaign, consumers were hit with mysterious rock ‘n’ roll signs on tran-stops and outdoor boards. For example, a grandmother proudly displaying a piece of toast with a guitar burnt into it. One week later, the reveal surprised residents with the message, "It's a sign. Make the Pilgrimage to the 2007 Basilica Block Party."

"Effective and creative campaigns don't always come hand in hand," said DiLorenzo. "But we strive to achieve that balance every day, knowing the outcome will be more satisfying for everyone involved. We are thankful to the American Marketing Association for continuing to recognize those who make a positive difference for their clients' bottom lines."

Olson clients have won the award recognizing ideas that work a stunning 13 times in the last seven years - the only agency in the Twin Cities to win the last seven years consecutively.