Agency wins international award

Cirlot honored for Mississippi…Believe It! ads
By Erin Puryear
epuryear@rankinledger.com
Rankin Ledger
The Cirlot Agency in Flowood didn’t put its name on any of the posters distributed in its self-funded “Mississippi…Believe It!” campaign that is aimed at giving the state’s image on overhaul.
But advertisers throughout the world will see just who’s behind the innovative and thought-provoking campaign Monday when owners Rick and Liza Looser accept an international advertising award, the Gold Quill Award of Excellence.
“I was curious to see I you really had to be from the Deep South and have suffered from the stereotypes…before the campaign was actually impactful,” Rick Looser said. “Obviously, (the judges) found that the campaign spoke volumes to them.”
Gold Quill awards are given by the International Association of Business Communicators and honor excellence in business communication. The awards gala is Monday in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“This year’s program has again drawn the best out of a host of very talented people,” 2006 Gold Quill chair Marcus Ferrar said in an IABC press release.
The Cirlot Agency’s campaign is one of 130 entries to receive an award of excellence. More than 1,100 entries from 27 countries were submitted. Campaigns from Sony, Microsoft and Motorola also won Gold Quills.
“For public relations, it’s like the Oscars and Tonys all wrapped up into one,” Looser said. “It would be tantamount to somebody from Mississippi who directed a motion picture to win best picture of the year.”
The “Mississippi…Believe It!” campaign is a series of 11 public service announcements that address the state’s more common stereotypes.
One ad featuring famous Mississippi blues musicians like B.B. King and Muddy Waters reads, “No Black. No Whit. Just the Blues.”
“You should forget how impactful and how good it really is,” Looser said of the campaign. “I mean, we’ve kind of lived with this campaign for the last three years.”
Looser said more pieces of the campaign will debut in August. A reprinting of the original series also will be done, he said.
Only 2,000 complete sets of the series have been printed, about 1,200 of which were sent to the state’s schools and colleges.
Looser said he regularly receives e-mails from people all over the country and the world requesting copies of the campaign. He said he’s also gotten requests for T-shirts and hats sporting the “Mississippi…Believe It!” logo, which he said may come in the future.
The Cirlot Agency invested about $200,000 of services and cash in the campaign. Materials were donated by Service Printers in Flowood.
Background
About the award
Gold Quill entries are judged on technical excellence, creativity and innovation, effectiveness in identifying and responding to an organization’s or community’s needs, the delivery of measurable outcomes and the overall success of the project