Advertising (and PR) people are rabid about awards. We are no different at Red Square Agency. The place buzzes when we pull down hardware for our work. Here’s why we care:

1. Awards = effectiveness. There have been many studies conducted, of course all by the advertising industry, that illustrate award-winning advertising outperforms in the marketplace. In fact, there is a show called the Effies that focuses strictly on ad effectiveness. Generally speaking, regardless of studies, good advertising wins awards. Good advertising also tends to sell more of our clients’ stuff.

2. Credibility. If we clean up in shows, it gets press. When people see you doing well in shows, they arrive pretty quickly at: “those guys must be good.” It sounds elementary, but it’s true.

3. Morale. When you work like mad on a campaign or even a campaign element, it’s nice to be recognized for that work. This stuff is not easy. If it was easy, most advertising wouldn’t be horrible. Recognition boosts morale. And, in an agency, morale is currency.

4. Talent recruitment. Because ad (and PR) nerds, like us, want more than anything to put their little mark on the fabric of pop culture, they  flock to an agency that cleans up in the shows. Win awards, and you get the pick of the best talent out there.

That’s pretty much it. Plus, we are insecure ego maniacs. Kidding. Sort of.

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This is pretty awesome. I spent 45 minutes playing at this site last night.

Check it out.

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So the world has gone social media crazy. When Oprah got in on the action last week, Twitter had officially arrived on main street. (For the record, @redsquareagency was here before Oprah.)

With Web 2.0 widely adopted, old media like print, newspaper, outdoor and broadcast are suffering. Some more than others of course. But we feel like the death of “old,” traditional media is greatly exaggerated. The old media that learns to adapt to the nature of new media will thrive.

It’s about conversation and timeliness.

Social media is a conversation. Brands, like people, have the opportunity to interact with their friends (or fans or followers or whatever you want to call them) and engage unlike ever before. The result is awesome brand loyalty. You don’t just eat Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is your buddy. You hang out online with Pizza Hut.

Timeliness cannot be overstated. This is where old media, especially newspapers, are behind the eight ball. The news cycle, buzz cycle, fame cycle is real time now. (In fact, Google searches are even becoming obsolete due to real-time search on Twitter Search.)

In the midst of the “Ashton Kutcher/CNN race to 1 million Twitter followers” pop culture moment last week, Lamar Outdoor Advertising showed all of old media how to play ball. They took part in the conversation. “Follow Ashton Kutcher.” Okay then. That’s how Lamar rolls. Team Kutcher. Beyond joining the discussion, they demonstrated agility and that they could mix it up in real time. Lamar had the board up in nearly 1,200 locations nationwide within hours. We love it.

Here’s our prediction: soon again, new media and old media will just be called “media.” Only smarter and faster.

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Hi kids. We’ve got a fancy new blog. See.

We’ll be posting to it frequently. Writing about stuff like: advertising, public relations, strategy, design, interactive, typography, social media (for lack of a better or more widely-understood term), production, photography, media, music, art, pop culture, internet miscellany and just about anything else that makes Red Square Agency the frothy mix of awesomeness that it is.

Go ahead and bookmark us. All the cool kids are doing it.

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