WNCS and Mt. Mansfield Media Win Top Commercial of the Year Honors

VPT's Kathryn Scott and Jeff Vande Griek wrote the spot that won the Best Copywriting award, and Keith Swann was producer of the spot.

Montpelier radio station WNCS-FM ("The Point") and Colchester-based advertising agency Mt. Mansfield Media were the winners of the Radio and Television Best in Show prizes announced May 17 at the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Commercial of the Year Awards luncheon.

WNCS won the Radio Best in Show award for "Toilet Talk," a commercial they wrote and produced for Blodgett Supply. Mt. Mansfield Media won the Television Best in Show award for "Birds," a commercial for Guy's Farm and Yard Stores.

More than 200 entries were received for the annual competition among Vermont's radio and television stations and Vermont advertising agencies.

Shadow Productions of Burlington won four awards, including all three awards in the Agency Radio Commercial category and an award for Best Produced Agency Radio Public Service Announcement.

Besides the top prize, Mt. Mansfield Media also won three other awards, including Best Produced and Most Creative Agency TV Commercials. They were also recognized with the Most Creative Agency PSA award for "Rebuilding Waterbury," which depicted the community effort in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene.

WCAX-TV and agency RetroMotion also won awards that involved Tropical Storm Irene. WCAX won the Best Produced Television Station PSA award for "Tropical Storm Irene - Help Vermont Now." RetroMotion won the Best Produced Agency PSA for "After Irene, Vermont Thanks You," which they produced for the Vermont Community Foundation.

WCAX-TV won four other awards at the luncheon, which was held at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Montpelier. The Burlington television station won awards for Most Creative PSA, Best Produced TV Commercial and the Best Produced and Most Creative prizes in the Television Station Promo category.

WFFF-TV won the Best Copywriting Award in the Television Station Commercial category, while WPTZ-TV/WNNE-TV won the Most Creative prize in the same category.
Vermont Public Television captured the Best Copywriting award in the Television Station Promo category for a promotional spot for the PBS series "Upstairs, Downstairs." The Best Copywriting Award for Agency Television Commercials went to McNaudio Media Solutions for "Big Finish," a commercial for the Kelleycars.com auto dealership in Springfield, Vermont.

In the radio station categories, WEZF-FM of Colchester won the Best Copywriting Commercial award for "The Beast," a spot for Culligan water systems. WMOO-FM of Derby won the Most Creative Commercial prize for "Holiday Ad," produced for Pine Computers. The Best Produced Radio Commercial award went to WVTK-FM of Middlebury for "Things Go Wrong," a spot for their local UPS Store.

WDEV of Waterbury won the Best Copywriting Radio Station Promo award for its "Deer Hunting Promo," while Burlington's WIZN-FM won the Best Produced Radio Station Promo prize for "Work Release Program at Ake's."

WJJR-FM of Rutland won the Best Copywriting award in the Radio Station PSA category, while the Best Produced award in that category went to the Barre station group of WSNO-AM, WORK-FM and WWFY-FM.

Best Copywriting honors in the Radio Spec Spot category went to WVTK-FM, while WJEN-FM of Rutland won the Most Creative prize in that category.

The entries were judged by a panel assembled by the Communications Department at Champlain College in Burlington.

2012 VAB Commercial of the Year Awards - Complete List

Agency Radio PSA
Best Produced: Shadow Productions for "Discover Jazz - Get Moving."

Agency Radio Commercial
Best Copywriting: Shadow Productions for "Clinic." Client: Champlain Valley Fair.
Best Produced: Shadow Productions for "The Show." Client: Vermont Federal Credit Union.
Most Creative: Shadow Productions for "Pop Culture." Client: Jamieson Insurance.

Radio Station Spec Spot
Best Copywriting: WVTK-FM for "Got Gas." Client: McIntyre Fuels.
Most Creative: WJEN-FM for "Spec Spot." Client: Poultney Pools.

Radio Station PSA
Best Copywriting: WJJR-FM for "Stuff a Bus."
Best Produced: WSNO/WORK/WWFY for "House of Horror."

Radio Station Promo
Best Copywriting: WDEV for "Deer Hunting Promo."
Best Produced: WIZN-FM for "Work Release Program at Ake's."

Radio Station Commercial
Best Copywriting: WEZF-FM for "The Beast." Client: Culligan.
Best Produced: WVTK-FM for "Things Go Wrong." Client: UPS Store
Most Creative: WMOO-FM for "Holiday Ad." Client: Pine Computers.

Agency TV PSA
Best Produced: RetroMotion for "After Irene, Vermont Thanks You."
Most Creative: Mt. Mansfield Media for "Rebuilding Waterbury."

Agency TV Commercial
Best Copywriting: McNaudio Media Solutions for "Big Finish." Client: Kelleycars.com
Best Produced: Mt. Mansfield Media for "Fix It." Client: Bond Auto.
Most Creative: Mt. Mansfield Media for "Westaff Werewolf." Client: Westaff.

TV Station PSA
Best Copywriting: WFFF-TV for "Inner Heroes."
Best Produced: WCAX-TV for "Tropical Storm Irene - Help Vermont Now."
Most Creative: WCAX-TV for "Penguin Plunge."

TV Station Promo
Best Copywriting: Vermont Public Television for "Upstairs, Downstairs."
Best Produced: WCAX-TV for "The Battle After War."
Most Creative: WCAX-TV for "Made in Vermont."

TV Station Commercial
Best Copywriting: WFFF-TV for "Mini Introduction." Client: The Automaster.
Best Produced: WCAX-TV for "Test Drive." Client: Burlington Hyundai.
Most Creative: WPTZ-TV/WNNE-TV for "Glow: Living Lights." Client: ECHO Lake Aquarium Science Center.

Radio Best in Show
WNCS-FM for "Toilet Talk." Client: Blodgett Supply.

Television Best in Show
Mt. Mansfield Media for "Birds." Client: Guy's Farm and Yard.