The founder of the Pappas Group will entering some his company’s work in the “Addy Awards,” a local competition held March 15 for D.C. advertising agencies.
Tell me about your company.
In 2003 I started Pappas Group, which is a creative agency that focuses on developing brand experiences for companies. Sort of doing a lot of different things in integrated marketing and communications.
Are D.C. ad agencies rare?
D.C. hasn’t historically been a place where people naturally seem to get strong creative talent or strong agencies. There’s always been sort of larger ad agencies in D.C., but they’ve been focused on PR and public affairs. Having a creative prowess here in D.C. is sort of a new thing. There are other firms and agencies here; I just don’t think we get the recognition we need.
How does the District’s ad talent differ from other cities?
D.C. is such a transitional town, and the government doesn’t actually help and say “Hey, come to D.C. for a real urban experience.” I’m born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., lived in Queens and Manhattan. Coming down to D.C. was definitely a culture shock when I did. But the city has really come around in the last five years pretty significantly, becoming more of a foodie town and increasing its awareness of style.
How do the Addy Awards help local agencies?
The Addys is one of our ways of showing we’ve got great talent in the D.C. market. They happen every year here, and every city has their own Addy awards. All the local winners will then go to the regional ADDY awards and then national. Every year we have our own friendly competition amongst the agencies in town, and really it’s just to help us all get better because the quality of work we’re doing here is the same, if not better, than in some other regions.
— Ben Giles
