CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2012 ADDY AWARD WINNERS!
Click here to visit the Creative Gallery and view photos from the 2012 Awards Gala.
TOM ORTEGA, RIESTER
2012 CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Tom Ortega has been one of Phoenix’s most talented ad men for two and half decades. He is a Partner at RIESTER and serves as Chief Creative Officer supervising all creative staff and work produced from three offices in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Not only is he the hardest working man in advertising, he is one of the most selfless.
Tom first moved to the Valley in the early 1980s from his native Texas to join Phillips Ramsey as a copywriter. There he wrote award-winning campaigns for Safeway, PetSmart and Doubletree Hotels. He spent many subsequent years as the top freelance writer in town, helping establish creative credentials for many local upstart ad agencies.
RIESTER attributes some of its big account wins to Tom Ortega’s leadership, including Hormel Foods, First Solar, Nationwide Insurance and MidFirst Bank. As a result, Tom has provided more opportunities for Phoenix-based creative talent to work on larger client brands while attracting new creatives to Phoenix. Although his schedule forces him to actually jog between conference rooms and airports, Tom always makes time for his colleagues — both personally
and professionally.
So many of us owe Tom a debt of tremendous gratitude. The folks at RIESTER know it would not have become the agency it is today without Tom Ortega.
The Creative Director of the Year Award publicly acknowledges the creative director who has consistently conceptualized great ad campaign ideas for clients, brings vision/leadership/results, and who most inspires his/her creative team to follow their passions in pursuit of the best creative work.
Creative folks from agencies around the Valley – and their clients - nominated their favorite Creative Director for consideration.
2012 nominees:
- Ian Barry, Cramer-Krasselt
- David Eichler, David & Sam PR
- Ron Gerson, Clear Channel Media & Entertainment
- Veronique James, The James Agency
- Evelio Mattos, Design Packaging
- Cathleen Mitchell, MM Identity Lab
- Tom Ortega, Riester
Ad industry leaders within the creative community reviewed the nominee submissions and selected a winner.
2012 SPONSORS:
