Carton Donfrio Partners Wins 4A’s National Transformers Contest

Carton Donofrio Partners, an integrated advertising agency in Baltimore, recently won the opportunity to present its forward-thinking initiative “StopTheAdness” at Transformation 2010, the 4A’s leadership and media conference, which was held February 28 through March 3, 2010, in San Francisco.

In the age of advertising overload, it’s no secret that consumers are fed up with intrusive advertising that’s been bombarding them for decades. To address this burgeoning problem, Carton Donofrio Partners launched “StopTheAdness,” a new consumer-driven project that aims to change the way advertising is done thereby making it more effective and less offensive.

The 4A’s Board of Directors culled through approximately 100 entries and selected eight winners to present at the conference. In addition to the opportunity to present their ideas to more than 1,000 people in the advertising industry, winners also received roundtrip airfare and one night’s hotel stay.

“We commend Carton Donofrio Partners for their StopTheAdness initiative,” said Mike Donahue, 4A’s Executive Vice President. “Their creative thinking and execution resulted in a movement that we believe will help to transform our industry.”

By asking consumers what they want, and offering them www.StopTheAdness.org, an online laboratory where they can start conversations, make contributions and provide feedback, Carton Donofrio Partners is taking a stand against advertising madness and working to incite change. As part of the movement, Carton Donofrio Partners is also inviting advertisers, agencies and the media, to sign a pledge promising to change their behavior.

“The social contract-the implicit agreement advertisers, marketers, the media and consumers have shared for years to support a productive exchange-has recently been broken,” said Ellen Moore, CEO at Carton Donofrio Partners, who presented StopTheAdness at the national conference. “With this movement we’re focused on learning what we can collectively do to restore trust and improve advertising for all. We’re thrilled that the 4A’s gave us the opportunity to address this important audience of thought leaders. It was a great honor to be selected along with seven other industry transformers.”

After encouraging conference attendees to “StopTheAdness,” Moore received much applause and feedback citing the need for such an initiative. Since the presentation, there has been an up swell in traffic to StopTheAdness.org and a record number of names being added to the pledge.

StopTheAdness was inspired by ethnographic field work conducted in the summer of 2009 by Carton Donofrio Partners’ sister company, Context-Based Research Group, on behalf of The Associated Press. Context has explored attitudes about news and advertising as part of a set of ethnographic studies for The AP since 2007. That research concluded that information providers should try to build stronger bonds of trust and community with consumers to deepen their engagement with news and advertising. A copy of the report will be released soon at www.stoptheadness.org in the stay informed section.

About Carton Donofrio Partners, Inc.
Carton Donofrio Partners is an award-winning advertising agency in Baltimore. With a vision to change advertising by making it welcome and invited into customers’ lives, they help their clients become more meaningful to their customers. To do this effectively, they tap their proprietary global network of anthropologists who study customer motivations and needs to uncover more relevant insight to inform their creative, media, digital and integrated ideas. The agency is a member of Worldwide Partners, which enables them to work seamlessly with 91 independent agencies in 51 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.cartondonofrio.com.

Primary Contact:
Tracey Cassidy
Carton Donofrio Partners
(917) 741-6246
[email protected]