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Readers of Toledo City Paper voted MadAveGroup the city’s Best Advertising Agency for the 2024 calendar year. That’s the fourth consecutive year we’ve earned the title.

And for the first time, our digital marketing agency, TouchStone Digital, was named Toledo’s Best Web Designer / Developer.

“It’s truly exciting to be making a difference for so many clients,” said Joe Hochgreve, Director of Digital Technology for TouchStone Digital. “We’re helping companies ‘be better’ by elevating their online presence and improving their digital marketing. And people are noticing.”

For this year’s poll, more than 42,000 voters cast nearly 475,000 votes to support their favorite local businesses.

MadAveGroup also won the “Best” award in Toledo City Paper’s 2021, 2022 and 2023 readers’ polls. TouchStone Digital earned a second-place finish last year. The paper announced this year’s winners in its March 2025 issue.

At the 2025 ADDY Awards presented by AAF Toledo, MadAveGroup earned three honors.

We won a Silver ADDY Award in the category of "Media Industry / Self-Promotion / Integrated Media Campaign" for our 2024 Valentine's Day giveaway called "Love Is a Verb." 

BusinessVoice, our Caller Experience Marketing agency, won two Bronze Awards.

The February 2024 Humor On Hold production we created for Lakeland Auto and Marine was recognized in the category of "Film, Video & Sound / Branded Content & Entertainment - Non-Broadcast."

The 2024 Humor On Hold Sampler was posted as part of a Facebook post, so it won in the category of "Online / Interactive / Social Media - Single Execution."

Listen to the winning entries below. 

By rewarding online innovation and high standards, the Web Excellence (WE) Awards works "to raise benchmarks for creative, technical and professional projects and websites, while honoring the brilliant minds behind them."

In January of 2025, TouchStone Digital won a pair of Web Excellence Awards for websites we created: Fifth Year by Junior Achievement and the AuraPura automotive scent delivery system. TouchStone is the Digital Marketing Agency of MadAveGroup.

"There's so much that goes into these sites," said Nathan Steinmetz, TouchStone's Director of Digital Strategy. "We have an incredibly talented group of writers, designers, UI/UX specialists, digital strategists and project managers who all work together with our development team to bring these sites to life."

The competition is held twice annually. This session included more than 800 entries from 21 countries.

WE Award judges evaluate creativity, functionality, innovation and overall impact. With transparent criteria and assessment steps in place, each entry is carefully evaluated in a non-discriminatory manner.

See the winners' pages here:

My5thYear.com

AuraPura

TouchStone Digital continues to produce work that's turning heads and winning awards.

In May of 2024, our digital marketing team earned a pair of Web Excellence Awards for websites they designed and built.

The winners were the new website for Designetics and the new site for Ardent Commnities.

"The WE Awards are globally recognized and have really grown in prestige over the last several years," said Director of Digital Technology Joe Hochgreve. "Our winning websites are the culmination of a lot of marketing-focused creative work. Our team is showing the world that we have real talent!"

The mission of the Web Excellence Awards is "to raise benchmarks for creative, technical and professional projects and websites, while honoring the brilliant minds behind them."

The competition's judges evaluate entries based on this criteria:

• Innovation and creativity
• Functionality and usability
• Content and overall user experience
• Visual design and aesthetics
• Technical quality and performance
• Overall experience
  
  

Our BusinessVoice team earned four Communicator Awards in May of 2024: three Gold Awards of Excellence and one Silver Award of Distinction.

Each winning entry was a Humor On Hold production.

“Any time you elevate the customer experience that you provide - especially during a negative situation like holding - you can be rewarded with more attention, loyalty and even good word of mouth,” said MadAveGroup Chief Creative Officer Scott Greggory. “Our unique approach to humor has been helping clients since the mid-1990s.”

The Communicator Awards recognizes excellence, effectiveness and innovation across all areas of communication. The judging panel consists of top-tier professionals from acclaimed media, communications, advertising, creative and marketing firms.

Gold Award of Excellence
Client: Binkelman - "Hi, Person" 
Writer: Scott Greggory 

Gold Award of Excellence
Client: D&F Plumbing, Heating and Cooling - The Big News
Writer: Scott Greggory 

Gold Award of Excellence
Client: Wellington Implement - Stuff We Like
Writers: Daniel DiManna and Scott Greggory 

Silver Award of Distinction
Client: Downey PHCE - Cavemen
Primary writer: Scott Greggory 

In 2021, Forbes reported that “roughly 20% of small businesses fail within their first year of opening. After five years, half of companies go out of business and only about 30% make it to year ten.”

So, yes, we’re very proud of the fact that 2024 marks our 35th year in business, but more important is what that longevity might mean to you.

After three-and-a-half decades of running a marketing agency, we know how to survive, even when the economy tanks, even in the uncertain aftermath of terrorist attacks, even during a worldwide pandemic. The guidance we have to offer might help you through tough times, too.

Working with such a wide variety of companies since 1989 has given us an impressive breadth of marketing and advertising experience that we can draw on when developing new solutions for your brand.

And the hundreds of awards we’ve won for creative and marketing excellence are proof that we know how to attract attention and stand out in a roomful of competition. Imagine what can happen when we apply that same 35 years of successful thinking to your goals.

Many people who work at MadAveGroup weren’t even alive 35 years ago. Many have been with us for a decade or more. And a few have been here since just about the beginning. They all add up to a great mix of talents, influences and knowledge that we can focus on your needs to ensure that you, too, are around for a long time to come.

RELATED POSTS: MadAveGroup Celebrates 30th Year 

MadAveGroup has been named Toledo’s Best Advertising Agency for the third consecutive year by readers of Toledo City Paper.

TouchStone Digital, our digital marketing agency, earned a second-place finish in the Best Web Design / Developer category.

“It’s so rewarding to receive nice honors like this,” said MadAveGroup CEO Jerry Brown. “It means we’re making a difference to people, whether it’s by building strong relationships, doing great work, helping local nonprofits or even by earning a solid reputation.”

The annual poll attracts more than 500,000 votes from area readers who want to acknowledge their favorite local businesses.

MadAveGroup won the “Best” award in Toledo City Paper’s 2021, 2022 and 2023 readers’ polls. The paper announced this year’s winners in its March 2024 issue.

On February 29th, TouchStone Digital and design2influence (d2i) earned nine honors at the 2024 ADDY Awards, presented by the American Advertising Federation of Toledo.

The haul included a Judge’s Choice Award, a Gold ADDY, three Silver ADDY Awards and four Bronze ADDYs.

To top off the evening, Michael Seay, our Executive Vice President of Brand Strategy, received the Silver Medal Award, the highest honor presented by AAF. (Watch the video.) Michael is the fourth member of the MadAveGroup team to earn the coveted award.

“Companies looking for an advertising or marketing partner should consider an agency’s awards,” said MadAveGroup Chief Creative Officer Scott Greggory. “An awards show is a microcosm of the marketplace. Judges evaluate hundreds of entries and acknowledge those that catch their eyes, those that excite and motivate them. So, work that wins at award shows is very likely performing well in the wild and generating results for the client.”

Here’s a list of the award-winning work.

Judge’s Choice Award

• Care for Kids Website - TouchStone Digital

Gold ADDY Award

• Care for Kids Website - TouchStone Digital

Silver ADDY Awards

• MadAveGroup Welcome Box - design2influence
• Perrysburg Schools Recruiting - TouchStone Digital
• Toledo Public Schools Memorial Day Video - design2influence

Bronze ADDY Awards

• Designetics Partner Portal - TouchStone Digital
• WACKER Coatings Interactive App - TouchStone Digital
• Latibule Construction Logo - design2influence
• d2i Employee Spotlight Videos - design2influence

These team members contributed to the winning work:

Greg Stawicki          Joe Hochgreve
Nathan Steinmetz    Lindsay Gebhart
Rob Heath               Jacob Stutz
Michael Seay           Terry Lesniewicz
Evyn Stevens          Josh Morrow
Jessie Walton          Kara Koepfer
Josh Jump               Gwen Hagen
Kara McGaharan     Scott Greggory

On February 29, 2024, Michael Seay became the fourth member of the MadAveGroup team to receive the American Advertising Federation of Toledo’s highest honor - the Silver Medal Award. 

Michael has been deeply involved with AAF at all levels. He was president of the Toledo chapter, served on the board for seven years, launched the local organization’s Mosaic Committee on Multi-Cultural Diversity and Inclusion, and earned AAF Toledo’s President’s Award four times.

He also served several terms on the AAF District 5 Executive Board, plus two terms as the District 5 Governor and on AAF’s national board.

“Michael’s pretty tapped into what we do at a national level on diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Steve Pacheco, President and CEO of American Advertising Federation. “[He] always wants to be a connector of people and backgrounds and perspectives.”

In 2012, Michael joined MadAveGroup as the Director of two of our agencies, SensoryMax and design2influence. Today, his main role is as Executive Vice President of Brand Strategy for MadAveGroup.

“Michael is good at defining problems,” said MadAveGroup CEO Jerry Brown. “His solutions are effective and he’s a master communicator. Michael is a key member of the leadership team that’s going to drive MadAveGroup into the future.”

Always generous with his time and talents, Michael has volunteered with organizations as diverse as Junior Achievement, Toledo Area Humane Society and International Boxing Club of Toledo. He also served as the local chairman and a state board member for Prevent Blindness Ohio.

The Silver Medal Award has been presented once annually since 1959 to recognize those who've made outstanding contributions to advertising, while demonstrating a commitment to the industry's highest standards, creative excellence and social concerns.

Other MadAveGroup team members to win the Silver Medal Award include Terry Lesniewicz (2005), Jerry Brown (2012) and Scott Greggory (2021).

RELATED POSTS: Jerry Brown Wins Ad Club's Highest Honor
Scott Greggory Receives AAF's Top Honor

"A positive culture is a huge part of why people join and stay with a company," said MadAveGroup CEO Jerry Brown. "Being named a Top Workplace for five consecutive years is proof that we have something special here."

Presented by Energage and sponsored locally by The Blade, the Top Workplaces award is presented to companies across the country that are committed to maintaining a "people-first culture."

Winners are determined by employee feedback collected via the proprietary Workplace Survey. According to the Energage website, "The research-backed engagement survey is driven by the industry’s most robust benchmarks built on data captured from tens of millions of employees at thousands of organizations across the past 17 years."

Want to join the Top Workplace that is MadAveGroup? Apply now.