Today, we're thrilled to announce that we have been awarded all promotions work for Président Cheese, making Partners + Napier AOR of Lactalis American Group. Lactalis American Group is the North American division of Groupe Lactalis, the second-largest dairy company in the world. As AOR, Partners + Napier will handle all work for Galbani (Italy's #1 cheese brand), Sorrento, Precious, Président, and Lactalis Corporate. We will also be involved in handling imported cheeses endorsed by Président.

For nearly five years, our agency team has delivered creative and engaging brand-building communications and shopper marketing solutions that support Lactalis brands in multiple channels. We've helped Lactalis be the "cheese coach" for overwhelmed shoppers in the deli case, distribute samples via Vespa, raise awareness with TV, print and online, and be the go-to category expert with a smartphone app.

We're excited to continue with Lactalis as they strengthen and grow their brands in the U.S. market.

We’re thrilled to welcome Adam Pierno to Partners + Napier as creative director in our Atlanta office, where he will be leading creative on Atlanta-based accounts such as Delta Private Jets, Marlow’s Tavern, Shared Health and UPS. Adam made the trek to Atlanta all the way from Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked as creative director at Santy Integrated.

Adam brings over a decade of experience to the role, having held creative positions at Hill Holliday, JWT and Off Madison Avenue. Adam has worked on several ambitious brands such as Domino’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Cold Stone Creamery, Marshall’s, Anheuser-Busch, Michelob Light, Lysol, Dial, Trident, John Hancock, Fidelity Investments and Citroen, building deep experience in multiple categories over the course of his career.

And we’re not the only ones who recognize Adam’s creative talents. Adam’s work has been recognized by Ad Age, Adweek, Communication Arts, Graphis, Print, Gizmodo, Ads of the World, The One Show and the ADDY Awards.

Welcome to the team, Adam!

Everyone at Partners + Napier would like to congratulate Sharon on this milestone award that she so deserves. She truly embodies the spirit and vision of our agency, and we would not be where we are today without her strong leadership. Congrats Sharon!

Partners + Napier CEO Sharon Napier served as a Bloomberg CEO Summit panelist at the eighth annual Advertising Week this past week. Other panelists included (from left to right) President of TAXI Durk Barnhill; CEO of Crispin Porter + Bogusky Andrew Keller; Chief Creative Officer, Global Brands of Euro RSCG Lee Garfinkel; CEO of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners Greg Stern; and CEO, The Americas of Profero Aaron Reitkopf. The moderator was Jon Erlichman, a New York-based reporter for Bloomberg Television.

This year, the Bloomberg CEO Summit explored panelists' insights and experiences in creating engaging communications on diminishing client budgets - especially in a double-dip recession. Napier's discussion of product invention through client Excellus BlueCross BlueShield was featured in a follow-up article in Adweek, "Agency CEOs Talk Consumer Engagement."

"One of the best things about Advertising Week is getting to mingle with your peers and learning what's on their minds," said Napier. "It's clear that the industry is moving in a new direction with engagement marketing. I'm looking forward to next year's discussions."

You can watch a video of the Bloomberg CEO Summit below.

After nine months of development, in collaboration with our client Sanmina-SCI, Partners + Napier launched Phase 1 of a new corporate website for the leading global electronics manufacturing services company. The site is a product of the company's rebranding efforts, including a revitalization of information architecture, brand platform, content and lead generation tools.

The site features original photography by creative group supervisor Jack Jankowski, Flash, graphics and UI by our interactive team and a content refresh from the client to help optimize SEO. Our in-house development team put a smart, flexible back-end structure in place that will help the site run smoothly and stay fresh for years to come.

You can check out the new site at www.sanmina-sci.com.

 We're happy to announce that this past Thursday, with almost 200 hot dogs consumed and $2,500 bid on silent auction items at their Hots for Humanity event, the Nail Breakers quickly closed the remaining $3,000 gap and exceeded their overall fundraising goal with approximately $6,200 raised for Habitat for Humanity.

We had a fantastic turnout from our neighbors in the downtown Rochester area, including visitors from Kodak, Entercom, Tipping Point Media, Stantec, LaBella Associates, High Falls Business Association, Flower City Habitat for Humanity, and many others.

To everyone who joined us for this event and bought a hot dog (or two or three), or who wrote their names down on a bid sheet, thank you. Your generosity will help to change the lives of a family in our community by giving them a new home, and we think that's pretty amazing.

We'd like to extend a huge thanks to Zweigle's for generously donating almost 500 hot dogs and sausage links to the event, and to Uncle Ralph's Steakout and Barbeque for kindly donating a talented, hard-working grill team to make it all happen. We'd also like to thank all of the area businesses that donated goods and services to our silent auction.

Our team is absolutely thrilled with the event's success, and we hope to continue Hots for Humanity as a fun summertime tradition in our community to help support Habitat for Humanity build projects in the coming years.

Partners + Napier has earned a position on the 2011 Inc. 5000, Inc.'s annual ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

As an Inc. 5000 honoree, Partners + Napier shares the spotlight with 34 other Rochester-area firms, as well as notable Inc. 5000 alumni such as Zappos, Microsoft, Timberland, Oracle, Zipcar and Under Armour, and a multitude of other business powerhouses.

The Inc. 5000 list is ranked by revenue growth from 2007 through 2010.

Wow, what an amazing start to the week! We’re proud to announce that Advertising Age has named Partners + Napier one of the 30 Best Places to Work in Marketing & Media for a second consecutive year!

The list of chosen agencies appeared in today’s special issue of Ad Age, and we’re certainly in great company (well, companies). Other innovative agencies that made the cut include Leo Burnett, Hill Holliday, Mother, Big Spaceship, and Digitas.

This year's Best Places to Work ranking was a product of collaboration between Advertising Age and New York-based Buck Consultants, who designed an employer and employee survey that identified the companies with the best benefits and highest levels of employee engagement. 150 agencies submitted applications this year.

An agency-submitted questionnaire partially informed the judges’ decision, but the majority of the submission was informed by a confidential 50-question survey completed by our employees. A spot on this list is a result of their honest feedback about their positive relationship with the agency, which is truly humbling and heartwarming.

To our Partners + Napier family: a huge thank you for making this achievement possible. We’re so grateful to have each and every one of you on our team.

Friends, supporters and curious onlookers escaped the hot sun under pitched canopies at Keuka College in Keuka Park, New York, earlier this month, as our riders in this year’s Bike MS Finger Lakes Challenge pedaled the last miles of the course somewhere out on its hilly, winding roads.

Many of our riders put bike tires to pavement at 8AM that morning, settling in for a long, sweaty 100-mile trek to the finish line. This group included creative director Mike Baron (@BaronCD), executive creative director Jeremy Schwartz (@JSroc), chief strategy officer John Roberts, senior art director Scott Loftus, creative group supervisor Jeff Hopper, and human resources specialist Zachary Boyce.

Back at the tents, the event’s emcee gave us periodic updates: Jeremy Schwartz checked in on Twitter at mile 48, mile 70, and again at mile 85, tweeting on-the-road pictures when able (you can check out these photos and others from the ride on our Facebook page).

CEO Sharon Napier, chief creative officer Jeff Gabel, and creative group supervisor Ann McAllister also completed a 30-mile ride in support of the MS Society (and Jeff did it without any training!).

We had some welcome additions to our team this year, too — president of Project: WorldWide Larry Vallee completed a 100-mile ride, alongside his daughter Lauren Updyke and son-in-law Nathan. Lauren, currently training for an Ironman triathlon, was the first 100-mile rider to cross the finish line.  

This was our fourth year riding as well as creating all event collateral, including the poster, direct mail piece, t-shirt, and take-one card, accounting for $10,000 in donated time to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. We’re proud to announce that the Partners + Napier/Project: WorldWide team far surpassed its goal of $3,500 and raised $5,285 for this great cause.

Following the ride, we were honored to be named the Corporate Team of the 2011 Bike MS Finger Lakes Challenge by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The Bike MS ride has become an important yearly tradition us, and we love seeing change happen from the efforts of event supporters. Last year, for example, funds raised from Bike MS led to the successful research and development of two new drugs, Ampyra and Gilenya, the first oral suppressants for MS.

A big thanks and congratulations to everyone on the Partners + Napier/Project: WorldWide team for taking big strides in the fight against multiple sclerosis.