Congratulations to HOSTPLUS for capturing two new trophies at this year’s AFSA awards ceremony held in Melbourne on Friday.

HOSTPLUS was awarded Excellence in Communication for their TFN Campaign and also a finalist with the One Super Pledge Campaign in the same category.

Both integrated campaigns were created and executed by trademarkDM and clickDM.

But, the award we and HOSTPLUS are most pleased about is the AFSA Super Innovator of the Year for The Pledge campaign.

It came as a super surprise since we had not entered this category but were given the title at the judges’ discretion.

Today, trademarkDM was announced as one of six international judging hosts for The Global Awards.

We’re proud to be hosting the Melbourne leg of the world’s premier healthcare communications awards program.

Entries are now open, so click here to download your entry kit.

Naturally, we hope see some great pharmaceutical work.

We hope to see a healthy amount of entries, too.

Sometimes when creative people put their heads together, something extraordinary happens.

Just like studio manager Liliana Lettieri’s special birthday present for her nephew, Harri.

Harri had an unusual way of dealing with his grandfather passing away. So Lil decided to tell the story of Harri and his Pa in a children’s storybook, in celebration of the bond between the two of them.

Lil’s story moved many of us to tears. It also moved senior art director Craig Sneddon to do the illustrations.

The result is a beautiful story, with stunning illustrations and one very happy little boy.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Say hello to yet another new trademarkDM face, account director Jenni Mercer.

She’ll be working with our healthcare clients and we couldn’t have found someone better qualified for the job.

With more than eight years of advertising experience under her belt, Jenni’s worked on several big healthcare brands, including Lilly, Roche and Janssen-Cilag, on everything from ADHD to schizophrenia, so she’s well-equipped to deal with our creatives.

She also hit the million-dollar mark for billings in her first year as account director – a talent managing director John Kilgour is particularly pleased to add to THE DM GROUP.

No pressure, Jenni!

This week, Barefoot Investor Scott Pape unveiled his latest super presentation for HOSTPLUS members – Who Wants To Be A Superannuation Millionaire.

Scott’s presentation is part of the HOSTPLUS financial literacy program and focuses on simple strategies to help members make the most of their super.

trademarkDM’s Brandon Clark, Andy Harrison, Craig Hockley and new arrival Frank Franzese were invited to be part of the studio audience.

Our super team were happy to report they got the answers right (mostly) and didn’t even have to use any of their lifelines.

To find out more about being a superannuation millionaire, click here

It’s only been three days but we already like our new account director, Frank Franzese.

Firstly, Frank’s a designer-turned-suit. He switched roles because he was fed up of other people not selling his ideas well and decided he could do a better job. That’s the creatives won over.

Secondly, Frank’s worked across a diverse range of brands, including Telstra Super, ANZ and Merrill Lynch. That’s the account service box checked.

Lastly, Frank’s been making his own wine for five years and he’s particularly proud of his 2007 Heathcote Shiraz.

Bring in a bottle on Friday, Frank and you’ll have 21 new best friends.

Our Production Manager, David Findlay has returned from his four week hiatus in the Maldives and Bali.

It should have been no surprise to Dave that the crew had plans for his homecoming.

Whether it was covering every inch of his office with posters of handsome men or making up an imaginary new junior creative team that he would have to share his office with (some extra computers, fake personalities, and live jobs on the weekly WIP), there was always something to welcome him back.

The team worked into the night on Friday to make sure his office was nothing like how he had left it.

Multiple rolls of aluminium foil and a few human sized bags of packing peanuts were enough to create the most recent office prank.

We had to do something to get back at him for that speedo incident.

We missed ya Dave!

Meet finished artist Ross Goddard – the latest addition to THE DM GROUP.

With over 11 years experience in advertising and design under his belt, Ross has worked on a range of big brands, including award-winning campaigns for Suzuki and Jeep.

Not surprising, since he really likes cars. He’s also been working on a top secret calendar for the Victorian Aids Council.

But here’s the real reason we hired Ross. He was ranked one of Australia’s top five retouchers by Capture magazine. And we need someone who can do this.

It’s about time we had a touch of class around here.

Last week, those of us from trademarkDM who work on HOSTPLUS spent some time hanging out at their call centre.

Known in the industry as one of the secrets of their success, the HOSTPLUS call centre has a reputation for delivering excellent service. So it was a real eye-opener for us to see them in action.

We also gained a deeper understanding of how things work at HOSTPLUS. All the better to keep producing great work for them.

The key to creating good advertising is being able to see everyday objects in a completely different light.

That must have been why the piano staircase created at Southern Cross Station to promote the Melbourne Jazz Festival struck a chord with trademarkDM account manager Kristin Tomuschat.

It might be very similar to another idea. But Kristin was excited enough to delay her shopping trip to DFO just to take pictures – and a video – of it.

If you ask us, it’s a great way to make the stairs a hit with commuters.