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The Splinter Group wins big in ad awards

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Staff

By Margot C. Lester
Staff Writer

At the recent American Advertising Federation RDU Addy Awards, a five-person Carrboro-based agency took more gold awards than any other Triangle-area agency. The Splinter Group, which creates visual identities for businesses and organizations, won four gold Addys, three silvers and a judge’s choice award. Since its inception nine years ago, the company has won 34 Addys, a Telly and garnered a Grammy nomination.

Only Raleigh agency CapStrat won more Addys this year, with nine.
“They have about 60 more employees than us.… So we were thrilled to do so well against the big shops,” said Steve Balcom, the agency’s co-founder. “Seventy agencies entered work and the judging was really tough this year. Far fewer awards were given out than usual.”

Balcom is hard-pressed to say which award made him proudest. The “Circa 1958” book created for the Ackland Art Museum show of the same name “was a ton of work, so it was nice to have it recognized,” Balcom said. “For sentimental reasons, it was also awesome to win a gold award for the holiday concert poster we did for Squirrel Nut Zippers. We go way back with that band from our Mammoth days.

One of our designers, Ryan Dean, hand-lettered the majority of the poster, so it was incredibly labor intensive.”

A surprising winner was a small ad for Durham Catering Co., which netted a gold and the judge’s choice.

“It was a small ad that was a spoof on one of those froofy wedding announcements that you’d read in the society section of the newspaper,” said co-founder Lane Wurster. “But instead of listing a bunch of the typical wedding information about the groomsmen, bridesmaids, setting, etc., our ad just described all of the food that was served at the reception. Four paragraphs of detailed text about the passed appetizers, entrees and desserts. It was a simple idea, but we were psyched that the judges took the time to read it and got it.”

The team’s success comes in part from working together for many years. Though The Splinter Group is nine years old, the principals have been collaborating since they worked together at the now-defunct local label Mammoth Records. That long working relationship allowed the team to develop a solid philosophy that drives the agency’s work.

“We pride ourselves on being an anti-ad agency. No bureaucracy, politics, focus groups or smoke and mirrors,” Wurster said. “We see our clients as our peers and we try to do right by them. Most of our clients are developing, niche brands that don’t have huge budgets, so we have to get creative to maximize their resources.”

The group’s creativity is inspired by Merge Records, “The Office” the Love Train (Sound of Philadelphia box set), HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords” – and a few local influences like Ryan Adams, Flagship I.P.A., Neal’s Deli and, of course, Tar Heel hoops.

Not content to sit pretty on recent successes, The Splinter Group team is keeping its collective nose to the grindstone. For instance, it’s working on a logo for John Currence’s new restaurant in Oxford, Miss., a brasserie called Snackbar in the style of Balthazar or Bouchon. But most of its clients, like Carolina Brewery or Aventine (a cabinetry/woodworking shop) are in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Durham, where the business was based for its first seven years.

“Durham was cool, but we never really felt like we were part of the community,” Wurster explained. “Here in Carrboro we love not having to draw a line between work and play.”

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