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Epic Media Group

ABA11 Winner / How to Enter

Company: Epic Media Group, New York, NY
Company Description: Epic Media Group is a global online performance marketing company that provides advertisers and agencies with measurable Internet advertising impact. Leveraging proprietary technologies, and over 40,000 publishing partners, Epic provides its advertising clients with performance and direct response marketing services, search engine marketing, media planning, and targeted, worldwide online reach.
Nomination Category: Marketing Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Marketing Team of the Year

Nomination Title: Epic Media Group

    Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since January 1 2010 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

           In 2009, Epic’s Marketing Team won the Stevie for Marketing Team of the Year. In 2010, we were “only” a finalist. We challenged ourselves to get back on top by doing more and becoming even better.

One of the biggest obstacles we had to overcome was an acquisition we did
between our company and another in our industry. We took it upon ourselves to
integrate quickly and effectively and led the company through an entire
re-branding and re-positioning in mid-2010. It was effective and was seen by
industry insiders as a success, and was crucial in driving increased revenue
growth throughout the remainder of 2010. The new positioning even attracted
several new advertising clients which netted seven figures in revenue, based on
our communication strategy and new value proposition.

Probably most notably, the marketing team devised a competition for its web
publishers that generated over $30 million in incremental revenue for the
company (we do not disclose total company revenues, but they are well into the 9
figures to give you an idea of its impact). This contest led to the winners (50
of our top clients) to an all expense paid weekend in Los Angeles with a private
party at the Playboy Mansion. A party that was quickly put at the top of
peoples’ list as the greatest night of their lives.  In fact, it was so
successful that it is now a franchise. 

Additionally, this team oversaw two new additional, revenue-producing
businesses which stemmed from its success with private in-house clientele:
Entertainment by Epic and Creative by Epic. The team also was solely responsible
for all the great accolades and awards bestowed upon the company, as we entered
Epic in several high-profile competitions which garnered very positive PR value.

We re-did and launched an Epic Media Group blog, and a Creative Services
blog. We led the company towards a Better Business Bureau (BBB) A+
Accreditation, the ONLY company in our industry to get one.

As a company, Epic believes in backing up its responsibility to large
advertisers with corporate and social responsibility, hence, Epic’s monthly
philanthropy program which was expanded by the marketing team in 2010.  Each
month, we devote a healthy amount of resources to worthy charities around the
world and we enjoy knowing that giving away pieces of our success is helping to
change lives every day.  Some of those charities include the AIDS Walk, American
Cancer Society, Autism Associations of America, Garden of Dreams, and St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital.

We launched a new print promotional magazine called “Winning the Web”, which
is entirely produced by Marketing and is mailed each month to our best clients
and prospects.

    List hyperlinks to any online work samples, news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

        http://www.theepicmediagroup.com  (home page for the company)

        http://www.winningthewebmag.com  (print magazine for sales/lead-gen/thoughtleadership)

        http://www.entertainmentbyepic.com

        http://www.creativebyepic.com

        http://epicmediagroup.wordpress.com

        http://creativebyEpic.wordpress.com

http://www.getdirectwithepic.com

        http://www.mansionsummerbash.com

        http://adage.com/article/goodworks/epic-media-group-a-year-corporate-social-responsibility/149305/

        http://www.crainsnewyork.com/gallery/20101205/GALLERIES/120109999/PH&Params=Itemnr=3#header-advert

    Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

        Mike Sprouse is Epic’s Chief Marketing Officer, and a multidimensional executive
and philanthropist with proven experience leading various types of organizations
to marked growth in every instance. He has led marketing and been a top
executive for public and private companies, in start-up environments as well as
decades-old entities. Previously, he was the SVP of Marketing for Playboy
Enterprises and was the youngest senior executive in the company’s history.
Prior to that, he was at the Danbury Mint where he founded the company’s
e-commerce business. Mike was a world-ranked ATP Tour tennis professional, and
he is the author of the critically-acclaimed book “The Greatness Gap”, and
graduated with honors with a degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame.