Unsung Hero of Marketing Award
Marketing isn’t possible without a lot of amazing people. The Black Hills Unsung Hero of Marketing Award is a local AAF chapter accolade that honors the talented professionals who make sure creative and strategy work is seen. Nominate their peers who have stood out above the rest this past year.
Who are good candidates for this award?
These are the strategy gurus, the behind-the-scenes wizards, and the digital pros who will make Google scratch their head. They are the ones who don’t necessarily get to be the star of the show for the product they produce such as a fabulous website or beautifully executed rollout campaign. They are the professionals who go above and beyond in their role.
Need some ideas? Think of the people who are:
Advertising Account Executives
Event Coordinators, Photographers, and Videographers
Marketing Managers
Emerging Talent (not the lead of a project, but has made a big impact as a young professional)
Advertising Sales Representatives
Digital / Marketing Strategists
Media Buyers
Marketing Analysts
Website Developers
Administrative Assistants that directly work with the Marketing team
Jack-of-all-trades (the lone marketer, or the pro that wears more hats than can be stacked)
Congratulations to Emily Ashley
2026 Unsung Hero of Marketing Award Recipient
Photos by R. DeWitt Photography & Cats on Rockets Event Photo & Video
past recipients
Meghan Rose, 2025
Carrie Haskell, 2024
Megan Batteen, 2023
nominate an unsung hero of marketing
SELECTION PROCESS
All nominations will be collected through an online web form hosted on aafblackhills.org. Once submitted, the nominations are then funneled to the board of directors for initial approval. This first step ensures all fields of the form are adequately filled out with required information. Once approved, the nominations are then anonymized and sent to the board of directors to select the top nominations. The final selection of the Black Hills Unsung Hero of Marketing Award will be at the hands of past AAF Silver Medal Award honorees. The winner of the award will then be announced at the AAF Black Hills American Advertising Awards Gala.