Blattner Brunner received Best of Show honors at the annual Pittsburgh American Advertising Awards for this campaign for Pittsburgh retailer S.W. Randall Toyes & Giftes featuring Legos.

Maybe the coolest honors scheduled to be handed out last night at the annual Pittsburgh American Advertising Awards -- typically a gathering of people very interested in the cutting edge -- were two gold Addys given to Blattner Brunner for marketing Zippo lighters on mall elevators and staircases.

The Downtown ad agency's wins at the gathering at Club Zoo in the Strip District mark the first ever in a new "nontraditional" category meant to recognize the explosion of work being done outside such traditional mediums as TV, billboards and newspapers as marketers look for more ways to get consumers' attention.

Pittsburgh agencies, like their peers around the country, are experimenting with viral campaigns, guerrilla marketing, mobile advertising and any other bright ideas that come along. The American Advertising Federation runs the award program and proved last summer that it was paying attention by adding the "nontraditional" space.

For this first year, the Pittsburgh contest drew 13 nontraditional entries. People were a little unsure exactly how to present their projects for a contest, said Adam Golomb, who serves as president of the Pittsburgh Advertising Federation in addition to his day job as marketing director for the Eat'n Park Hospitality Group. He expects more entries next time around.

The judges, all from outside the region, liked a Blattner Brunner program for Zippo that used elevator doors to create an image that came together when the doors did, as well as one that placed pictures of clothing strewn up a mall staircase and asked, "So, where will a little candlelight lead you?"

Strip District agency Smith Brothers Advertising won two silver Addys in the nontraditional category for work done for Del Monte Foods Co. that used Morris the Cat to help rescue cats around the country.

Mr. Golomb said the new wave of innovation has been invigorating for the advertising community in part because small shops working with clients on tight budgets can do things that have a major impact, enabling them to compete effectively with bigger shops.

Overall, the annual awards competition was dominated by Blattner Brunner, which is one of the region's larger players and which has a tradition of doing well at the event. The agency took home 17 gold awards and 25 silvers, in addition to Best of Show honors for work done for Pittsburgh specialty retailer S.W. Randall Toyes & Giftes featuring Legos.

The smaller Brady Communications, also based Downtown, nabbed a Judges' Award of Excellence for an annual report done for the Boy Scouts, Greater Pittsburgh Council, in addition to two gold and three silver awards.

Other agencies with a significant load of prizes to carry to the car were Smith Brothers, which had a total of one gold and eight silver awards, including those for the nontraditional category; Strip District-based Mullen, with one gold and nine silvers that included work for Point Park University's Pittsburgh Playhouse and Marshall retailer American Eagle Outfitters; and Downtown-based Garrison Hughes, with one gold and seven silvers mainly for projects done for law firm Reed Smith and the Sen. John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center.

Ten United, also Downtown, took four silvers, three of them for Web site projects; Marc USA, of Station Square, won three silvers, all involving television work; and Strip-based GBL Inc. collected three silvers, two of which were for photography work and one for a print piece.

Other agency names dropped during the awards included Animal, Dymun + Co., Matchpoint Marketing, New Perspective, Pipitone Group, Ripple Effects Interactive and Wall-to-Wall Studios.

The annual show can sometimes offer insights on the state of the local marketing business. On that basis, this year's picture appears mixed.

There were a total of 527 entries. That's down from last year's 605 but still higher than the 429 submitted two years ago when the industry was still coming back from the economic slowdown that followed 9/11.

Mr. Golomb seemed pleased, noting some agencies that haven't traditionally participated made submissions. He also sees progress in Pittsburgh shops picking up work from clients in other markets, including some big wins recently announced by Ten United and Blattner Brunner.

The local contest is the first of a three-tiered national contest held by the American Advertising Federation. Winners move on to compete at the district level and possibly, the national.