Denver Marketing Firm Wins International Award for Campaign that lifts Africans Out of Poverty

Denver, CO June 10, 2009 - The winners of The 2009 Communicator Awards were announced by the International Academy of the Visual Arts. With thousands of entries received from the US and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals.

Ckarma marketing won the Award of Distinction for their Integrated Marketing campaign for MoneyMaker Irrigation pumps. MoneyMaker pumps are manually operated technology tools that enable poor farmers in Africa to grow and sell crops, creating a sustainable business. The pumps are a product developed by KickStart International, a social enterprise whose mission is to eliminate poverty.

Ckarma's global marketing and advertising campaign "Farming is my Business" featured billboards, ads, a consumer promotion, radio, and point-of-sale displays in shops as well as on farm demonstrations. The global campaign launched in four languages across Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and Burkina Faso, west and east africa.

Since the launch, KickStart had over six hundred percent increase in MoneyMaker pump sales in Kenya. They achieved the highest sales since they started over sixteen years ago. "We are thrilled that the global campaign worked so well. The extraordinary sales of pumps means that KickStart's impact on poverty has doubled in a few years. Today, over 411,000 people have been lifted from poverty to prosperity permanently." Says Cindy Kerr, Founder of ckarma marketing. She lived in Nairobi, Kenya leading the marketing efforts in 2007 and 2008.

About ckarma marketing
ckarma, marketing is an outsourced marketing and communications firm that transforms nonprofits and good businesses with creative campaigns that impact donor and customer engagement. They are a team of experts creating cost effective strategies and implementation that increases impacts that make a positive difference in the world. Additional information about ckarma can be found at www.ckarma.com.

About The Communicator Awards
The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals. Founded by communication professionals over a decade ago, it is an annual competition honoring the best in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video, interactive and audio. Visit www.communicatorawards.com for more information.

The Communicator Awards is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, 450+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media, advertising, and marketing.