About Us

AAF Triangle is the voice of the advertising industry in the Raleigh-Durham-Coastal Plains areas. Our organization sponsors programs that support our national organization’s initiatives of Education, Diversity, Public Service, and Government Relations for advertising agencies, marketing teams, freelancers, and students. Membership in the AAF Triangle not only give your organization benefits such as industry discounts, and discounted admission for award entries and programs; you also have access to a nationwide network of advertising professionals.

Our signature event is the American Advertising Awards. This national awards program begins at the Local level, then progresses to the District level, and ultimately the National level. Agencies from The Triangle have historically had great success at both District and National levels.

We also offer an ongoing series of programs, events, and competitions that give us all a chance to learn more about our industry and about our colleagues in the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area. It’s a great way to connect to people who want to make this market stronger and have a good time while doing it!

The AAF Triangle protects and promotes the well-being of advertising. We accomplish this through a unique, nationally coordinated network of advertisers, agencies, media companies, local advertising clubs, and college chapters.

By the turn of the 19th century, advertising had been recognized as an important and viable means of communication. The industrial movement gave rise to the need for product and service promotion, and with this, the advertising profession was established. As the profession grew into an industry, practitioners became concerned with assuring high business standards. Advertising professionals identified the need to join together to protect and promote their trade. This idea led to the organization of professional advertising clubs founded on the principle of upholding high industry standards. Across the country, advertising professionals formed local organizations to achieve this objective.

By 1904, these local advertising clubs realized that to be effective they should join together. Accordingly, the local clubs in the West formed the Pacific Coast Advertising Men’s Association. A year later, the East Coast clubs organized into the National Federation of Advertising Clubs. These two regional groups evolved to become the Advertising Association of the West (AAW) and the Advertising Federation of America (AFA). Both associations worked to raise the standards of advertising through education and self-regulation. In the east, the AFA organized a national vigilance committee in 1911 and launched the “truth in advertising” movement, the forerunner to Better Business Bureaus. The AAW became involved in this movement a year later. For many years the AAW and the AFA operated independently to represent industry interests.

After World War II however, the East and West were brought closer together through the advent of commercial air travel and advances in telecommunications. Accordingly, it became increasingly necessary for the AFA and AAW to coordinate activities and positions, particularly in dealing with the federal government. For several years, the AFA and AAW worked cooperatively to promote and protect industry interests as pressure toward merger mounted. In 1962, a joint convention was held and a commission was formed to discuss the issue of merger. Five years later, in February 1967, the Advertising Federation of America and the Advertising Association of the West joined forces, creating the unifying voice for advertising.