PPB January 2015

58 / 108

On The Up And Up
SOCIETY AWARDS (S)
Long Island City, New York
David Moritz, president
• Founded: 2007
• 2014 Inc. 5000 Ranking: 2232
• Three-year Growth Rate: 175%
• 2013 Revenue: $3.7 million
• Number of Employees: 8 (four new jobs added within
the past three years)
• Previous Years On Inc. 5000 List: Two (2012 No. 1418,
2013 No. 1717)
A Company That Walks The Red Carpet Of Success
When David Moritz started his company, Society Awards, in 2007
he had no idea that in addition to designing awards for events such as
the Golden Globes, Emmy Awards, MTV Video Music and Movie
Awards, CFDA Awards, GLADD Awards, American Music Awards,
Billboard Music Awards and others, he would also have the opportu-
nity to attend the high-profile entertainment events.
After graduating from law school and interning at a boutique
entertainment law firm, Moritz decided to change gears and start his
own company. He wanted to work with something he was passionate
about, and design and run things his own way.
Society Awards’ first job was a commission from Billboard maga-
zine to create a small, acrylic memento for Neil Diamond. Since that
time the company has worked with a wide variety of clients to design
and manufacture high-end custom awards.
Moritz says his company does whatever is needed to make clients
happy—one example is the Golden Globe award. Moritz worked for
two years with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to get the
award exactly right. Since 2009, the Golden Globes have presented
Society Awards’ redesigned statuettes. From that point, the company
has continued to evolve and expand.
Strategy For Growth
“Give clients what they want, what they need. Don’t waste time,”
says Moritz. “We go out of our way to make clients happy.” And, he
says, never rest on your laurels—always look at ways to get better.
“Pick apart the entire anatomy of a potential problem. If you have a
close call, talk to your staff, say ‘Wow, that was close, how can we
never let this happen again?’ It is better to be more efficient at what
you do.”
Creating Differentiation
“We believe our clients should have a special experience. We take
it to a higher and higher level of sophistication. People can’t always tell
you or define what they like. We work long and hard to understand
their needs and have clients trust us. It is a delicate balance,” says
Moritz. “Our goal is to create a long-term relationship with our
clients.”
Creating unique, unusual, high-end designs is important. “Many
of our awards and trophies are like a home décor work of art. Not all
sculptures make a good trophy, but we try to design awards that I
would put in my home as décor,” he says.
Sustaining Growth
“We are just now getting our footing, coming into our own,” says
Moritz. “We are just now starting to branch out.” He wants the user
experience to be special. Whether the company is working with the
Hollywood Foreign Press Association on the Golden Globes or a cor-
poration presenting awards to employees or clients, he wants it to be a
high-end experience. “We don’t treat anyone differently,” he says. “We
work with clients on marketing, designs and ideas for new projects.
Our user experience is carefully crafted.”
What’s Ahead In 2015
Society Awards recently launched a website offering online shop-
ping for high-end awards. Users can upload an image of the actual
piece, upload the copy and change it as needed—and then duplicate
and personalize each award.
Moritz says this new tool is especially helpful to companies who
need a small quantity of high-quality awards in a short period of time.
“We created this exclusive, high-quality line of designs that are unique
and inspired by those that are popular. This is something that is avail-
able off the shelf, for a better price.”
58 • PPB • JANUARY 2015 GROW