HOOD RIVER, OR -- (Marketwire) -- 03/12/13 -- Interactive advertising agency Blue Collar Interactive today announced the winner of their JumpStart campaign (http://www.bluecollaragency.com/jumpstart) to award $100,000 in agency services to the emerging company demonstrating the greatest need for a marketing turbo boost. The winner who ultimately delivered the best pitch is Sseko Designs, a footwear and accessories company based in Portland, Ore. who uses fashion to empower and educate women in Uganda to end the cycle of poverty. Blue Collar is working with Sseko to help tell their inspirational story through brand development, a complete website redesign and digital marketing.

"Our judges were overwhelmed by the passion and ideas that were shared by the 24 companies who entered," said Rob McCready, partner and account director with Blue Collar. "Sseko demonstrated their passion as an emerging company in a challenging market with an incredible mission that carries through to their brand and products. It's refreshing and inspiring to see a company creating beautiful, handcrafted products while making a positive impact on the world. We're excited to help them grow their business."

For three years, Sseko has been on a mission to sell one million pairs of Sseko sandals and empower thousands of women to bring change to their lives and their communities in Uganda. Leading up to the campaign, demand for Sseko products always outpaced supply as the founders worked to create an infrastructure for manufacturing and export to build a sustainable industry for the East African community. Sseko now employs 40 women and is the largest exporter of footwear in the country. Today they are positioned to produce at a larger scale to meet demand, but truly needed a "jumpstart" to fuel their online marketing strategy, so they decided to make their pitch. Sseko has decided cash in on the services they won with a complete website overhaul including brand development, user experience design, a scalable e-commerce platform, mobile design, SEO, social media integration and a digital marketing push.

Finding a company like Sseko fulfilled the goal of what Blue Collar Interactive and their partner, SwellPath, a digital marketing and measurement agency, set out to achieve when creating the JumpStart campaign. The agencies invited U.S. business owners to submit their most compelling pitch, explaining why their company deserved the $100,000 in-kind prize. Blue Collar and SwellPath judges then selected their top five finalists based on company vision, elevator pitch and passion -- then the public voted for their favorite.

The five JumpStart finalists included: Handful Inc., We Make Movies, Aquamira Technologies, CPUsage and Sseko Designs -- all talented entrepreneurs with unique products and services. After over 30,000 unique visits to the JumpStart website and 7,513 votes, Sseko Designs edged out Handful, Inc. by only 124 votes in the final hours of voting.

"We really rallied our social media networks and everyone on our team sent out personal emails. It's amazing to see how people will rally when they believe they have the power to help someone else," said Liz Bohannon, founder of Sseko Designs. "This is super exciting for us. The $100,000 will help us establish a stronger online presence to tell our story, create more demand and potentially employ thousands of women in Uganda."

About Sseko Designs
Sseko Designs is a footwear and accessories company based in Uganda who believes in the power of fashion and business to help consumers change the world, one sandal at a time. Sseko Designs uses fashion to provide employment and scholarship opportunities to women pursuing their dreams in overcoming poverty. Every Sseko sandal or accessory is handmade by a group of young women in Uganda who make sandals to finance their university education. To learn more and to shop the Sseko Designs online store, visit http://www.ssekodesigns.com

About Blue Collar Interactive
Blue Collar is a full-service interactive advertising agency with a passion for hard-working ideas, strategic creative and rock-solid development. Co-founded by three partners with more than 40-years of collective creative and client service experience, the agency offers a well-balanced suite of creative and strategic services backed by blue collar values of hard work, creative problem solving and a can-do attitude. At the core, Blue Collar is a group of adept, creative, and informed problem-solvers who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. For more information about Blue Collar Interactive, visit http://www.bluecollaragency.com.

About SwellPath
SwellPath is a digital measurement and search marketing agency based in Portland, Oregon. The agency focuses on helping clients put data driven marketing programs in place. This manifests through Google Analytics and social analytics consulting, SEO consulting, and digital advertising management services. Clients cover a range of verticals, and include Nike, Intel, Jive Software, KEEN Footwear, WebMD, and Activision. For more information on SwellPath, visit: http://www.swellpath.com.

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