Fusion IMC secured two Silver ADDY Awards at the 2026 American Advertising Federation Awards at the Caribbean level. Founded in 2012, Fusion IMC is an award-winning Caribbean marketing and PR agency with a client roster that includes American Express, Airbnb, L'Oréal, and other category-leading brands. The double win is believed to mark the first time a Bahamian agency has secured two ADDY Awards in a single competition cycle. Pictured left to right: Tyrina Neely-Rolle, Founder & Chief Strategist, and Orthnell Dames, Senior Client Account Manager. 

Nassau, The Bahamas – March 9, 2026 – In a defining moment for Bahamian creative leadership, Fusion IMC has secured two American Advertising Awards (ADDYs) in a single competition cycle at the Caribbean level, believed to be the first time a Bahamian agency has achieved this distinction in the competition's history.

The Nassau-headquartered PR and marketing firm, founded by Bahamian-born strategist Tyrina Neely-Rolle, earned:

• Silver ADDY Internet Commercial – Single for “Pop The Balloon: The Health Plan Edition”
• Silver ADDY Copywriting for “Pop The Balloon”

For Neely-Rolle, the milestone carries both professional and symbolic weight.

“Winning one ADDY is significant. Winning two in our first year entering is deeply meaningful,” said Neely-Rolle. “As a Bahamian woman who built a regional boutique agency, receiving peer recognition at this scale reinforces what I believed in 2012, that excellence does not need to be outsourced. It can be built here.”

An ADDY win places Fusion IMC's work within a competitive field that includes some of the most respected and established agencies, representing an independent, industry-recognized benchmark of creative excellence.

The American Advertising Awards is the advertising industry’s most comprehensive and prestigious competition recognizing creative excellence in advertising across the U.S. and Caribbean. 38 Caribbean companies submitted more than 375 entries in this first tier of the competition vying to be named the best creative executions in the region.

Entries are judged by senior creative leaders and industry professionals against strict criteria encompassing creative concept, execution, and strategic effectiveness.

The recognition arrives during International Women’s Month, underscoring the growing impact of female-led enterprises shaping regional business and creative industries.

Founded in 2012, Fusion IMC was built on a simple conviction: Caribbean markets deserve strategy executed to global standards.

Neely-Rolle began her academic journey studying Business Marketing at the University of The Bahamas before transferring to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she studied Advertising and Marketing in one of the world’s most competitive creative ecosystems, earning a Bachelor of Science Summa Cum Laude.

Over the course of her career, she has worked alongside internationally recognized brands and institutions, bringing structured strategy and regional intelligence to complex mandates across the Caribbean. She has supported Airbnb in multi-market Caribbean brand activations, led merchant-facing regional executions with American Express, and executed out of home campaigns for L’Oréal. 

In addition, she has advised leading brands and public sector organizations in The Bahamas including the Bahamas National Statistical Institute, Bank of The Bahamas, University of The Bahamas, The Ministry of Finance and the New Providence Ecology Park. 

Reimagining Healthcare Marketing Through Cultural Intelligence

The award-winning campaign, “Pop The Balloon: The Health Plan Edition,” was developed for FirstCare Medical Plan, a Bahamian health and wellness provider.

Healthcare advertising in the region traditionally relies on clinical language and fear-based messaging. Fusion IMC instead applied cultural insight and behavioral framing.

The campaign reimagined the viral “Pop The Balloon” social phenomenon as a satirical health plan showdown, where competing health plan archetypes revealed their own red flags, including hidden costs, limited U.S. coverage, and restrictive access, before being eliminated in real time.

Rather than relying on heavy paid media spend, the concept leaned into cultural relatability and shareability.

The campaign was conceived and strategically led by Tyrina Neely-Rolle, who served as scriptwriter, creative director, and lead strategist. Production was led by Fusion IMC team members Orthnell Dames as producer and director, with videography and technical production executed by Gary Wong.

The measurable outcome was substantial:

• More than 130,000 users reached in a market of approximately 315,000 adults
• 41% penetration of social-active Bahamians
• 37,000+ organic TikTok views with zero paid spend
• Over 1,300 shares and 5,000+ engagements across platforms

Harold Antor, Vice President of FirstCare Medical Plan, stated: "The Fusion team has been a trusted partner since our brand's inception, and their marketing and PR expertise has been instrumental in our growth. In this case, they didn't just create a successful ad — they identified the cultural pressure points for our market, defined the right message, and built creative that informed while it delighted, and it traveled organically. As a marketing enthusiast, I understand that is not easy to accomplish, and I appreciate that their talent may be homegrown, but it is undeniably world-class. From the strategy to the execution and the reporting, everything reflected executive-level accountability."

About Fusion IMC

Headquartered in Nassau, The Bahamas, Fusion IMC is an award-winning boutique marketing and public relations agency operating across more than 16 Caribbean markets. Since 2012, the agency has advised multinational brands entering the region, financial institutions managing complex communications environments, hospitality operators expanding across territories, and government bodies shaping public discourse.

Fusion IMC's integrated model combines market intelligence, stakeholder mapping, cross-territory coordination, performance dashboards, and crisis-aware communications protocols, delivering the strategic depth of a global agency with the regional fluency that only comes from operating inside these markets for over a decade.

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For media inquiries, interviews, or additional information, please contact:

Orthnell Dames

Fusion IMC

orthnell@fusionimc.com

Website - fusionimc.com

(242) 502-9407