BEST OVERALL PROMOTION

Most Innovative Communication Strategy Campaign: Tamiflu Launch Agency: Momentum, St. Louis (New York City office) Client: Roche, Nutley, NJ Mobile marketing is all the rage these days. Experiential campaigns that bring the brand in direct contact with consumers are as common as, well, colds. But they’re not so common in the pharmaceutical category, where marketers only recently began moving beyond doctors and pharmacists to target those unhealthy masses who actually consume the products.

Nutley, NJ-based pharmaceutical company Roche is a greenhorn in the consumer promotion market, having formed a department to build that expertise just two years ago. “Promotion has really been underutilized in the category, but it can play a very important role for [our] brands,” says Maryann Kuzel, director of Roche’s Consumer Marketing Leadership Center. “It gives consumers a way to experience the brand before they buy it.”

But Roche certainly didn’t act naively last year when it hired St. Louis-based Momentum as “one of the first promotion agencies we brought on board,” says Nancy Berkow, consumer product director for Roche’s new Tamiflu brand of flu medication. “We wanted to do things that were cutting-edge.”

The project had a lot of “firsts” attached to it. It not only was Momentum’s first work for Roche, but the agency’s first effort in the direct-to-consumer pharmacy segment. And the shop was dealing with a new brand in a completely new product category. But the brain trust in Momentum’s New York City office provided a concept and plan of execution unique by just about anyone’s standard’s, and downright revolutionary for pharmaceutical marketing. “I don’t think the industry has seen anything like this before,” says Berkow.

Rival Glaxo-Wellcome had beaten Roche to market last winter with its Relenza anti-flu brand, which meant the Tamiflu launch needed to be big. “Roche wanted a killer promotion,” says Dan Stevenson, vp-creative director at Momentum. “We wanted it to be funny, but we didn’t want to trivialize the flu, either.” “We started with a very high bar, and we told Momentum to go way out of the box,” adds Kuzel.

However, Momentum decided to go “inside the box” with a concept Stevenson modestly calls “simple. But strategically, I think it was right on the mark.”

The plan called for the creation of eight glass-enclosed and, therefore, “germ-free” residences to be constructed on the backs of flatbed trucks. Each vehicle was home to an actor conducting his daily activities (sleeping, eating, working on the computer) oblivious to the commotion he caused outside his walls. “People tried to distract them, but it didn’t work,” says Stevenson.

The punch line was displayed on all sides of the vehicles, including the tops so office-building dwellers could see: “One person in this town who can probably feel safe from the flu. For the rest of us flu sufferers, there’s Tamiflu.”

Momentum situated the trucks in strategic locations around the country so they could be deployed within 48 hours to cities in which flu epidemics had broken out. Outbreaks were reported by Roche’s proprietary FluStar health-clinic information network. “Everyone was juiced about how quickly we could respond,” says Stevenson. “We scheduled in advance where they should go in each city, so we just faxed them directions and sent them off.”

Trucks stopped at numerous planned events, but also created many of their own. Staffers on the outside, who were selected for their “kindly grandma” demeanor, handed out Tamiflu brochures with packets of chicken soup. A national P-O-P initiative in pharmacies supported.

The tour hit 71 markets for stays of two days to two weeks from Jan. 1 through March 15. A parallel p.r. campaign helped drive more than 100 million impressions through TV, print, and radio coverage of the trucks. Tamiflu outsold its early-bird competitor by a three-to-one margin, and gained a 58-percent share of market.

“This program could have been a logistical nightmare, but Momentum handled it beautifully,” says Berkow. “The neatest part about it was the reaction of the people. They were flabbergasted, but they got it.”

Best Multidiscipline Campaign Campaign: Refresh the Roll Agency: In-house Client: Nabisco, Inc., Parsippany, NJ Nabisco’s LifeSavers added plenty of flavor to its marketing program last summer with a campaign developed and managed in-house to play off the Year 2000 buzz and get consumers involved in the product’s R&D.

A heavily integrated three-month campaign – the biggest in the brand’s history – asked candy lovers to vote on whether the company should retain the classic pineapple (shown by research to be the least-favored flavor in the brand’s classic five-flavor roll) or replace it with strawberry or watermelon. The angle was that LifeSavers “engineers” had discovered that pineapple was not Y2K compliant, and would have to be “fixed” to remain in the roll.

Consumers were allowed to cast their votes by telephone or at lifesavers2000.com. Voters were automatically entered into a sweepstakes offering four home theater packages and numerous other prizes. The promotion was communicated through a heavy schedule boasting TV, radio, and Internet advertising, an extensive p.r. campaign, a 38 million-piece FSI, and in-store activity in more than 30,000 outlets that included riser cards, tear pads, front-end shelf-talkers, aisle danglers, and sampling programs. Ryan Partnership, Westport, CT, produced the advertising and P-O-P materials.

More than 500,000 votes were cast. The p.r. effort generated 460 million impressions, and activity on the Internet produced 240 million page views. Volume sales rose 10.5 percent for five-flavor rolls and 5.1 percent for all five-flavor pack sizes during the promotional period.

“We expected it to be big, but not as big as it was,” says promotion manager Lauren Taveroni. “I think it was so successful because it keyed into emotional ties consumers have with the brand. It turned into the gold standard for promotions around here. We now have to top ourselves.”

Pineapple won out. “We really thought strawberry or watermelon would be a contender,” says Taveroni. “But consumers went crazy. They were very passionate about it.”

Best Use of Advertising Campaign: Golf Dream House Agency: Momentum, St. Louis Client: Buick Motor Division, Flint, MI Momentum had a variety of objectives when it began preparing this campaign for Buick, with which it has worked for two-plus years. Fortunately, it had an ace in the hole in professional golf star Tiger Woods, who had recently signed an endorsement deal with the General Motors car brand.

Buick asked Momentum to create an effort that would enhance awareness for its PGA event sponsorship, increase TV viewership of the CBS-broadcast Buick Invitational Tournament in February, establish the link between the brand and Woods, and – naturally – build a database of future prospects. “We had all those realities on the table and we had to bring them together,” remembers Momentum creative director Jeff Coburn.

The ultimate concept was to run a sweepstakes in which golf fans could win a time-share at what would come to be known as the Buick Golf Dream House. Buick agreed to invest extra money by building a house within Florida’s World Golf Village. “The idea was to create a prize that could be used again,” explains Coburn. “Buick sponsors four tournaments a year, and they can now use it for every one.”

Humorous TV spots (created by Momentum and produced by sister unit McCann Detroit) and print ads had Woods – who is averse to straight product pitches – challenging consumers to guess (via telephone or tiger.buick.com) what his score would be in the Invitational’s two televised rounds, with two winners randomly selected to receive a 45-day share in the house, a Buick Century, and other prizes. CBS liked the concept, and helped out by creating its own promotional messages gratis.

The sweeps generated 155,000 qualified names (141,000 via the Web) for the Buick database and drove tournament ratings and unaided awareness of Buick as a PGA sponsor up by more than 25 percent. The brand reran the campaign last August for another tournament.

Best Use of Direct Marketing Best Activity Generating Brand Loyalty Best Copywriting Campaign: Camp Jeep Agency: FCB Worldwide/1-2-1 Marketing, Southfield, MI Client: DaimlerChrysler, Auburn Hills, MI DaimlerChrysler’s annual August Jeep-owner loyalty building getaway, a PRO Award winner in 1999, again received high praise by taking a successful strategy and making it better – otherwise known as reducing costs.

Charged once again with securing 2,500 attendees – counted in vehicles, not people – FCB Worldwide and 1-2-1 Marketing (which last year were doing business as Bozell Worldwide and Budco) sought to reduce overall invitations but still reach its goal in timely fashion. The agencies targeted a group of “Jeep Friends” comprised of the likeliest owners to attend the three-day event in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. The list whittled down Jeep’s 1.8 million-strong owners and lessees to 320,000 who attended either a previous Camp or another Jeep event, had inquired about the Camp, or lived nearby.

That group was hit with a campaign designed to keep Camp Jeep top of mind by beginning the mailings earlier (a holiday-themed “save the date” postcard went out in December), then making them more regular (monthly updates), and adding a little fun (Valentine’s Day “Love on the Rocks” warnings went to those who hadn’t yet registered). “We wanted to keep it in their minds for a longer period of time, give them a taste of what to expect, and have them excited by the time they got the invitation,” says Bruce Clayton, FCB’s senior vp-director of one-to-one marketing.

The early mailings helped: About 1,000 attendees signed up online before the official invitations even went out. The invitation total was reduced by 130,000 and the cancellation rate cut by 50 percent. “We’ve been able to hone in on what works for us. And the Web has been critical in reducing our costs,” says Lou Bitonti, senior manager for Jeep direct marketing. “We feel like the cylinders are all open now.”

Best Use of New Media Campaign: Online Racing Auction Agency: In-house Client: Valvoline Co., Lexington, KY Old met new with this in-house program from Valvoline, which sought to increase traffic to the corporate Web site by leveraging the company’s 30-year sponsorship of NASCAR.

Oil maker Valvoline had become a corporate partner of the Big Brothers /Big Sisters of America program in 1999, and wanted to jump-start the relationship by raising money for the charity. “We saw how successful online auctions had been, and decided to marry that with our racing heritage, which is a big part of our core equity,” says vp-marketing Sean Mitchell.

Consumer marketing manager Michelle Bronson rallied the in-house troops, enlisting 20 co-workers from various departments to devote extra time to the campaign. Using the contacts it has in the industry, Valvoline put out a call for prize donations, and ultimately received more than 750 memorabilia items and racing opportunities, such as driving lessons. “We got donations from Paul Newman and Ashley Judd,” says Mitchell. “It was really bigger than we expected it to be,” adds Bronson.

The company considered hosting the auction itself, but decided that using the well-known eBay site – which had become a Big Brothers partner as well – would better generate traffic. Links were established to valvoline.com, which hosted an e-mail service that provided updates on the bidding (and beefed up the company’s database) during the month-long auction last spring.

A live launch event at the California Speedway in Los Angeles, a USA Today ad, extensive p.r. from Edelman Worldwide, Internet ads, and in-car cameras carrying auction notices during two NASCAR races supported.

The auctions raised $150,000 for the charity, increased traffic to valvoline.com by 85 percent, and scored 20 million impressions for the brand on eBay. “We couldn’t have done this without the Internet,” says Bronson. “When you’re trying to reach this many consumers with really no budget at all, it’s the perfect way.”

Most Effective Long-Term Campaign Campaign: Celebrate the Century Express Agency: In-house Client: U.S. Postal Service, Washington, DC The always noteworthy U.S. Postal Service gave its marketing schedule wheels along with legs by turning a four-car Amtrak train into an ever-moving community education program.

The concept centered on a Celebrate the Century educational program that would offer a museum-like look at Post Office and stamp history. “We wanted to show that the postal service is part of the fabric of every community,” says promotions manager Gary Thurow.

In a partnership with Amtrak that would prove vital to the campaign’s logistics, USPS obtained the train, which was made up of a restored Railway Post Office car, an old-fashioned baggage car, a historical business car, and a modern car to house the displays. The Post Office then began putting together a schedule that would keep the Express on the rails from March 1999 until this fall. “It’s the longest program we’ve ever done,” says Thurow.

Figuring out where and how the tour would stop proved difficult, because you just can’t park a train anywhere overnight. (Amtrak helped.) The goal was to hit cities not normally on promotional itineraries, so visits to White Fish, MT, Atmore, AL, and Danbury, CT, were included. USPS also had to find a dozen employees willing to spend more than a year on the train. Volunteer staffers had to be rallied at each stop as well. Although the costs were relatively high, “it was cheaper than producing a commercial and airing it 20 times on Seinfeld,” says Thurow.

By the spring of 2000, the Express had logged more than 15,000 miles, stopped in 47 cities in 26 states, and attracted more than 250,000 visitors. The tour has been popular among kids, about 300,000 of whom were sent educational kits that tied the train into USPS’s popular stamp-voting initiatives. “We have 800,000 employees, and it was a nice way to reach them, too,” Thurow says.

Best Activity Generating Brand Awareness/Trial Campaign: Launch of Blue Agency: Momentum, St. Louis (New York office) Client: American Express, New York City If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then proof of this campaign’s success came in September, when Best Buy commissioned Momentum to host a free concert by Sting in New York City’s Central Park.

Why? Because Momentum used the same concept and venue last September to help AmEx launch its new Blue card for young adults. In that iteration, the concert was Sheryl Crow and Friends, an event that aired as the first-ever national “trimulcast” on Fox TV stations, 80-plus radio stations, and the Internet at blueconcerts.com.

The campaign kicked off with a press conference five days before the show featuring Crow and AmEx executives to announce the event. Soon after, “Blue Crews” hit the streets of Manhattan to give away 25,000 concert tickets through an instant-win game designed to reinforce Blue’s technological enhancements. Players swiped a card through an electronic scanner, with one out of four scoring tickets. Winners were directed to kiosks to supply information and learn about Blue. “We made everyone learn about the product,” says Chris Weil, executive vp-account services.

Radio stations tracked the Crew locations for listeners during the four days of giveaways leading up to the concert. Meanwhile, a national print and radio campaign drove tune-in.

Momentum worked with Crow to shape the concert into a form that would meet Fox’s two-hour limit and leave ample room for planned commercial breaks. During the show, photographers took digital shots of crowd members, then directed them to a Web site where they could see themselves and apply for the card.

Ultimately, the number of Blue cards in force exceeded company goals by 71 percent, while Internet applications exceeded goals by 150 percent. A post-concert survey found that 80 percent of those “very likely” to apply for Blue were not American Express cardholders. “People take notice. We are a society that appreciates good marketing,” says Weil.

Best Activity Generating Brand Volume Campaign: Vote for Your Favorite Donut Agency: Flair Communications, Chicago Client: Dunkin’ Donuts, Randolph, MA To celebrate its 50th birthday, Dunkin’ Donuts wanted a long-term campaign that would float all boats – sales volume, store traffic, p.r. visibility, and employee excitement – because the company’s goal is full integration with every marketing program it runs. “It’s easy to say, but it’s one of the hardest things to do,” says sales promotion manager David Kennealey.

Flair was able to supply just that with a February-through-April effort that asked consumers to pick their favorite for a chance to win cash or free products ($50,000 and donuts for life was the top prize). “Looking at [the chain’s] core mission lead us to a product-focused concept,” says Warren Field, Flair’s director of strategic development. And a voter theme during presidential primary season was “a wonderful way of getting a lot of press,” he says.

Once franchisees were brought on board, Flair set the stage with news releases to TV, radio, and print media. Promotional packets containing employee attire, signage, and a host of P-O-P including six-foot-high voting booths and ballot boxes were sent to 5,000 stores. Local radio broadcasts from stores, tags on national TV and radio spots (part of the chain’s most powerful media plan ever), a 35-million-piece FSI, and a special Web site supported. Beginning in early March, employees hit the streets in 10 cities for off-site events to generate more awareness.

The results were staggering: Sales rose 28 percent, store traffic jumped 51 percent, more than 816,000 votes were cast, and more than 121 million media impressions were recorded. Boston Kreme won the election. “We had no clue how many consumers would participate, but we had 10 times the response of other programs,” says Field. “It was a great idea, it was well thought out, and it had great execution,” says Kennealey. “We only have a 50th birthday once, so we had to do it right.”

Best Business-to-Business Campaign Campaign: Boise High Agency: Momentum, St. Louis Client: Boise Cascade Office Products, Boise, ID No one got into the promotion business to sell office supplies. But the four-year-old relationship between Boise and Momentum has made the task quite rewarding.

Last year was Boise’s 35th in business as a product supplier, which is “a non-event for customers,” says Momentum vp-account director Linda Neff. So how to celebrate without really celebrating? By turning the fall product catalog into a faux 1964 high school yearbook, thereby letting Boise’s customer base (primarily women 18 to 49) relive their own memories.

The company mailed 255,000 copies of the 40-page yearbook, along with pennants, cardboard pop-ups, pressed flowers, and an offer for Steve and Judy dress-up magnet sets. (Steve and Judy are the fictitious couple that serves as the catalog’s stars.) Products were advertised as if they were typical yearbook features – “Brightest Student” was a rainbow pack of folders – and Boise ceo C.C. Milliken became the principal.

An Internet overlay drove customers to a Web site chronicling Steve and Judy’s romance in weekly installments. “People really identified with them. Some even thought they were real,” says Boise marketing director Kevin Koertje. The characters were so popular, in fact, that they were brought back in a Boise High Reunion campaign last winter. “We felt like we had to do it, because we were getting so many e-mails,” he says.

The effort, which also included events and a sales force overlay, generated a 44 percent increase in sales of promoted products and a $5.5 million return on Boise’s investment. The Steve and Judy romance nearly doubled click-through rates for Boise’s opt-in e-mail program.

“Our customers made a connection, and that’s what it’s all about,” says Koertje. “It’s about balancing entertainment with relevant information,” says Neff. “If we can make them laugh, then we’ve involved them.”

Best Account-Specific Retail Campaign Campaign: Intergalactic Encounter Agency: In-house Client: Saban Entertainment, Los Angeles One of the biggest problems in conducting a hugely successful promotion is finding a way to top it the following year. But Saban Entertainment had no problem with the sophomore jinx in spring 1999.

Having worked with master toy licensee Bandai America and retail partner Wal-Mart on an objective-busting retail tour for the Power Rangers property in 1998, Saban came back with an even bigger event last year by creating what would be classified as the World’s Largest Inflatable Structure by the Guinness Book of World Records.

The inflatable moon walk attraction was the centerpiece of a weekend tour that hit 31 Wal-Mart parking lots, backed by an on-air sweeps from sister unit Fox Kids Network and heavy local support from Fox affiliates including on-air promos and events. Wal-Mart provided incremental purchase of various Power Rangers products, a special in-store boutique, local media buys, and a follow-up national promotion in August. Bandai chipped in with prizes for the sweeps, local radio buys, TV spots in top markets, and a cross-sell brochure to be distributed on-site. Affiliates were given Fridays as their own to host nonprofit tie-ins or events for advertisers or employees.

More than 4,000 fans attended each weekend, and more than 92,000 people entered the sweepstakes. Bandai’s sales increased by more than 400 percent and sales of other Power Rangers products rose 40 percent at each stop. The sixth season of the Power Rangers TV show earned a 10.7 rating and 34 share among boys six to 11. More than 85 percent of Fox affiliates sold the promotion to third-party sponsors.

“Everybody was on board from the beginning, because they saw the successes in the past,” says Saban vp-promotions Gina Mace-Sands. “It was a fabulous publicity machine.” The company is putting together a third go-round for next spring.

Best Dealer/Sales Force Activity Campaign: Spice Islands World Flavors Introduction Agency: WatersMolitor, Minneapolis Client: Tone Brothers, Des Moines, IA Tone Brothers needed a major push to launch its first new product line in four years, but didn’t have a lot of time in which to do it. The company hired WatersMolitor last December, and charged the agency with breaking a campaign for the World Flavors line of ethnic spices by March 1.

“When we pulled the trigger, it happened very quickly,” says brand manager Christopher Bentley. “WatersMolitor nailed the essence of what the brand stood for right away. It’s very evident in the materials.”

The agency’s trade campaign centered on Old World imagery playing off the origins of the nine spices in the line, and featured confident messaging themed “Takin’ Back the Business” for Tone’s sales force – which was undergoing a massive turnover just as the effort broke.

Retailers received free samples in treasure chests that proved to be a real hit. (“I’m still sending out about 20 of those a week,” says Bentley.) The locked chests could only be opened by keys delivered within the sales brochure. Public events and in-store displays including shippers, racks, and shelf strips brought the message to consumers. A unique five-panel label spiced up packaging with a variety of recipes.

“We wanted integrated communication across all audiences,” says WatersMolitor president Dori Molitor. In that respect, the short time frame may have helped, “because we were putting all the components together at the same time.”

In the end, all of the targeted accounts accepted the full line of World Flavors SKUs, and overall Spice Islands sales rose 20 percent compared with the previous year.

“The brand had a meaningful story, so it was relatively easy to get going. Part of it was that we really believed in the product,” says Molitor. “We’re absolutely delighted with the results,” says Bentley. “This really set the benchmark for our company.”

Best Idea or Concept Campaign: Can You Resist? Agency: Frankel, Chicago Client: Frito-Lay, Plano, TX Tie-ins to the May 1999 release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace were supposed to be a sure thing. But don’t count Frito-Lay among the promotional partners unhappy with results from their efforts.

A massive campaign from agency of record Frankel helped the snack leader score its best merchandising sell-in ever (90-plus percent), increase its market share by 2.8 percent over the all-important July 4th holiday, and spike brand regard among kids by nine points.

The effort centered on an instant-win game delivered in 110 million product packages that let consumers choose their odds: play for one of two $1 million payoffs or go for a one-in-10 chance to win one of 11 million other prizes. “We were trying to bring to life the power of the property, and connect with it in a way that was elegant and inextricable,” says Lora DeVuono, Frito’s vp-retail marketing.

Packages contained one of 12 instant-win cards that doubled as collectibles. The cards were released in four waves during the promotion’s 12-week window. A limited-edition 13th card encouraged more repeat purchases. P-O-P and packaging (Landor Associates worked on the latter) rolled out in two phases, the first to seed the challenge and the second to call out the game more explicitly. In-store executions were supported by heavy media buys (including TV spots from BBDO Worldwide) and a canyouresist.com Web site.

Elements of the U.S. campaign ultimately expanded to 24 countries. “It was pretty intense. We started a year and a half in advance,” says Robert Balick, Frankel’s senior vp-creative director. “But it all came together in the way you want it to every time.”

A post-op poll of retail customers found that 97 percent would give the same or more space to a similar promotion in the future – which means the Force might be with Frito-Lay again, either literally or figuratively.

Best Art Direction Campaign: Jordan to the Max Agency: Beyond DDB, Chicago Client: Giant Screen Sports, Evanston, IL Attracting attention for a film produced by an unknown company in a relatively obscure segment of the film industry can be daunting. But as any sports fan knows, having Michael Jordan on your team can make any effort a lot easier.

Beyond DDB was hired by Giant Screen Sports to handle marketing for Jordan to the Max, a documentary about the basketball great produced after brothers Don and Steve Kempf (who had connections to Jordan’s Chicago Bulls) decided the giant-screen IMAX format was short on sports titles.

Working with a limited budget and a short 100-day window before a planned May 1999 release, DDB set out to create imagery that would reflect the film’s two main thrusts: “motion and emotion,” says group creative director Mike Meyers. That is, the movie would offer Jordan in all his on-court glory, but also give viewers a chance to get inside his head. “The art needed to be simple, but it needed to be powerful, too,” says Meyers.

The duality of the image was necessary for more than just artistic purposes: DDB had to pitch the title to the institutions that run educational IMAX releases but also to mainstream theaters looking for Hollywood fare. Jordan had cooperated with the project, but was unavailable for any photo shoots, which left art director Megan Lane to pour through thousands of images to find the right ones. Once she had, the agency began using them for theater sales materials, press-screening invites, ad slicks, teacher-activity guides, and print ads and posters.

Ultimately, 58 of the nation’s 137 IMAX theaters agreed to run the film (more than had signed up for Disney’s Fantasia release), and the movie has grossed more than $4 million. “The key art they designed was perfect,” says co-producer Don Kempf. “I’ve had calls from [Hollywood] studios asking who we used.”