2007 PRO Award Finalists

Posted on July 24, 2007 by Chief Marketer Staff

This year’s finalists are an elite collection of agencies doing some of the best work in promotional marketing. Campaign descriptions can be viewed at www.promomagazine.com. The winners will be announced at Promo Live, Sept. 17 – 19 at the Navy Pier in Chicago.

#1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

Charmin NYC Restroom Experience
Client: Procter & Gamble
Agency: Gigunda Group, Inc.

Times Square, though home to an endless array of restaurants and other attractions, does lack one necessity: a sufficient amount of public restrooms. Building off this observation, Charmin launched its NYC Restroom Experience for the holiday season, opening the first pop-up, 12,000 sq. ft. restroom in the center of Times Square. Offering 20 luxurious and immaculately clean bathrooms garnished with elegant molding, porcelain toilets, electric fireplaces, hard wood floors, plush carpeting, valet stroller parking and dance stage, Charmin’s NYC Bathroom Experience had tourists and New York natives alike rushing to the area to, as appeared on Charmin’s 2000 sq. ft. billboard, “go in style.” Thanks to its promotional campaign, which received airtime on almost every major TV network and expose in almost every newspaper, Charmin more than doubled its marketing goals with 464,600,000 media impressions and 10,400 visits per day.

Plunder A Bag of M&M’S White Chocolate Pearls
Client: Masterfoods, USA
Agency: Thomas J. Paul, Inc.

Taking advantage of the correlation between candy lovers and moviegoers, the biggest U.S. candy franchise partnered with one of Hollywood’s biggest film franchises to introduce a series of M&M’s candies associated with the third installment of Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean.” “Pirates” fans and chocolate coinsures alike rejoiced at the establishment of White Chocolate Pearls, Milk Chocolate Gems, Peanut Chocolate Candies in shades of Gold (with pirate imprints), and M&M’S Minis that magically changed colors from sea-green to Gold. Surpassing its objectives by more than 300% with $81 million retail sales in the U.S., M&M’s characters were transformed into members of Captain Jack Sparrow’s crew on packaging and advertisements. With wardrobes and accents taken from actual film footage, the M&M’s crew sailed to promotional success.

Scorned Woman
Client: Court TV – “Parco P.I.”
Agency: Court TV

Recognizing the popularity of episodes of “Parco P.I.” concerning adultery and discovery of unfaithfulness, Court TV launched a rather unorthodox promotional campaign. Merging the fictional show and reality, the network introduced viewers to Emily, a woman who discovered her husband was cheating via an unidentified private detection. As her dramatic saga unfolded, Emily was positioned as a real person, lacking any Court TV brand association. Through a high-profile billboard campaign, a personal blog authored by Emily, a series of stunts in the streets of New York City, and more, the public increasingly speculated as to whether or not Emily truly existed. This influx of curiosity and suspicion surrounding Emily paid off heavily for Court TV. Producing 60,000,000 promotional impressions with requests from 10 networks wishing to interview the fictitious Emily, Court TV’s promotional campaign created major media and consumer buzz, boosting awareness for Parco P.I. and the station itself.

VERB Yellowball
Client: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Agency: Arc Worldwide

For the past six years, the VERB Yellowball campaign has been dedicated to encouraging kids and ‘tweens’ to live active, healthy lifestyles of play and physical activity. In launching the campaign this year, 500,000 yellow bouncy balls were unleashed into the world with the goal of inspiring kids to find them, play with them and pass them on to others. The balls were distributed to 6,500 middle schools nationwide, as well as to various summer camps, minor league baseball games, and local festivities. More than 5 million kids participated. A unique code and instructions appearing on each ball sent kids to a microsite where they could blog about what they did and track the location of their Yellowball. The campaign is credited with increasing physical activity 105% at schools, including 14.9 million hours of physical activities using Yellowballs.

#2 Best Advertising in Support of a Promotion

Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation
Client: Nickelodeon
Agency: In-house

“Avatar,” Nickelodeon’s top rated kids’ program, successfully broke through promotional clutter with the introduction of “Avatar: Secret of the Fire Nation.” As the first major on-air program for “Avator,” “Secret of the Fire Nation” was designed to engage young fans in a multi-platform experience with Nickelodeon television, online, and print. In support of the campaign, www.Nick.com spearheaded an online activity “Avatar Secret Scene Creator,” in which scenes were chosen at random and aired all week in anticipation of the hour-long special. In addition to allowing kids to create their own scene with personalized characters, backgrounds, music, and dialogue, “Scene Creator” encouraged fans to submit their completed scenes to be aired in the week leading up to the event. With its site luring a reported 9.74 million visitors, “Avator: Secret of the Fire Nation” premiered on Sept. 15 as the No. 1 event on all of TV and was the highest-rated Avator telecast ever.

Bakers Square Pie of the Month Promotion
Client: Vicorp Inc.’s Bakers Square
Agency: Catapult Marketing

Facing an impending fourth year of declining sales, Vicorp Inc.’s Bakers Square restaurant knew it had to develop a successful promotional campaign in order to get back on the right track. Limited-time offers, discounts and sweepstakes comprised the Slice of the Good Life pie of the month promotion, featuring Bakers Square’s mouth-watering array of pies such as Triple Chocolate Treat, Blackberry Bavarian and Bananas Foster. Using cutting edge animation and catchy music in television advertising, as well as exterior banners, window posters and table cards, Bakers Square hoped to attract a broader, younger audience to the promotion. Sales increased 16.5% in Chicago and 12.5% in Minneapolis with the first three programs.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”/Verizon
Client: Buena Vista Pictures Marketing
Agency: In-house

Partnering with Verizon in anticipation of the third installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Disney sought to advertise “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” to hip, technology-oriented consumers. In turn, Disney’s partnership allowed Verizon to add compelling content to their mobile and vCast offerings. Utilizing access to Disney’s multi-million dollar “Pirates” set for a special television shoot, Verizon drove awareness to novel features such as a “Pirates” Text Messaging Game entitled “Create Your Own Adventure”, designed to increase text messaging usage, as well as film awareness. The Verizon/Pirates campaign also introduced wallpapers, ringtones, pictures, and vCast video content from “Dead Man’s Chest” available for download and text messaging. With 109,576 “Create Your Own Adventure” participants daily and each person sending an average of 69 text messages, Verizon successfully boosted messaging traffic, while Disney was able to get Pirates fans back into the plotline before the premiere of the third installment.

Plunder a Bag of M&M’s White Chocolate Pearls
Client: Masterfoods, USA
Agency: Thomas J. Paul, Inc.

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

Charmin NYC Restroom Experience
Client: Procter & Gamble
Agency: Gigunda Group

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

#3 Best Use of Event Marketing (Five or Less Venues)

Meow Mix House
Client: Del Monte Foods
Agency: Grand Central Marketing, Inc.

For more than 30 years, Meow Mix has been one of the top-selling brands of cat foods in the United States, and has spearheaded many successful promotional campaigns, including “The Meow Mix Café” and “Meow TV.” With the establishment of “Meow Mix House” the world was introduced to the first reality show starring cats, appearing on the cable channel Animal Planet in 10 three-minute episodes. Ten homeless felines from shelters across the U.S. flew to New York, where they lived together in a custom-built house in midtown Manhattan for 10 days in July. The cats proceeded to compete in a series of challenges, including a climb-a-thon and a purring contest. After begin eliminated from the competition, all cats were adopted into permanent homes. The house, which was opened to the public on Madison Avenue and averaged 1,000 visitors per day, allowed fans to visit the cats and vote for their favorites. Through the event’s Web site, people were able to observe the cats 24 hours per day. The Web site received more than 2.5 million hits, and more than 250,000 consumers voted online for their favorite cat.

The Ford Fusion Challenge
Client: Ford Motor Co.
Agency: Acme Branding Company

Intent on discovering whether or not Ford Fusion could compete in the same league as Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, Ford Motor Co. designed the Ford Fusion Challenge. In order to ensure a credible and knowledgeable audience, Ford selected subscribers to Car and Driver and Road & Truck magazines and invited them to the 1-million-square-foot parking lot at FedEx field near Washington DC to test drive the Fusion, Camry, and Accord, and offer their opinions. Out of the 821 people who registered, 599 (73%) attended. During the registration process, car enthusiasts were asked a series of quantifiable questions to measure the participants’ brand perceptions of the Fusion, Camry and Accord. Through the installation of cameras in all of the vehicles, Ford recorded the transformation from Fusion skeptic to Fusion believer. After the participants drove all three cars, they were asked the same questions that they were asked in the registration process. The post-event survey yielded a 56% point increase for Ford Fusion, when compared to the pre-event brand perception data. In the two months following the challenge, Ford Fusion posted a double-digit sales increase and customers new to Ford Motor Company hit an all-time high of 47%.

Yahoo! Answers Presents: Ask the Planet 2006
Client: Yahoo!
Agency: In-house

With 500 million users—one in every two Internet users—Yahoo is the largest community on the Web. With the recent launch of its new product, Yahoo Answers, now the most popular Q&A site on the Internet, Yahoo changed the online search game by leveraging the collective intelligence of the Yahoo community. In its unique promotion entitled “Ask the Planet,” Yahoo invited consumers to answer the world’s biggest questions from celebrities and world-renowned authorities. To bring this online program to life, Yahoo built the “World’s Biggest Brain,” a two-story brain-shaped terrarium perched atop New York’s Times Square. For 72 consecutive hours in June 2006, the World’s Biggest Brain housed 25 actual Yahoo Answers users, known as Brainiacs. During this three-day event, which was webcast worldwide, Brainacs were challenged to answer 5,000 questions. Celebrities such as Donald Trump, Dane Cook, Al Gore and Stephen Hawking, as well as other Yahoo users, in turn, posed their own questions. The promotion was capped by a question from Bono, who asked: “What can we do to make poverty history?” The best answer to Bono’s question received a $25,000 donation from Yahoo in the winner’s name to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The campaign delivered a 77% return on investments and drove 25% over goal on referrals and traffic. After the campaign, Yahoo Answers ranked second to Wikipedia in market share for reference sites on the Web.

#4 Best Use of Event Marketing (More Than Five Venues)

FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola
Client: Coca-Cola
Agency: Ignition, Inc.

Back in 2006, FIFA and Coca-Cola partnered to initiate the first-ever global FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour. With FIFA providing the trophy and brand associated with it, Coca-Cola, in turn, provided the ways and means to execute the program globally. While FIFA held the goal of creating a new marketing strategy to control the trophy, Coca-Cola sought to develop the “We All Speak Football” campaign, which encompasses the idea that certain elements of society can break down barriers between people of different countries and cultures. Based on the 100 days available, a route was chosen to include 29 countries, with the Trophy paying a visit to all five major continents. Two days were allotted for all of the 31 cities visited on the tour. Day one was comprised of press conferences, private galas, community programs and TV broadcasts. Day two, however, was entirely saved for fans, with a public viewing of the Trophy and a 3-D film displaying footage of previous World Cups. A total of 175,000 consumers, 6,500 key customers, 3,500 journalists, 9,000 Coca-Cola bottlers and employees and more than 6,500 young people from various charity programs enjoyed the Trophy Tour experience. More than 90% of the general population was aware of the Tour, and 70% of the people who attended the event have a better opinion of the Coca-Cola brand and are more likely to drink it.

Nintendo Wii Ambassador Tour
Client: Nintendo of America Inc.
Agency: A Squared Group

In order to drive awareness, trial, and sales of the Wii, Nintendo’s low-priced, motion-controlled machine, Nintendo created the Wii Ambassador Tour. With the goal of connecting with individuals that made up 80% of the potential Wii market without alienating the intense brand loyalty of career gamers, Nintendo selected Wii Ambassadors from three distinct social groups: Loyalists (ages 18-25), New Era Soccer Moms (ages 35-45) and Multi-Generational Families (ages 2-80). Working over weekends during a two-month timeframe, eight cities were visited during the cross country Wii Ambassador Tour. Friday Night for Loyalists consisted of secret e-mails and mysterious voicemails that invited guests to windowless vans that brought them to secret locations, where passwords were essential for admittance into Wii territory. Saturday Night brought New Era Soccer Moms to breathtaking hotel penthouse suites redesigned to display the Wii. Sunday Night was dedicated to families. As Wii systems were brought to the homes of ambassadors, family members of all ages gathered around to spend quality time gaming. Ninety-two percent of the people who attended an ambassador’s party purchased a Wii, and as a result of the campaign, within the first 90 days of its launch, every Wii available for sale around the world was purchased, making the Wii the most successful console launch in the history of gaming.

Proud to Be a Bed Head
Client: Hampton Hotels
Agency: Hall Event Group, a Draftfcb company

Following the popular trend of fellow hotel franchises of upgrading beds, Hampton Hotels looked for a unique way to advertise their new beds over those of their competitors. As a result, Hampton designed a promotional campaign based around visual proof that a person had slept soundly and comfortably: bed head. Hampton Hotel boasted that after sleeping in their beds, consumers would no longer regard bed head as a negative aspect of their appearance, but as a sign of being well-rested, and in turn become “Proud to be a Bed Head”. In addition to traditional marketing strategies such as national TV commercial, print ads in USA Today and the Wall Street Journal, and the opportunity for consumers to enter an online sweepstakes at hamptonbedhead.com, Hampton Hotels initiated a series of unorthodox promotional techniques. Utilizing a team of Bed Heads who distributed free branded goodies and entertained passersby with crazy antics and hilarious hair, consumers visited hamptonbedhead.com, where they were invited to upload a picture of their own bed head to win prizes. The “Proud to Be a Bed Head” campaign invoked an increase in online reservations by 30.1%, generating an incremental $39 million in revenue.

The North Face Endurance 50
Client: The North Face
Agency: The Squires Group/Hawkeye Sports & Entertainment

Posed with the problem of how to go about establishing buzz and credibility for its new line of running wear, The North Face merged a world-class athlete expedition with an integrated promotion—“The Endurance 50.” In 50 days, renowned marathon runner Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 states wearing the North Faces’ Arnuva 50. Consumers could register and run with Dean in each state through www.active.com. To make the Endurance 50 a reality, The North Face partnered with Runner’s World, Timex, Nature’s Path, Cytomax, and more. For 50 days, a traveling road show moved Dean across the country as a mobile marketing platform and athlete support team. Through The Endurance 50 program, The North Face was able to establish immediate credibility as a leader in the endurance running market. Following the end of the campaign, Dean Karnazes was named Athlete of the Year.

#5 Best Vehicle-Based Experiential Campaign

‘All’ Small & Mighty Clothes Bus
Client: Unilever
Agency: FreeCar Media

The initial introduction of “all” small and mighty 3x concentrated laundry detergent, a 10 inch bottle that does 32 loads of laundry, posed some concerns. Would consumers who had become so accustomed to a bulky 100-ounce container of laundry detergent trust that the compact “all” small and mighty was capable of doing the same amount of laundry? In an attempt to market the extensive amount of clothing that “all” small and mighty could clean, two buses covered in clothing drove a targeted route around highly populated areas in New York City for 8 hours a day for 12 consecutive days. By handing out brochures containing coupons and information on the novel “all” small and mighty, eight total brand ambassadors educated consumers on the benefits of their new product. In addition, brand ambassadors showed consumers how to enter the “Spot the Bus” sweepstakes using their cell phones. All in all, 74,081 coupons were given away and over 4.4 million impressions were generated thanks to the clothes bus promotion.

Coors Light Silver Bullet Train
Client: Molson-Coors Brewing Company
Agency: Vivid Marketing, Inc.

Following the success of its 2006 advertising campaign featuring the Silver Bullet Train, the Molson-Coors Brewing Company decided to bring the Silver Bullet Train to life through a promotional campaign tour. With the goal of creating an educational vehicle where consumers could learn about packaging innovations, product attributes, brewing process and more, an authentic replica of the train seen in 2006 advertising was constructed. Stepping inside the Coors Light Silver Bullet Train, consumers were overwhelmed with mountain imagery, and had the opportunity to interact with the Coors Light Silver Bullet Girls with a cold one in hand. In 2006, the Coors Light Silver Bullet Train served as the backdrop for live concerts including Kid Rock, professional and collegiate sports events, and local retain events. The train was equipped with many unique design elements including intelligent video screens, a state of the art climate control system to enhance the “Refreshment as Cold as the Rockies Experience” and the cutting-edge CO2 compression steam system.

Dew Action Sports Tour Sponsorship Activation
Client: Toyota Motor Sales
Agency: Maritz Interactions

Wishing to bring its popular slogan of “Moving Forward” to life, Toyota’s sponsorship of the Dew Action Sports Tour was aimed at increasing awareness of the brand and product purchase consideration among the action sports youth market. At the hub of this promotional event stands the Toyota Zone, a 40-by-50-foot space featuring interactive product experiences that expose the correlation between Toyota vehicles and the lifestyles and interests of the action sports audience. Such attractions of the Toyota Zone included the Tacoma Mudsligner, in which pushing the pedal of a custom Tacoma generated a stream of water into the crowd; the Yaris Fortune Teller, a live fortune teller who could only communicate with guests from inside a Yaris and the Corolla Freak-Out, consisting of photo session inside a Corolla resembling a carnival photo booth. Overall, 344,776 people visited the Toyota Zone and 37,519 fans participated in the vehicle attractions.

Gillette Fusion ‘Start the Reaction’ Tour
Client: Procter & Gamble/Gillette
Agency: Pierce

Facing heavy competition from Schick at the introduction of the four-blade Quattro razor, Gillette launched its five-blade Gillette Fusion razor. To drive awareness and sales for the new Fusion, Gillette spearheaded its “Start the Reaction” Tour. The tour featured two mobile units with cutting-edge technology. The tour utilized a 53’ (big rig) trailer, which created an impressive 80-by-50-foot event. Upon entering the trailer, brand ambassadors presented consumers with an all-access pass to the tour known as a Reaction Card. Consumers were then welcomed to scan their Reaction Card to an on-board computer, where they could enter their email info to receive future promos. Trailer visitors could explore the product display wall to see and touch firsthand the revolutionary Fusion. By means of the Virtual Style simulators, consumers could have their photo taken and through 3-D animation, view what they would look like sporting different facial hairstyles. This new look could become a reality thanks to Fusion razors at the self-shave station. The 2006 Fusion launch earned record sales results and the brand produced the top 5 new CPG products for 2006 based on over 1,000 new products launched nationally.

#6 Best Use of Consumer-Generated Content

Doritos Crash the Super Bowl
Client: Frito-Lay
Agency: Millsport

Coming to grips with the harsh reality that it was slowly losing relevancy among its core consumers, Doritos recognized the importance of creating a promotion that would boost awareness among the target consumer group of 16-24 year olds. Through a unique marketing campaign entitled “Crash the Super Bowl,” Doritos-lovers were given a once-in-lifetime opportunity to create a 30-second commercial regarding their passion for Doritos. The winning ad, unedited, would then air on the world’s largest advertising stage: The Super Bowl. In addition to having their ad appear before more than 50 million viewers of the Super Bowl, participants would also receive a $10,000 cash prize if their video made it into the top five. Following the selection of the five finalists by a panel of judges, the finalists became subject to interviews locally and nationally, and became spokespersons for the Doritos brand. For two weeks prior to the Super Bowl, the public voted for their favorite video. The “Vote and Win” aspect allowed consumers the chance to win NFL gear instantly by going on and casting their vote for their favorite ad. The 1,070 user-generated spots that were considered for the Crash the Super Bowl contest were viewed more than 3 million times in the video gallery, www.crashthesuperbowl.com. The site garnered 2.5 million page views over 4 months and had approximately 925,000 unique visitors.

My GRAMMY Moment
Client: The Recording Academy
Agency: In-house

Holding the goal of creating excitement and anticipation for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards Telecast, as well as increasing ratings among 18 to 34 year old viewers by 10%, the Recording Academy instituted a wave of buzz through the introduction of My Grammy Moment. Beginning on December 18, 2006, aspiring singers were encouraged to record themselves singing from a pre-approved list of Grammy-winning songs, and upload this 60-second video to music.yahoo.com/mygrammymoment. The winner of the My Grammy Moment challenge would receive a spot singing alongside Justin Timberlake at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards. Following review from a series of VIP Grammy singers, songwriters and producers, the 12 best submissions were posted on the site, now open to votes from the general public. Two months later, prior to the kickoff of Superbowl XLI, the three finalists of My Grammy Moment were revealed. The winner was announced live at the Grammy Awards, and took the stage with Justin Timberlake and surprise guest TI to have their dream become a reality. Overall, the total amount of viewers jumped from 17 million in 2006 to 20.6 million in 2007, representing an 18% increase.

The Ford Fusion Challenge
Client: Ford Motor Co.
Agency: Acme Branding Company

See #3 Best Use of Event Marketing (Five or Less Venues)

Yahoo! Time Capsule
Client: Yahoo!
Agency: In house

Serving as part of the 2006 launch of the all-new Yahoo.com, the introduction of the Yahoo Time Capsule in October of 2006 was designed to create an integrated marketing campaign that highlighted the global reach of the Yahoo homepage, as well as celebrate the Yahoo user community. For 20 days, the Yahoo Time Capsule, a microsite localized in 10 languages, allowed users to upload personal photos, stories, thoughts, ideas, poems, home movies or art to this revolutionary digital anthropology project. Users were encouraged to submit work encompassing one of ten themes including: Love, Sorrow, Anger, Faith, Beauty, Fun, Past, Hope, Now, and “You.” Aimed at celebrating and preserving Internet life in the year 2006, the Time Capsule contents were sent into space via a laser light beam. The Time Capsule has also been preserved for future generations as part of the Smithsonian Digital Folkways Collection. According to Yahoo’s calculations, global users in over 250 different countries/regions made 170,857 contributions of their personal photos, stories, thoughts, poems, home movies, music and art to mark their place in history. These global users registered over 5 million page views.

#7 Best Cause-Based Promotion

Gap (PRODUCT) RED Launch
Client: Gap
Agency: A Squared Group

As a global partner of (PRODUCT) RED, an organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund to help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa, Gap created an in-store environment that energized the brand, and INSPI(RED) customers to help AIDS victims one T-shirt at a time. For the launch of its PRODUCT (RED) collection, Gap proceeded to wrap their Chicago flagship store in words used in the (PRODUCT) RED campaign and Gap (PRODUCT) Red collection. With half of the proceeds from the collection being contributed to the Global Fund, in addition to endorsement from celebrities such as Bono and Oprah Winfrey, the launch of Gap’s (PRODUCT) RED collection was an immediate success. The Gap’s (PRODUCT) RED INSPI(RED) T-shirt Oprah wore on her October 13th show was the best selling item across the entire Gap brand for the month of October, making it the best selling graphic T-shirt in Gap history. In the first two and a half days that the INSPI(RED) T-shirt was available for purchase, Michigan Avenue’s T-shirt sales increased by almost 600%.

Meow Mix House
Client: Del Monte Foods
Agency: Grand Central Marketing, Inc.

See #3 Best Use of Event Marketing (Five or Less Venues)

VERB Yellowball
Client: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Agency: Arc Worldwide

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

Warrior One Tour
Client: CNN
Agency: OgilvyAction Atlanta

Serving as one of the most respected names in news, CNN is committed to covering the U.S. military and Iraq war. During 2003, network producers, video journalists and correspondents were embedded with the First Battalion, 7th Marines, based at Twentynine Palms, CA. For transport, the crew used a Hummer, nicknamed “Warrior One.” Instead of displaying the vehicle inside the CNN Center until it was to be auctioned, the CNN team decided to take it on a promotional tour. The Fisher House, a foundation set up to assist Supporting America’s military in their team of need, was selected to be the recipient of the proceeds of the auction of Warrior One. Possessing goals of raising awareness for the Fisher House Foundation, as well as generating buzz for CNN and its commitment to covering the war in an honest, reliable way, Warrior One embarked on its tour of the United States. Selected events and locations ranged from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to Army Navy Salute at Penn’s Landing to Fort Campbell to God Bless Fort Benning Day. In the end, Warrior One sold for $1 million at auction, with the second place bidder donating an additional $250,000 to the Fisher House Foundation.

#8 Best Sponsorship or Tie-In Campaign

2007 NBA All-Star Game: adidas On-site Activation
Client: Adidas
Agency: Action Marketing Group

Adidas wanted to make a splash in its first year of an 11-year partnership with the NBA as its official uniform and apparel provider. It ramped up efforts during the four-day NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas with NBA, consumer and retail events. Adidas mobile units included entertainment, interactive games, giveaways, player appearances, Xbox competitions and viewing parties. On the retail front, the adidas Sport Performance Store and multiple Footlocker and Finishline stores were transformed into interactive zones with DJ’s, limited-edition products, athlete appearances and autograph sessions. Action Marketing also set up a court experience called World of 5IVE, where people could play ball and try to beat NBA players scoring. A host of other initiatives included in this multi-pronged promo, including lanyard giveaways, pop-up musical acts and fashion shows. Some 8,000 people visited one of the experiences.

AT&T Caddie Call
Client: AT&T
Agency: The Marketing Arm

This online campaign gave golfers a chance to show off their knowledge of the sport, which helped ensure that the winner was well versed in the rules of the game. Nine questions were posed to players through video footage and animation. More than 50,000 people entered and those who correctly answered all nice multiple-choice questions were entered for a chance at the grand prize: a caddie position for PGA Tour professional Camilo Villegas during the 2007 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. All those who played the game had a chance to win golf gear and memorabilia autographed by Villegas. A viral component pushed the game out to more than 2,000 player’s friends. AT&T received more than 3,500 e-mail address that it plans to use for future marketing. Banner ads on golf sites, print ads, P-O-P, TV spots and PR supported the promotion.

Frag Dolls Team sponsorship
Client: Ubisoft
Agency: In-house

With a $100,000 budget, video game publisher Ubisoft sponsored an all female team of professional gamers called Frag Dolls to target the male hard core gamer. The Frag Dolls were incorporated into an integrated marketing campaign that included online, event, PR and partnership components. They participated in more than 30 events and competed in professional, lifestyle, industry and partner gaming events. A Frag Dolls Web site, which had received an average 50,000 monthly unique visitors, featured the girls’ blogs, podcasts (20,500 downloads), video interview of game developers, a forum, photographs, calendar of events and playing sessions information. The online component also included a MySpace page that drew 13,000 friends in three months. A reality TV show to recruit two new Frag Dolls was created around the girls with MTV’s Gametrailers videogame Web site. The five episodes received 60,000 downloads from www.gametrailers.com. Viewers could vote online for their favorite. Through a partnership with Comcast, which provided $120,000 for Ubisoft to create exclusive content for their Web site, the Frag Dolls appeared at events and endorsed Comcast’s broadband product.

NFL Take a Player to School Sweepstakes
Client: NFL
Agency: Marden-Kane

The National Football League partnered with JCPenney to drive store traffic and sales of NFL merchandise at its stores and increase visits to www.NFLRush.com, the leagues Web site for kids ages 6-13. A cause-marketing component was to generate awareness of the JCPenney Afterschool Fund. Using a sweepstakes, entrants were encouraged to go to JCPenney stores or to register at the NFL or JCPenney Web sites to gain one entry into the sweeps.One winner from each of the 32 NFL marketers and two winners from non markets got to take an NFL player to school one day. They also received NFL merchandise including a replica jersey, cap, sweatshirt and T-shirt. Profits from sales of NFL team dog tags and key chains sold at JCPenney went to the Afterschool Fund. Sales of NFL merchandise at JCPenney stores jumped 22% over the previous year. TV, print and online media supported the sweepstakes.

#9 Best Use of Targeted Direct Mail or E-mail

Direct Mail Catalog

Client: Modern Postcard

Agency: In-house

Modern Postcard wanted to get the word out that its services went beyond printing postcards. It also offered direct mail advertising and marketing services.
INDY 500 Ticket Renewal CD Postcard. A direct mail catalog was the vehicle used to introduce new and existing customers to the company and differentiate its services. The magalog format combined information with an educational insert and suites of products and a stitched in postcard sample. The catalog also promoted an offer for a free campaign consultation. The company Web site advertised the catalog, which could also be viewed virtually, as did a postcard mailing. The results from on segment of a catalog mailing showed a 127% increase in response and a 317% increase in revenue per contact.

INDY 500 Ticket Renewal CD Postcard
Client: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Agency: Serious USA, Inc.

Serious USA was charged with retaining fans that attend races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the largest sports venue and home to three of the largest motorsports events in the world. How’d they do it? The Indy 500 Ticket Renewal CD Cardz was mailed to ticket holders scheduled to arrive the day they returned from the 2005 Indy 500. The interactive card included the Great Moments for the Indy 500 DVD giveaway as an incentive to re-order tickets within two weeks of receiving the card. The response rate was 28%. Some fans also re-ordered their tickets through the ticket office and asked for the free DVD, which meant they have viewed the CD. The CD also included a sweeps offer. Based on that success, another 100,000 Cardz were ordered to hand out to fans at the track as a keepsake.

Sunsilk Get Hairapy
Client: Unilever
Agency: OgilvyAction

The North American launch of Sunsilk was Unilver’s largest hair care product launch ever. The agency used an edgy campaign to target 25 year-old women, called Hairapy. The Hairpay Guys were created to act as “guy girlfriends” who gave straight talk to girls about their hair problems. Teams with three Hairipists apiece visited 50 cities, hitting places where girlfriends are known to hang out, like bars and beaches. Unilever also distributed millions of $1-off gift cards through tip-ins in People, Cosmopolitan, Jane and Lucky. It also distributed door hangers and pink-branded matchboxes cautioning that dry hair is “extremely flammable.” These were passed out in bars. In addition, a CD-shaped direct mail piece was mailed to more than 1 million users of competitive products. And GetHairapy.com was advertised on posters in bathroom stalls, bar napkins, martini glasses and in mall kiosks. Finally, a two-to-three minute mini-movie was produced about the life of a 25 year-old girl and aired for 13 weeks on TBS following “Sex and the City,” a popular show among the target group. A sponsored tag at the end pushed girls online.

USPS Guess & Win Sweepstakes
Client: U.S. Postal Service
Agency: Draftfcb

The United States Postal Service wanted to position their locations as places to be for Valentine’s Day and increase awareness of Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes, introduced in December 2004. The agency was challenged with creating a strategy to communicate the benefits of the boxes being able to deliver anything that fits in the box up to 70 pounds for $8.10 with two to three day delivery anywhere in the U.S. A partnership was born with Hershey’s Kisses to create a sweepstakes that challenged players to take home a Flat Rate Box and guess how many Kisses could fit in it. The winner received a romantic getaway of their choice. Outdoor banner advertised postal locations as “Your Place for Valentine’s Day.” In-store counter cards, online banners and a landing page also supported the promotion. An e-mail blast with the subject line “Enjoy a virtual kiss, featured a link to receive a virtual Flat Rate Box frilled with Hershey Kisses. Once on the screen, the box opened and Kisses flew out kissing the recipient’s screen making kissing sounds. Each kiss left behind a Love and Kisses stamp (also a partnership with Hershey’s) and a promo for the sweeps and details about the boxes. Some 269,200 visits were made to the promotional Web site, two-thirds of the visitors entered the sweeps and 120,635 people received a virtual kiss. Sales of the boxes increased 21% over the prior year. About 11,000 names were added to the USPS customer database.

#10 Best Use of Games, Contests, and Sweepstakes

Doritos Crash the Super Bowl
Client: Frito-Lay
Agency: Millsport

See #6 Best Use of Consumer-Generated Content

My GRAMMY Moment
Client: The Recording Academy
Agency: In-house

See #6 Best Use of Consumer-Generated Content

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”/Volvo
Client: Buena Vista Pictures Marketing
Agency: In-house

See #2 Best Advertising in Support of a Promotion

“The Sopranos” A&E Connection
Client: A&E
Agency: Civic Entertainment Group

A&E spent $225 million for the rights to air the first five seasons of “The Sopranos.” The challenge was how to attract, retain and engage and audience of “Sopranos” fans to the repackaged show. An interactive game was developed, “Fantasy Sopranos,” that allowed players to play along in real-time with the television drama. Players competed to score the most points by arranging their pieces based on what they thought would happen in that night’s episode. Weekly prizes ranged from digital cameras to Playstation 3’s. The grand-prize winner received $100,000 in cash. In a real-world component, all A&E “Sopranos” ads tied to the show were game pieces. Players collected the pieces by photographing the ads with a camera phone or digital camera and texting or e-mailing the photo to the A&E game service. The pieces would then automatically appear on that player’s game board. Some 220,000 uniques experienced the campaign.

#11 Most Innovative Communication Strategy

Altoids Curious & Original Chocolate Shoppe
Client: Altoids
Agency: Gigunda Group, Inc.

Altoids toughest competitors are its own line of flavors. That’s why when the brand decided to launch Dark Chocolate Dipped Mints, the key to its success was about seducing its own fan base into trying something new. To do that, Gigunda Group staged pop-up shops around Valentine’s Day. Dark chocolate wallpaper, eclectic furnishings and risqué art set the mood. Brand ambassadors were punked out with tattoos, piercings and a kaleidoscope of hair colors. About 750,000 samples were distributed in seven days across five markets: Shops opened in The Village in New York, Lincoln Park in Chicago and Coconut Grove in Miami, where 20,900 people visited from Feb. 8 through Feb. 14, 2007, with an average 28 minute visit. City wide sampling took place in Seattle and San Francisco.

Charmin NYC Restroom Experience
Client: Procter & Gamble
Agency: Gigunda Group, Inc.

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

Staples and The Office
Client: Staples
Agency: Davie Brown Entertainment

Staples had a new shredder to sell, the Staples MailMate. An integration program with NBC’s popular show “The Office” was the way to go. The shredder was integrated into the Nov. 16, 2006 episode. Amid impending layoffs, one of the show’s key characters demonstrates his value to the company through his role as a “master shredder” using the MailMate. After the actor shows the real benefits of the shredder, he drops some salad leaves in a pulls out a ready-to-eat salad and pours on some dressing. Five e-mails to customers promoted the product placement. Bloggers picked up on the deal too. A total of 21,317 mentions of Staples and “The Office” were recorded.

VERB Yellowball
Client: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Agency: Arc Worldwide

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

#12 Best Use of Web-Based or Wireless-Based Promotion

AT&T Blue Room
Client: AT&T
Agency: The Marketing Arm

To position the brand as an online entertainment content provider and showcase its high speed Internet service, AT&T created a web-based portal called the “blue room” offering visitors one-of-a-kind access to music, TV, film, video game and sports offerings. The company partnered with top national music festivals, including Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Vegoose, and sponsored radio and online programs to drive fans to the Web site. In return, the brand inked deals with bands, music labels and video game publishers to offer exclusive distribution in the blue room. The launch proved worthy. The site averages more than 6 million page views per month. The blue room was part of a launch strategy for several No. 1 records by artists including Rob Thomas, Coldplay and Madonna.

AT&T Home Turf
Client: AT&T
Agency: The Marketing Arm

To boost the brand’s strategic sports’ partnerships and establish itself as a top player in the entertainment space, AT&T launched a series Webisodes featuring more than 20 celebrity athletes. The AT&T Home Turf program gave viewers a sneak peek into how the sports stars live and how the brand’s products and services fit into their lives. The company released new Webisodes every two weeks from March through December focusing on basketball, baseball, football, tennis, golf and soccer. Each video included clickable items containing trivia about the players and their homes. A sweepstakes overlay gave people a chance to win prizes if they found “hidden items” in the Webisodes. Generating nearly 40 million page views, the AT&T campaign strengthened the brand’s image as a communications and entertainment provider. Some 78% of people who were aware of the Home Turf program knew AT&T was the sponsor. Viewers watched more than 2 million Webisodes through the program and spend an average of 10 minutes on the site.

My GRAMMY Moment
Client: The Recording Academy
Agency: In-house

See #6 Best Use of Consumer-Generated Content

Next Maytag Repairman
Client: Whirlpool Corporation
Agency: Publicis; Carmichael Lynch Spong; Arc Worldwide

Everybody knows the Maytag Repairman. He’s the guy who’s always looking for work. Whirlpool Corp. sought a way to build buzz around the Maytag brand after its 2006 acquisition, launching a search for a new repairman. An integrated marketing consisting of newspaper stories, mobile billboards, online advertising and print ads hyped up the search. An online site at www.Nextmaytagrepairman.com offered video clips of the audition process and kept fans engaged until the Next Maytag Repairman was revealed. The winner was Clay Jackson from Richmond, VA. And buzz the stunt created. More than 1,500 people participated in open auditions in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York and casting calls. The Whirlpool campaign drove 2.6 million impressions in a 12-day period. The site generated more than 50,000 hits in nine weeks and the story was picked up by more than 1,000 media outlets.

#13 Best Multicultural/Ethnic Campaign

Kellogg’s HBCU Sponsorship Program
Client: Kellogg Company
Agency: Career Sports & Entertainment

Recognizing the appeal of its Frosted Flakes cereal brand among African American consumers and the importance of breakfast in a healthy lifestyle, Kellogg’s launched a sponsorship program to help fund scholarships for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Under the deal, the company sponsored five HBCU Classic football games with events, giveaways and retail offers, which drew 259,457 people. During each game, Kellogg’s “Sounds of Gr-r-reatness Drumline” corps performs for football fans. Select games featured on-field promotions for a chance to win gift cards, Kellogg’s products, tickets and autographed merchandise. At retail, the brand created commemorative packages of Frosted Flakes with a mail-in offer for a HBCU T-shirt. More than 288,000 packages were sold during the promotion. Sales increased from 93% to 134% during the third and fourth quarters of 2006. Online, the company offered free ringtone downloads, wallpaper and screen savers. As a result, the company contributed more than $180,000 in scholarships to colleges and universities. The campaign generated 1.4 million impressions through packaging efforts.

T-Mobile & 2006 FIFA World Cup
Client: T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Agency: Wasserman Media Group

Reaching out to Hispanic consumers to brand awareness, T-Mobile USA launched a series of sweepstakes and promotional advertising tied to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The company plugged the promotion online on bilingual Web sites, in-store and through text messaging offering the chances to win seven VIP trips for two to the big game. A second sweepstakes that led up to the matches offered the chance to win $25,000 and weekly prizes of $1,000. TV spots, online marketing, P-O-P and messaging to T-Mobile customers supported the promotion.

Tradicional Interliga Futbol
Client: Diageo
Agency: Colangelo

Leveraging the appeal of the well-known sport, Jose Cuervo Traditional launched a sponsorship program with a Mexican soccer team, called Interliga, to boost its brand. Using the theme, Tres Colores. Una Copa (Three Colors. One Cup), the brand linked its appeal with the love of soccer. With markets reaching California, Texas and Arizona, Jose Cuervo dressed up a soccer stadium in Cuervo colors and handed out jerseys, bandanas and clap-sticks to build the momentum. A decked out bus offered samples of the product around soccer-themed activities. In-store, retail displays and P-O-P encourage people to throw home viewing parties. Bars launched soccer nights to entice trial of the brand and increase viewership of the games. The campaign ran over a two-month period. Web advertising and print ads further pushed the alcoholic beverage’s ties to soccer. The sponsorship created major hype. As a result, about 18,000 people attended each game. Some 83% said they were very likely/somewhat likely to drink Jose Cuervo Traditional in the next three months. Usage alone increase more than 16 points from the previous quarter.

VH1’s Hip Hop Honors Week 2006
Client: VH1
Agency: In-house

In a busy city known for variety, VH1 pulled out all the stops to promote New York City’s roots to the Hip Hop world. With a $250,000 budget, the network launched a week-long takeover of Hip Hop-themed celebrations and events leading up to its Third Annual “Hip Hop Honors Show.” Each of the six day events tied to the genre, including Education Day, Restaurant Day, Music and Culture Day, Sports Day Fashion and Shopping Day and Hip Hop Honors Day. VH1 spread the word through print, TV, radio, online marketing and word of mouth messaging. Partners distributed posters and scratch and win tickets for prizes to keep the momentum going. Online, the network took to Hip Hop, New York and basketball blogs to hype up the show. And the effort paid off. “VH1 Hip Hop Honors” was the highest rated and most watched event in the network’s “Hip Hop Honors” franchise. The event drew 1.8 million viewers, a 29% increase from last year.

#14 Best Campaign Targeting a Micro Audience

Altoids Curious & Original Chocolate Shoppe
Client: Altoids
Agency: Gigunda Group, Inc.

See #11 Most Innovative Communication Strategy

AXE Clix
Client: Unilever AXE
Agency: GMR Marketing LLC

To promote its new fragrance, Clix, Axe looked to leverage the appeal of pop culture icon Ludacris and Island Def Jam to boost its brand. For this launch, Axe, a brand known for it sexy and humorous ads, paired the product with a mechanical clicker showing guys how they could keep track of the number of girls they clicked with after using Axe items. The brand integrated the clicker concept into a Ludacris music video, called “Money Maker.” A separate video shows the artist clicking and counting different girls on the set of his music video, where Axe items were also integrated. The company took over Ludacris’ tour bus, wrapping it with Clix images and turning it into the Axe Clix Room where the rapper greeted fans and conducted interviews. To keep consumers engaged, co-branded hip hop towels were handed out as premiums. Brand ambassadors also handed out clickers with scented cards at fraternities and dorms at 28 campuses. The campaign moved the needle for the product. Brand sales were up $700,000 in the anti-perspirant/deodorant category and $300,000 in shower gel with four months the launch.

Charmin NYC Restroom Experience
Client: Procter & Gamble
Agency: Gigunda Group, Inc.

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

VERB Yellowball
Client: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Agency: Arc Worldwide

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

#15 Best Campaign Generating Brand Awareness and Trial Recruitment

Charmin NYC Restroom Experience
Client: Procter & Gamble
Agency: Gigunda Group, Inc.

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

KFC ‘Face from Space’
Client: YUM! Brands
Agency: Synergy Events

Colonel Sanders, the funny-loving founder of KFC, doesn’t need an introduction. But when the figurehead of the chicken restaurant brand got a new look—switching the white suit for a red apron—the company sought out a unique way to let the whole world know. The company constructed the new logo, the first change to the Colonel’s image in a decade, using 65,000 colored Snaplock tile pieces. The logo, which took 24 days to assemble on the Utah Bonneville Salt Flat, could be seen 423 miles from Earth. An online campaign drove visitors to the KFC Web site to see the completed logo, time-lapse photography and b-roll footage. Consumers also searched for Colonel Sanders look-alikes and hidden messages online for a chance to win a free sandwich. The content appeared on numerous blogs and on sharing sites like YouTube, Flickr and Google Video. The campaign, which produced more than 550 million media impressions in a week and reached more than a half billion consumers in 30 countries, created major buzz for the brand. The stunt proved the company’s new logo was worth more than a thousand words.

Plunder a Bag of M&M’S White Chocolate Pearls
Client: Masterfoods, USA
Agency: Thomas J. Paul, Inc.

See #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign

Sunsilk Get Hairapy
Client: Unilever
Agency: OgilvyAction, JWT, WeberShandwick, Mindshare, Integrated Marketing

See #9 Best Use of Targeted Direct Mail or E-mail

#16 Best Campaign Generating Brand Volume

Pedigree Dog Adoption
Client: Pedigreer Dog Food
Agency: Catapult Marketing

Looking for a way to recapture market share, Pedigree Dog Food sought to forge a bond with consumers by supporting dog adoption with a donation with every product purchase. “Help Us Help Dogs” was the tagline for the campaign, which sought to instill brand loyalty while making a $1 million contribution to local dog shelters in 2006. Pedigree launched a multimedia campaign, including 15- and 30-second TV spots, print ads in dog enthusiast media and Web site information and advice about dog adoption. Pedigree sales are currently up 5% over a year ago, translating into an increase of $48.2 million in revenue and marking only the second time in its history that Pedigree’s sales have exceeded $1 billion. Distribution of 25,000 dog tag premiums and 40,000 goodie bags to key influencers helped fuel the program that’s on pace to donate $750,000 to animal shelters by the end of the year.

Plunder a Bag of M&M’S White Chocolate Pearls
Client: Masterfoods, USA
Agency: Thomas J. Paul, Inc.

See #1 multidiscipline campaign

Proud to Be a Bed Head
Client: Hampton Hotels
Agency: Hall Event Group, a Draftfcb company

See #4 Best Use of Event Marketing (More than Five Venues)

Room-A-Day Giveaway
Client: Kimberly-Clark
Agency: TracyLocke

Kimberly-Clarke’s Room-A-Day Giveaway was a sweepstakes promotion that awarded a $25,000 room makeover every day over three weeks to winners who could choose to redo a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom. The campaign ran from mid-January through February, when consumers are typically indoors and contemplating home improvement projects. The company worked with ABC’s hit talk show “The View” to integrate promotional content over a five-week period. A 30-second TV spot aired on ABC daytime programming to build awareness. Celebrity spokesperson Genevieve Gorder, hostess of the makeover show “Trading Places,” appeared on the kick-off segment of “The View” and provided makeover advice online. The giveaway generated 5 million sweepstakes entries, with more than 36 million hits registered at the promotional Web site. More than 100,000 consumers opted to receive Kimberly-Clark e-mail communications. Total sales volume rose 4% over the same period one year earlier.

#17 Best Loyalty Program

Kellogg’s Movie Lover’s Collection DVD Continuity
Client: Kellogg’s
Agency: Brigandi & Associates, Inc.

Kellogg’s wanted to improve purchase frequency and build long-term brand loyalty for its niche group of all-family and adult cereals. With the DVD penetration at 81% of households nationwide and the average household buying 18 new movies each year, DVDs seemed like an ideal premium for broad family appeal. Kellogg’s struck a partnership with Fox Home Entertainment in 2005 to create a promotion offering a free DVD, with five proofs of product purchase. The program is routinely refreshed with new titles…giving consumers new reasons to participate. From January 2005 through March 2007, Kellogg’s Movie Lover’s Collection program has spawned more than 2 million movie DVD redemptions, translating into 10 million package purchases. One-third of participating households have ordered at least two DVDs through Kelloggs in a year. Based on its initial success, the program has now been expanded to include brands in Kellogg’s Frozen and Snack divisions.

Level Experience
Client: The Absolut Spirits Co., Inc.
Agency: Grow Marketing

Absolut sought to heighten the profile of its Level Vodka product, competing with other “frosted bottle” vodkas in high end of the market. Absolut wanted to create awareness in a non-traditional way through an intimate and personal experience with the product. With a budget of $250,000, Absolut staged 39 Level Experience parties in Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco, identifying sophisticated influencers in each market to host the parties for 20 of their closest friends. Guests were greeted by wait staff offering them a selection of three unusual Level cocktail creations, providing a description of each concoction and a food pairing to accompany each drink. Level branding was apparent at the parties, but the objective was brand awareness, not a hard sell. A random sampling of guests revealed that 75% had not heard of Level before the party they attended, and 90% had not tasted Level before sampling it at the party.

Macy’s Parade-on-Parade Tour
Client: Macy’s
Agency: Mobility Resource Associates

In 2006, Federated Department Stores acquired 400 new Macy’s locations through its purchase of the May Company department store chain, which included Marshall Fields and Filenes. A traveling Macy’s Parade-on-Parade exhibit was created to build awareness of Macy’s, particularly in major markets such as Chicago, Boston and Denver where Macy’s had no prior presence. Giant inflatables, helium balloons and marching bands on a 24-city tour across the nation starting in 2006 drew more than 100,000 visitors to see the 53-foot double expandable trailer festooned with images of favorite Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade characters, contained parade memorabilia, including a Santa suit and videos of celebrity performances from the parade. Each one-day event lasted five hours, drawing an average of 800 people per hour, with visitors typically spending an hour in the traveling exhibit. During the tour, Macy’s parade web site saw a 44% jump in traffic.

Merchant Premiums Program
Client: Visa USA
Agency: Marketing Drive San Francisco

Visa Merchant Premiums Program is an ongoing, loyalty marketing program offering Visa users premiums and special offers. The objective is to reinforce brand loyalty and reinforce or change cardholder behavior, to increase card usage in low and moderate-activity cardholder segments. Discounted premiums are offered in more than 40 different product incentives from 24 merchants. The program produced a $1.14 to $2.17 average incremental spending increase among low-activity cardholders after the mailing to promote the program, and a $10.50 four-month incremental average increase among that same group of cardholders. In the course of the 2006 promotion, cardholders with moderate activity who opted to receive a merchant-specific premium increased their spending by $25.75, representing a 14% increase in overall activity. In 2007, the program has elicited an average incremental spend of $10.36 per cardholder.

#18 Best Dealer, Sales Force or Business-to-Business Campaign

Attack of the Terabytes
Client: Forsythe Technology
Agency: The Red Group

Forsythe wanted to promote its ability to develop a proper IT storage strategy with Sun’s StorageTek 9990. The campaign targeted prospects (from list rentals) who used either Sun or STK products with at least $250 million in enterprise revenue. The objective: to land meetings with key decision makers and unify the Sun brand with the recently acquired STK storage products. A four-piece mailer campaign was employed, starting with a dimensional mailer with “Alien”, a UMD movie, enclosed. If recipients called top schedule a meeting, the Forsythe representative would bring along a Playstation portable player that could play the movie. Non-responders received a series of three self-mailers reiterating the meeting invitation and the giveaway. Creative tied into the B-movie theme; “Attack of the Terabytes,” which addressed the expanding data problem, was one of four messages developed. The result was $2.1 million in new business revenue, far exceeding the goal of $1.3 million. The total campaign, including premiums, cost $95,000.

Cingular Messaging Thumber Fun
Client: Cingular
Agency: Seismicom

Cingular started new pricing plans in June 2006 to simplify its data plans. The goals were to get more customers on a messaging bundle or package. Consumer poster juxtaposed typical messaging with unusual imagery (“Cant make it, swamped at work,” is the message from a man sitting on a beach chair on an island. Nearly three weeks of staff training was conducted in 2,500 Cingular retail stores, which received training kits and companion DVDs for the effort. A proprietary web site was created to produce educational messages with “summer fun/thumber fun” twists. There were 20,678 registrations recorded on the thuberfun.com educational site, 43,158 tel a co-worker e-mails sent and 17,578 text messages sent. In a survey of Cingular sales teams, 98 percent felt the new offers were easy to explain, and 95 percent said they felt well-prepared for the imminent product launch. Messaging usage went up 55 percent over the same period during the previous year.

UPS Longitudes
Client: UPS
Agency: Jack Morton Worldwide

UPS sought to engage and inspire client companies’ C-level executives to view the company as a partner in the global supply chain rather than the delivery company they perceived it to be. The agency conceived UPS: Longitudes, a series of executive symposia featuring globally prominent speakers, who engaged audiences while repositioning UPS as a thought leader on global supply-chain management. Speakers in the series of Longitudes, held in Paris, Shanghai, New York and other cities since 2004, included former president George H.W. Bush, former president of Poland Lech Walsea and Vaclac Hamel, first president of the Czech Republic. Attendees at the two-day sessions were greeted by UPS Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew and a dinner keynote speech. The result was that Longitudes attendees increased their sending with UPS faster than the average for all UPS customers, demonstrating a $25 million on a $5 million investment in the campaign.

USPS/eBay Ship It, Win IT
Client: U.S. Postal Service
Agency: Draftfcb

See #9 best use of targeted direct mail or e-mail

#19 Best Use of P-O-P

Jet-Set Junket
Client: Skyy Vodka
Agency: Source Marketing

Having carved out its niche in the premium vodka category, Skyy Vodka set out to activate its brand at retail and in bars and restaurants. The promotion objectives were to drive trial and brand awareness among mainstream consumers and convert those trials to regular usage. The gency sought to bring the brand to life with glamorous real-life “cocktail moments” epitomized by The Jet-Set Junket. Product purchasers could bid for a seat on a luxury private jet traveling for three days to five of the hottest party destinations in the U.S. for the cocktail moments of a lifetime. All proceeds of the auction were to benefit amfAR, the leading non-profit organization supporting AIDS research. Skyy depletions were up 13.5 percent during the promotion period as the promotion drew more than 300 million impressions, with 173 million of those covering the Junket’s climactic Skyy/Maxim/amfAR “Hot Hollywood” events.

Plunder a Bag of M&M’S White Chocolate Pearls
Client: Masterfoods, USA
Agency: Thomas J. Paul, Inc.

See #1 multidiscipline campaign

Top Secret Launch of T.M.X. Elmo
Client: Fisher-Price
Agency: Eric Mower and Associates

Wrapping the introduction of T.M.X. Elmo in a shroud of secrecy, Fisher-Price hoped to generate the kind of consumer response in 2006 that Tickle Me Elmo spawned 10 year earlier. Fisher-Price executives kept the T.M.X. Elmo prototype hidden from everyone except the 10 top-level managers involved in the toy’s creation. At Toys “R” Us stores, giant countdown clocks ticked off the days, hours and minutes remaining until the new Elmo’s arrival. “Top Secret” P-O-P placeholder units sat on empty shelves and motion sensors triggered Elmo’s voice saying, “Ahh, ahh, ahh…no peaking.” Target and Wal-Mart participated in the pre-launch promotion as well. When T.M.X. Elmo finally hit the shelves, it sold out within hours. The campaign kick-started sales in September 2006 that pushed Elmo to the top of kids’ Christmas wish lists once more. T.M.X. Elmo was the top-ranking item in the toy industry for the three months ending November 2006.

USPS/eBay Ship It, Win IT
Client: U.S. Postal Service
Agency: Draftfcb

See #9 best use of targeted direct mail or e-mail

#20 Best Retail/Co-Marketing Campaign

Go Organic! for Earth Day
Client: Joint campaign with multiple brands
Agency: MusicMatters & Organic Trade Association

Organically grown food generally doesn’t get the same kind of marketing budgets that its consumer-packaged goods counterparts do. Go Organic for Earth Day (GO) was created three years ago to excite the public about the environmental, health and culinary benefits of organic products. Coinciding with other Earth Day-related activities, GO every April rolls out an integrated in-store promotion and PR campaign. According to research conducted by the Natural Marketing Institute, GO generated the largest boost for organic product awareness among mainstream consumers in the history of the category for two years in a row in 2005 and 2006. Further, during April 2006, GO Platinum sponsors achieved a 43% higher rate of growth at participating retailers compared with non-participating retailers, according to SPINS/ACNielsen.

Pedigree Dog Adoption/KMART
Client: Pedigreer
Agency: Catapult Marketing

See #16 Best Campaign Generating Brand Volume

USPS/eBay Ship It, Win IT
Client: U.S. Postal Service
Agency: Draftfcb

To better compete with private carriers FedEx, UPS, DHL for business services, the post office introduced in December 2004 its Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes, offering a flat rate of $8.10 for any weight package to any state. For over a year, nobody knew about them and nobody was trying them. The USPS hadn’t done a retail promotion in three years. eBay, which ships more than 900,000 items per day, proved to be the ideal partner to promote the box, especially since 80% of all shipments of eBay purchases are sent via USPS. A sweepstakes, offering a grand prize of $10,000 to spend on eBay, was promoted via POP, online landing pages, radio and banner ads both on www.ebay.com and www.usps.com. Results included sales of the achieving 300% of forecast, and a 15% lift in flat rate box revenue. ROI was 171%.

Wal-Mart Over the Hedge
Client: DreamWorks Animation
Agency: In-house

In spring 2006 Wal-Mart was seeking an opportunity to capitalize on the “non-holiday” spring/summer events between Easter and Memorial Day. At the same time, DreamWorks Animation was preparing to release “Over the Hedge,” an animated film that featured a family of woodland animals and how they try to cope as suburbia takes over their home in the forest. By combining the product messaging of four promotional partners (Hanes, HP, Pepsi/Frito-Lay and Oscar Mayer), the campaign made a significant number of impressions with five custom TV spots, a Web site with unique content, extensive in-store signage and a circular with wide distribution. All partners realized a double-digit lift in product sales as a result of the promotion. The campaign realized its full potential by executing a strong retail program that achieved the overall branding and sales goals of each partner.

#21 Best Campaign on a Budget (under $250,000)

Air New Zealand: Non-Stop To London
Client: Air New Zealand
Agency: Promotions Group West

In December 2006, Air New Zealand (ANZ) launched its new direct flight service from Los Angeles to London. With a budget less than $250,000, on Nov. 24, 2006, the month-long promotion hit the streets of Los Angeles. The campaign featured five components to meet the client’s objectives: 1) a London-style double-decker bus driving the streets of Los Angeles; 2) a street team of brand ambassadors who were dressed as an ANZ flight crew and spoke with kiwi accents; 3) a sweepstakes microsite offering the chance to win a pair of roundtrip tickets; 4) a bar collateral program at 15 British-style pubs and 5) a series of dart competitions at the pubs offering the winner from each qualifying round a $100 American Express Gift Card and a spot in the championship round. The result: Ticket sales for the LAX to London flight increased by 150%.

K-Y Intrigue Influencer Launch Program
Client: Johnson & Johnson (through Ogilvy PR)
Agency: Ammo Marketing

Intrigue is the first venture for J&J into the premium lubricant category. The six-week media plan included national TV, print, and out-of-home. The goal of the program was to generate trial and build awareness among a targeted consumer group in New York and San Francisco: women aged 25 to 35 years old in the middle to upper income bracket who are sexually active, probably in a relationship, have a willingness to discuss intimate topics and actively seek advice and information on health and beauty trends. A total of 52 influencers and 562 house party guests received samples, more than 200 free-bottle coupons were distributed, and more than 1,100 people attended the launch parties. In addition, 73% of participants reported that their impression of K-Y was much more positive than it was before the program.

Tostitos Team Build
Client: Tostitos, Frito-Lay
Agency: Millsport

Tostitos is the title sponsor of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl through 2010. The brand also hosted early this year a new standalone college football championship game, the Tostitos National Championship Game. Tostitos’ marketing goals were to increase awareness, improve brand equity, increase purchase frequency and communicate its new tag line “Good Things Happen at the Tostitos.” The games are broadcast nationally on Fox. The brand gave the brand two minutes of air time during halftime of each game (Jan. 1 and Jan. 8, respectively) for its latest promotional, often philanthropic program. At the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl a family learned on-field about imminent construction of their new home. A week later, a video montage of the entire experience was played on the field. Tostitos estimated that the total post-game media impressions at 17 million (not including the in-stadium audience), with an estimated media value equivalency of approximately $1.8 million.