2005 PRO Awards finalists
Brands played hard this year — on the street, online, on film. Pop cans became cell phones; TV tie-ins launched burgers and roadsters. Our judges narrowed 500 entries to four finalists in 20 categories — listed below, alphabetically by client. Winners will be announced Oct. 18 at PROMO Expo in Chicago.
Multidiscipline (National)
Cadillac Under 5
Arc, Chemistri, Leo Burnett/Cadillac
Cadillac touted its zero-to-60 five-second rule with a contest for five-second films. Grand prize: a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V. Site traffic up 358%; 43,000 incremental requests for dealer info.
Unexpected Summer
MomentumWorldwide/Coca-Cola Co.
Coke turned 45 pop cans into GPS-cell phones; winners called via the can, then search teams tracked them to deliver prizes. Radio tie-ins and P-O-P supported. ROI beat goal by 26%.
The Hallmark Channel Mystery Movie Sweepstakes
Concept One Comm./Hallmark
Clues seeded on-air, online, via phone and e-mail let viewers solve film crimes for $10,000 weekly prize. Ratings jumped 82% for the quarter.
Candidate Zero
United Online/NetZero Internet
ISP NetZero fielded Candidate Zero in election-year with TV ads, events and giveaways for gas, groceries. Top-of-mind awareness hit 6% (from 4%); total awareness was 89% (from 86%).
Multidiscipline (Regional)
Hooray for Hoggywood
MARS Advertising/American Diabetes Association
Fundraiser let top donor kiss a pig (first source of insulin); Hollywood theme covered off- and online invitations, signage, outdoor, print ads. Raised 25% more than in prior years.
Boru: Clarity from Ireland.
Fathom Communications/Castle Brands
Irish vodka Boru hosted “Nights of Clarity” for Boston and NYC premise accounts, with coasters, posters touting Boru-isms; sales kits to 900 accounts. Distribution rose 48%; case sales grew 82%; dollar sales up 206%.
Xtreme Nutrition
CoActive Marketing/Kroger Stores
Krogers’ chain Ralphs had kids track fruit/veg eaten to earn prizes. A special edition of SI for Kids from Fresh Express pushed its sales 59%; up 60% for Naked Juice, 100% for Marianni; Yoplait sold 1 million units in a month.
Game Fuel @ E3
Mirrorball/Pepsi-Cola Co.
As the Official Soft Drink of E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), Dew awarded the first 10 Xbox 360 consoles (unveiled at E3). E-mail drew 35,000 “testers” for new “X” drink.
Promotional Advertising
Captain for President
BFG Communications/Captain Morgan
Captain Morgan led “Americans for a Better Party” with politics-free happy hours. Garnered 13.7% volume growth and accounted for 30% of all rums’ dollar growth.
All-Star Derby Design Contest
Summit Marketing/Lowe’s Home Improvement, Dremel
Retailer Lowe’s and toolmaker Dremel flagged Cub Scout Pinewood Derby Races. Posters in Scouting Magazine (read by 1.1 million parents); ads in Boys Life reached Scouts. In-store demos boosted traffic by 29,000.
Apprentice Early Order Program
Digitas/Pontiac
An Apprentice cameo pre-sold Pontiac’s roadster Solstice. The 1,000 special-edition cars sold in 41 minutes after show. Of 41,000 registrants, 16% visited dealers. Solstice sold out 2005 production in 10 days.
Suave’s Search for America’s Smartest Shopper
141 Worldwide/Unilever
Bargain-hunters vied for $20,000 and a spot on E! Style’s The Look for Less. Sweeps gave yard sale “treasures.” Suave.com traffic up 160%; 15,000 contest entries; 57,000 sweeps entries.
Event Marketing: <5 Venues
U.S. Open at Rockefeller Center
Momentum/American Express
AmEx cardholders got priority seats, tickets, special menus in Rockefeller restaurants. Player appearances, celeb doubles entertained. Hosted 337,000 tennis fans; 82% will return in 2005.
The CNN Diner
Civic Entertainment Group/CNN
CNN hosted politicians, newscasters and attendees of the Republican National Convention in NYC diner, (also a set for shows). CNN closed two major ad sales over milkshakes.
Meow Mix Café
Grand Central Marketing/Meow Mix
Meow Mix launched wet cat food with a NYC storefront serving cats and humans. The 12-day stint sold $20,000 (donated to ASPCA); hosted 2,000 visitors a day; earned 140 million U.S. media impressions.
ConQwest 2004
AMP/Qwest Communications
Teens snapped photos of codes posted on taxi-toppers, bus stop signs, billboards with a Qwest Nokia camera phone to earn points for $5,000 cash and a concert for their school. Garnered 6.5 million media impressions.
Event Marketing: 5+ Venues
Pace Trailgating Tour
Pro Motion/Campbell Soup Co.
Rodeos, fairs, NCAA and NFL games were spiced by Pace Picante Sauce tour. Hosted 1.1 million visitors; distributed 62,100 recipe booklets, 64,000 coupons.
VERB Anytour
Arc/Centers for Disease Control
CDC extended its VERB campaign with a 100-city tour pitching play. Engaged 840,000 kids; hit 73% national awareness (goal: 40%); gave away 850,014 premiums.
Quilted Northern Ultra/Komen Foundation Sponsorship
DVC Worldwide/Georgia-Pacific
“Ultra Care Stations” at 100+ Komen Race for the Cure events pampered walkers. “Quilts of Inspiration” fundraiser drew 1,422 quilt squares. Volume sales up 26%; dollar sales up 31%.
You +HP Experience
Infinity Marketing/Hewlett-Packard
HP wooed families and empty-nesters with demos of 40+ products via 12 interactive concourses. Sweeps added 400,000 to HP’s database; on-site and incremental sales topped $20 million.
Vehicle-Based Experiential
Raise the Roof Tour
Fuse/Eastern Mountain Sports
EMS outfitted its tour truck with a 23-foot climbing wall, hosting 53,000 visitors. Gave away gear and 30,000 branded premiums, 28,000 coupons.
Mexico Beyond Your Expectations
TV Promo Int’l/Mexican Tourism Board
Tour lured travelers to Mexico, putting a beach (with swim-suited models) inside a Plexiglas truck at chilly corners in New York, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto. Tallied 410,000 interactions.
Windows on Wheels
Buzztone/Microsoft Corp.
A 50-foot truck touted Windows gear (phones, music, cameras) in home and office sets. Hosted 13,000 demos; 67% of visitors were more inclined to buy.
WaMoola for Schools
Strottman Int’l/Washington Mutual
Bus toured L.A. and Seattle to get parents behind WaMoola (school donations for each check-card transaction). Card use jumped 42%.
Sponsorship or Tie-in
Burger King & The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Equity Marketing/Burger King
Fans got 12 BK Kids Meal toys, five SpongeBob watches (SLO), inflatable SpongeBobs on QSR roofs (then stolen and posted on eBay). Sales grew 18%.
Toon Tour of Mysteries
Draft/Kellogg Co.
Scooby Doo starred in five DVDs packed in 20 million cereal boxes (and on 75 million packages). Sales rose 38%; volume jumped 52%.
M&M’s Ogre-sized Candies
Thomas J. Paul, Inc./Masterfoods
Shrek sequel inspired 50% bigger M&Ms in “swampy” or “pretty” colors; M&M Minis got collectible dispensers. Earned $21.3 million in incremental sales (goal: $20 million).
Shrek 2 Glow-In-The-Dark Halloween Wrappers
Draft/Masterfoods
Glowing answers to Shrek questions on wrappers (a $6 million production investment) were tied to a storybook-style sales kit that wooed jaded buyers.
Direct Marketing
Camp SuperFly
Hamilton Comm./Baxter BioScience
Baxter, maker of Rx drug Advate, helped hemophiliac summer campers via mailers on camp-themed activities. Advate sales quadrupled.
Gatorade Athlete Awards
TPN/The Gatorade Co.
Coaches registered for kit to honor top high school athletes (all sports): pins, certificates, Gatorade gear, samples. Nearly 32% response rate; 56% of active coaches re-enrolled.
Customized MarketMail
Draft/U.S. Postal Service
USPS proved it handles die-cut shapes by mailing a curvy “thought bubble” to ad agencies (46,000 pieces). Some 4% requested more info.
WaMoola for Schools
Strottman Int’l/Washington Mutual
Mailers to schools with “History of Money” posters and offers of $500 in books spurred check-card transactions that trigger school donations. Web traffic spiked 31% over six weeks.
Innovative Communication
Boeing Dreamspace
141 Worldwide/Boeing
Trade-show launch of 787 Dreamliner drew buyers, pilots, press; sold 126 planes at $15 billion-plus; airplane orders rose 14% over 2003.
Cadillac Under 5
Arc, Chemistri, Leo Burnett/Cadillac
(See Multidiscipline, p. 10).
Captain for President
BFG Comm./Captain Morgan
(See Promotional Advertising, p. 10.)
The GM Hot Button
Momentum/General Motors
Shoppers sat in a GM car, pushed OnStar Button, talked to a live operator; 1,000 won the car. Some 2 million called in 56 days; GM sold 8,000 more cars than in the prior year.
Best Interactive Media Use
Cadillac Under 5
Arc, Chemistri, Leo Burnett/Cadillac
(See Multidiscipline, p. 10).
VERBnow.com
Arc/Centers for Disease Control
CDC created “ViRTS,” characters fueled by kids’ own play. Pulled 313,000 new registrants (123% over goal); recorded 622,000 hours of play.
Twix Tickets — Collect to Get
Draft/Masterfoods
Ticketmaster gift cards under wrappers or via online codes added 33,000 registrants to CRM database.
2424Milk.com
Draft/MilkPEP
Instant-win game tied to Dairy Council’s “24 oz. in 24 hours” gave 24 VW Beetle convertibles over 24 days. Web traffic doubled; 485,000 entries.
Long-term Campaign
Ultimate Air & Ground Game
Velocity/FedEx
NFL sponsorship reinforces FedEx’s air and ground capabilities. New in ‘04: umbrella theme over NFL, local, FedEx Orange Bowl sponsorships.
Red Zone Player of the Year
AMP Agency/Procter & Gamble
Football coaches laud top high school players. Web, in-school media, TV product placement, movie tie-ins, newsletters make Old Spice No. 1 deodorant brand with 20% market share.
Scion tc Unleashed
AMCI/Toyota Motor Sales
Targeted college towns in 2005, turning 30% of attendees into test drive leads; cost per interaction was $88 in 2005 from $186 in 2002.
The Truth
Arnold/American Legacy Foundation
Anti-tobacco tour recruits kids (ages 12-18) via music, videogames, DJ contests, branded gear. “Truth” directly responsible for 22% of 2000-02 decline in teen smoking.
Niche-Targeted
VERB Anytour
Arc/Centers for Disease Control
(See Event Marketing, p. 11.)
Jeep 4×4 Cache-In Adventure
Rodale/DaimlerChrysler
Geocachers used Jeep GPS to track goodies stashed worldwide via online coordinates. A sweeps awarded three Jeeps. Nine million geocachers played; 1 million entered the sweeps.
The Great Greek Diner Takeover
GEM Group/The History Channel
Greek diners served P-O-P and free salads on premiere day of Alexander the Great. Screenings in Atlanta, Boston Greek Festivals and spot radio helped secure a 2.7 rating (tops for THC).
Put It In Play
AMCI/Toyota Motor Sales America
Engaged “rejuveniles” (aged 18-34) with a playground-cum-road-rally to win iPods, T-shirts, DVDs, backpacks. Of 10,078 players, 32% asked for dealer contact.
Brand Awareness/Trial
Camp eBay
Swirl/eBay
Camp eBay drew drivers eager to earn “camp badges” and win prizes via online and event activities. Over 300,000 registered; 80,000 purchased.
You +HP Experience
Infinity Marketing/Hewlett-Packard
(See Event Marketing, p. 11.)
Meow Mix Café
Grand Central Marketing/Meow Mix
(See Event Marketing, p. 11.)
Apprentice Early Order Program
Digitas/Pontiac
(See Promotional Advertising, p. 10.)
Brand Volume
Garfield Rules
Centra Marketing/Ashley Furniture
Product placement in Garfield — The Movie prompted a sweeps (grand prize: trip to movie premiere), themed P-O-P. Recliner sales zoomed 90%, total sales 45%; retail display up 37%.
Spider-Man 2
Sony Pictures/Kellogg Co.
Kellogg and Keebler splashed Spidey across 105 million cereal/snacks packages. Sales up as much as 42%, volume as much as 68% (Smacks cereal).
Toon Tour of Mysteries
Draft/Kellogg Co.
(See Sponsorship or Tie-in, p. 11.)
M&M’s Ogre-sized Candies
Thomas J. Paul, Inc./Masterfoods
(See Sponsorship or Tie-in, p. 12.)
Brand Loyalty
Captain for President
BFG Comm./Captain Morgan
(See Promotional Advertising, p. 10.)
Guinness Mentoring
Colangelo Synergy Mktg/Guinness
“Guinness Believer” and “Guinness Legacy” sessions invite men 21-32 to taste, learn about Guinness.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Sweeps
Carlson Marketing Group/Visa USA
Online sweeps entries for travel agents for each cruise booked via Visa. Participating agencies sold 12% ($1.3 milllion) more than other agents.
Disney Homecoming
Upshot/Walt Disney World
Time-share owners got exclusive access to parks, shows via direct mail; 2,100 came, with 96% pleased enough to refer friends to the club.
Small Budget
Tostitos Family Connection
Marketing Arm-Millsport/Frito-Lay
Reunited a military family during promo at Fiesta Bowl: dad’s surprise appearance ran on live TV. A :40 spot (part of Tostito’s Bowl sponsorship) grew to two-minutes worth $405,000.
Guinness St. Pumpkin’s Day
Colangelo Synergy Mktg/Guinness
Halloween 3-D P-O-P spoofed classic horror flicks. Volume up 40% for bottled Guinness.
Macarena Across Manhattan
Mr. Youth/VH1
Models dressed like 90s characters (Monica Lewinsky, et. al.) danced the Macarena, gave away stickers to drive tune-in for VH1’s I Love the 90s.
Save the Music
Universal Consulting Group/VH1
“Rescue” events in NYC of musical instruments drove tune-in for VH1’s benefit concert for non-profit Save the Music Foundation.
Dealer, Sales Force or B2B
The CNN Diner
Civic Entertainment Group/CNN
(See Event Marketing, p. 11).
Diageo Bartender Initiatives
U.S. Concepts/Diageo
“Edutainment” programs courted 7,500 bartenders in 20 cities; brand recommendations went up 29%.
The Smarter, Not Harder Awards
Renegade Marketing/DoubleClick
Tongue-in-cheek mailings let staffers flatter the boss into nominating them for Smarter, Not Harder award (Cancun trip). Response rate: 12%.
Get Caught with the Gold
Eric Mower & Associates/Lenox
Reps gave samples to construction workers on-site, then returned later to reward workers still using its Gold blades. Sales lift: 231%.
Co-Marketing
Xtreme Nutrition
CoActive Marketing/Kroger Stores
(See Multidiscipline, p. 10.)
Go Beyond the Dress
Saatchi & Saatchi X/Procter & Gamble
Demos in Wal-Marts courted prom-shoppers with sample bags, style guides. Execution: 96% of stores. Sales lift: 95% for sponsor brands.
Spider-Man 2 and Wal-Mart
In-house/Sony Pictures
Heavy P-O-P, in-store radio/TV. Wal-Mart’s Spidey-licensed merchandise sales up over 40% to $400 million.
High School Football Concerts
iHigh Marketing/Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co, Musicland, Universal Music Group
Singer O-Ryan touted Wrigley’s Winterfresh, Universal artists, send fans to sponsor Sam Goody. Featured CD sales 465% above average.
Best Creative
Captain for President
BFG Comm./Captain Morgan
(See Promotional Advertising, p. 10.)
M&M’s Ogre-sized Candies
Thomas J. Paul, Inc./Masterfoods
(See Sponsorship or Tie-in, p. 12.)
Chrismahanukwanzakah
Fallon New York/Virgin Mobile USA
Downloadable theme-song ring tone, P-O-P that mixed holiday symbols touted $20 off Virgin phones. Total of 440,000 downloads helped hit February subscription goals.
Sundance Film Festival & VW
Arnold Promotions/Volkswagen
“Support the Movies” tent let fans tout their fave films on T-shirts, e-postcards. Drew 15,000 to tent, 5,000 to lounge; vw.com/jetta traffic up 230% over 2004.
Best Idea or Concept
CNN Diner
Civic Entertainment Group/CNN
(See Event Marketing, p. 11.)
Unexpected Summer
Momentum Worldwide/Coca-Cola
(See Multidiscipline, p. 10.)
Meow Mix Café
Grand Central Marketing/Meow Mix
(See Event Marketing, p. 11.)
Oprah’s Wildest Dream Giveaway
Digitas/General Motors-Pontiac
Give-away of 276 Pontiac G6 sedans to studio audience, followed by sweeps on Pontiac.com pulled $100 million in p.r. airtime; 27,000 sweeps entries.