Rising to the Top

Posted on September 1, 2001 by Chief Marketer Staff

Finalists for the PRO Awards 2001, take a bow.

These days, most marketers are looking for killer concepts and uncluttered delivery mechanisms that will put their campaigns over the top. But there’s also something to be said about not fixing what ain’t broke.

That was the general consensus among the 11 industry insiders who gathered in New York City in July to judge the PRO Awards, PROMO’S ninth-annual salute to the best promotion marketing campaigns in the U.S.

Breakthrough ideas and unique strategies are usually what awards programs are all about, and there are more than a fair share of those among the 31 campaigns across 14 categories chosen as finalists in this year’s program. But there are also a number of campaigns that rely on tried-and-true formulas employed for one very simple reason: because they work.

This year’s PRO Awards program was the most successful ever, with more than 200 entries from 75-plus agencies and brand marketers. (The quality of those campaigns was probably the best ever, too.)

The winners will be announced on Oct. 23 during a special evening ceremony at PROMO Expo in Chicago. (Visit promoexpo.com for more information.)

Here’s a quick rundown of the top campaigns in each category. (More detailed case studies will follow in PROMO’s November issue.)

BEST MULTIDISCIPLINE CAMPAIGN

Campaign: Founding Fathers
Agency/Client: In-house/The History Channel

The History Channel used a bevy of tools last fall to generate viewership for its Founding Fathers mini-series. A Wannabe President on-air sweeps had viewers spotting clues before calling to win a trip recreating the settlement of America. A high school essay contest offered college scholarships. Five million pamphlets were distributed through 3,000 libraries, TV spots and outdoor billboards extended the message, a mobile Time Machine took it grassroots, and direct mail brought cable affiliates into the effort. More than 26,000 viewers entered the sweeps, 5,000 students submitted essays, and ratings for the four-day mini-series were double network averages.

Campaign: Motorola V2397 Launch
Agency/Client: Zipatoni/Motorola

Looking to make Motorola’s V2397 phone hip with teens, Zipatoni hooked up with MTV’s Total Request Live for a holiday promotion to bump sales through retailer AT&T. TRL host Carson Daly appeared in ads offering an MTV gift bag with phone purchase. Private launch parties in major markets generated excitement with retailers. An online component let phone users send text messages to Daly and enter a sweeps. Some 28,000 consumers entered the sweeps (9,000 opting in for more product information), 15,000 sent missives to Daly, and sell-through beat the target by 17 percent. Other wireless carriers have since asked to partner with Motorola.

Campaign: The Intruder
Agency/Client: In-house/Cartoon Network

Out to boost eyeballs for its Toonami programming block and related home page among boys 9-14, Cartoon Network devised five days of on-air interstitials that ended with a directive for viewers to hit toonami.com for the rest of the story. The site carried more episodes and a game accessible only through codes provided on-air. Kids voted to conclude the story and entered sweeps to win trips and Nintendo merchandise. TV spots, print ads, and 1.5 million book covers distributed through elementary schools supported. Toonami ratings rose by 21 percent and traffic to the site increased 72 percent. Nearly three million kids entered the sweeps.

BEST USE OF ADVERTISING

Campaign: Million Dollar Giveaway
Agency/Client: Campbell Mithun/H&R Block

Campbell Mithun helped the tax return company cut a broad media swath to herald a $1 million sweeps — for which all consumers using Block’s retail offices to handle their returns were automatically entered. Print ads, humorous TV and radio spots, and online and direct mail efforts — integrated through the common tagline, “Come in for your taxes. Come out a millionaire” — helped spread the word. A supporting H&R Block Trivia Challenge hosted by abc.com entertained Internet users, in the process generating 29 million impressions. The campaign helped drive new-client business up seven percent and revenues up 8.4 percent during the two-month promotional period.

Campaign: Two Trucks
Agency/Client: Frankel/Frito-Lay

To move Frito-Lay volume during the all-important summer selling season, Frankel used Magic in the Bag, an instant-win campaign that seeded random packages with actual $5, $10, and $100 bills. More than 10 million packages were peppered with cash and winning gamecards serving a collective $1 million and millions of other prizes. The five-week promotion targeted gatekeeper moms and used a creative TV spot to convince consumers there really were greenbacks in-pack. The campaign bested the previous year’s summer sales by 8.2 percent — extra impressive considering 1999’s Star Wars-fueled effort had twice the budget. Frito-Lay re-ran the program this year.

Campaign: The Neal McCoy
Agency/Client: Frankel/Fleetwood Homes

This four-month campaign centered on Fleetwood’s sponsorship of country singer Neal McCoy’s tour. In addition to the standard signage at each concert venue, Frankel devised an on-site game dangling a new home; concert-goers received gamepieces that sent them to retail locations to learn if they’d won. CD samplers were given to customers who toured homes, and a separate sweeps at retail offered a private concert by McCoy. TV spots and print ads supported. Direct mail kept retailers in the loop. Calls to Fleetwood’s toll-free hotline tripled, sales increased, and 25-percent more retailers joined Fleetwood’s Pinnacle program as the company regained market-leader status.

BEST USE OF DIRECT MEDIA

Campaign: Nextel Worldwide
Agency/Client: Devon Direct Euro RSCG/Nextel

The telecommunications company needed to generate trial, increase market share, and bump sales of its global phone and service package among international business travelers. Devon Direct created a kit pitched to time-pressed, white-collar executives that arrived in oversized envelopes bearing an image of a frustrated businessman and copy announcing, “Business calling can give you a king-sized headache!” Inside, collateral explained the numerous ways Nextel’s service could solve their problems, and offered the phone at an introductory price. The effort generated a 4.7-percent response rate, besting projections by 367 percent. Leads that converted to sales generated a 312-percent return on investment.

Campaign: Camp Jeep
Agency/Client: Pentamark Worldwide/DaimlerChrysler

DaimlerChrysler’s annual summer festival, which won PRO Awards the last two years, continued to strike deep chords with Jeep owners in 2000. Working with a smaller budget than the year before, Pentamark went to work combining direct mail, e-mail, and cross-promotion components to get past attendees to return and recruit new enrollees. Some 250,000 people (70,000 fewer than in 1999) were initially invited through an extensive six-month communications effort that heavily leveraged e-mail as well as the reach of the brand’s Jeep Provisions merchandise catalog. By now, it’s no surprise that all of the event’s 2,3000 vehicle slots sold out.

Campaign: 70 Million Homes
Agency/Client: In-house/Cartoon Network

When the cable network topped the 70 million-household threshold, it couldn’t let the accomplishment pass without alerting potential customers. So it used both traditional direct mail and e-mail to notify 1,500 advertising and promotion marketing executives. After first breaking the effort with trade ads, the net mailed kits shaped like mice carrying boxes of chocolate and cards thanking recipients for their support. One week later, an e-mail featuring animated cartoon characters arrived to reinforce the message. The e-mail scored a click-through rate of 26 percent, almost double what the network targeted and more than five times the industry average for similar messages.

MOST INNOVATIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Campaign: Escape to the Art of WEGA
Agency/Client: Brand Buzz/Sony

Proving that art and technology are a winning combination, Sony supported its high-end WEGA flat-screen TV during the holidays by generating awareness among single urban consumers in New York City and Chicago. After launching with a pair of star-studded parties, Brand Buzz went mobile with a traveling exhibit that “framed” pieces of art (borrowed through an arrangement with nonprofit GenArt) on WEGA screens and visited high-traffic locations. A sweeps used various prizes to collect leads, while radio spots, online ads, and other guerrilla tactics supported. The campaign droves sales up 17-percent higher than goal and generated 220 million impressions in just six weeks.

Campaign: Max Life Car Lovers Challenge
Agency/Client: Edelman Worldwide/Valvoline Co.

To accelerate trial and awareness for Max Life motor oil, Valvoline and Edelman hit the road last winter. The program launched with a search for a consumer willing to live in his car for 75,000 minutes while driving cross-country. After weeding through 750 essays, the winner was sent on a 52-day tour of retail outlets, plants, and distributors, being interviewed by 40-plus media outlets along the way. The tour ended in New York City with the driver receiving $75,000 and Big Brothers Big Sisters getting $1 for each of the 14,500 miles he racked up. Volume during the program jumped 155 percent and revenues rose 160 percent.

Campaign: Tossed & Found
Agency/Client: Ryan Partnership/GE Financial Network

To hype a new online financial service, GE used a promotion as compelling as it was unique. In July and August 2000, Ryan sent guerrilla teams to infiltrate 12 markets, dropping 5,000 “lost” wallets on city streets, outside office buildings, in elevators, at train stations, and elsewhere. Consumers who picked up the faux wallets found $1 inside and a plastic instant-win gamecard offering a chance at a $100,000 investment account and other prizes. Public transportation ads, radio merchandising, and extensive p.r. supported. Site traffic more than doubled during the eight weeks of the campaign, which generated more than 150 million media impressions.

BEST USE OF NEW MEDIA

Campaign: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Agency/Client: Wunderman/Ericsson

To introduce a new Internet phone, Ericsson and Wunderman scored a tie with the hit game show, then staged a 21st century watch-and-win game. P-O-P stations in phone stores distributed scratch-off gamecards players matched with numbers appearing in an Ericsson spot during the show for chances to win prizes from a $1 million-plus pool. A separate flight mailed 1,800 phone replicas to high-potential customers, who could point the items at TVs and instantly receive messages if they won. Some 2.6 million consumers participated, an estimated 52 percent of direct recipients recalled the effort, and phone sales rose 30 percent, exceeding projections by 13 percent.

Campaign: Celebrity You’ve Got Mail
Agency/Client: Seismicom/AOL Time Warner

America Online used its famous greeting to spawn an online-to-offline game promoting its latest software release. A month-long brand-building game from Seismicom featured three weekly mystery celebrity voices uttering, “Welcome,” “You’ve got Mail,” and “Goodbye.” Players registered before listening and guessing which voice was featured. Each correct guess earned an entry to win Mazda cars, vacations, and free videos from partner Blockbuster (which helped by positioning audio-capable end-caps so consumers could play in stores). Print ads, p.r., direct mail, and other online components supported. In all, 1.2 million people played 2.5 million times, for an impressive average of 3,600 entries per hour.

Campaign: Motorola V2397 Launch
Agency/Client: The Zipatoni Co./Motorola

MOST EFFECTIVE LONG-TERM CAMPAIGN

Campaign: Save Lids to Save Lives
Agency/Client: In-house/General Mills

General Mills put its three-year-old support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation on-pack last fall in a three-month cause-marketing program that provided donations with every purchase. Special pink lids on six-ounce cups promised 10 cents for every top consumers mailed in — in addition to an initial $550,000 donation. Participants were encouraged to form collection teams and register them online at yoplaitusa.com. National TV spots and print ads in women’s magazines supported. More than 400 teams were formed, with the busiest collecting as many as 20,000 lids. More than five million lids were redeemed, and cup volume rose 20 percent.

Campaign: Tiger Woods for American Express
Agency/Client: Momentum/American Express

Celebrity spokesperson Tiger Woods was enlisted to publicize AmEx’s sponsorship of the World Golf Championships tournament series. Momentum sent direct mail to two million card holders in 10 countries encouraging ticket packages with customized offers ranging from free ducats, merchandise, hospitality, and premier seating. At events, The American Express Experience welcome center handed out premiums and entertained corporate clients. Retail activity and other special events (including meet-and-greets with Woods) supported. The campaign generated a 94-percent sponsorship awareness level on-site, with 72 percent of card holders praising the special treatment they received. AmEx cards purchased 42 percent of all tickets to the tournaments.

Campaign: Destination Yoplait
Agency/Client: PowerPact/General Mills

To strengthen Mills’ sponsorship of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure program, PowerPact devised a three-tier campaign. At 36 of the program’s 106 events, Destination Yoplait tents were set up to let runners relax, get massages, and receive premiums after crossing the finish line. At 70 other races, the brand distributed free samples and coupons. Account-specific overlays gave grocery partners three programs from which to choose. More than half (641,000) of all race participants received samples, retail activity was conducted in more than 2,000 stores in 30 markets, and Yoplait gained 11 share points in the two-week promotional window.

BEST ACTIVITY GENERATING BRAND AWARENESS/TRIAL

Campaign: Seize the Night
Agency/Client: DraftWorldwide/M&M/Mars

To reposition M&M/Mars’ Milky Way Dark as Milky Way Midnight, DraftWorldwide sent the brand where few candies have gone before. Leather-clad samplers rode motorcycles to night clubs and other cool hang-outs to deliver samples and premiums, while videos and branded light projections created atmosphere inside the establishments — which also set up special sales kiosks for the candy. Elsewhere, sampling on hundreds of college campuses added greater buzz, as did a Spring Break leg that reached one million co-eds. Sales rose 25 percent, awareness of the new brand reached 60 percent in the target markets, and trial rose 166 percent.

Campaign: Launch of Jeckles
Agency/Client: Upshot/Procter & Gamble

To back the rollout of P&G’s first new salty snack in 30 years, Upshot delivered a word-of-mouth-generating guerrilla effort called You Know You Want To. A mobile crew crashed concerts, festivals, and professional sports games, and also visited theme parks and malls in six markets last summer, passing out samples and encouraging consumers to spin the Jeckles Urge Wheel — then perform whatever embarrassing act came up. A fall follow-up invaded schools and other locales in four markets, this time arriving in a branded school bus. Special P-O-P for c-stores and vending machines supported. The effort generated 30 million impressions.

Campaign: Bring a Bagel to Work Days
Agency/Client: WatersMolitor/Dunkin’ Donuts

To move bagel volume for the chain, WatersMolitor used a campaign that sent teams wearing branded business-casual outfits into 1,100 offices in six markets to drop off bagels, cream cheese, coffee, and coupons over a five-day period. An online instant-win sweeps at dunkindonuts.com dangled free product, Palm Connect organizers, and office chairs while building a database for the client. Counter cards and take-one flyers extended the message in-store to existing customers. The campaign lifted bagel sales 15 percent above target while the online game drove unique visits up 92 percent. More than 25,000 bagels and 72,000 coupons were distributed.

BEST ACTIVITY GENERATING BRAND VOLUME

Campaign: Vote for a New Flavor
Agency/Client: In-house/LifeSavers

Using a recipe that earned the Lifesavers brand a PRO Award in 2000, the confectioner last spring asked consumers to vote on which of three flavors should be added to the CremeSavers roll. Entries were distributed via in-store sampling, print ads and FSIs, and online at cremesavers.com. A total of one million votes were cast, and the winning flavor was announced on Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show in June. Volume sales during the four-week campaign climbed 47 percent and incremental volume jumped 180 percent over the year-ago period, helping CremeSavers become a $100 million brand. The campaign generated more than 500 million impressions.

Campaign: Gatorade Front Runner Trading Cards
Agency/Client: The Promotion Network/Quaker Oats

To activate Gatorade’s sponsorship of the NASCAR Front Runner award program in a way that would drive c-store volume in the Southeast, The Promotion Network developed a premium program offering 12 different driver trading cards over a three-month period. The cards were delivered at checkout with the purchase of two 32-ounce bottles. A pair of direct-mail kits generated excitement among retailers, while incentives such as leather jackets and golf bags got dealers inspired. Sales in targeted c-stores rose 15 percent, display activity climbed 14 percent, and execution surpassed projections by 54 percent. Gatorade took the program national this year.

Campaign: Bring a Bagel to Work Days
Agency/Client: WatersMolitor/Dunkin’ Donuts

BEST ACTIVITY GENERATING BRAND LOYALTY

Campaign: Oreo Stacking Contest
Agency/Client: The Promotion Network/Nabisco

Nabisco’s flagship snack refreshed its four-year-old Stacking Contest in 2000 with a tie-in to Major League Baseball. Events staged in 14,000 stores had youngsters trying to stack as many cookies as possible in 30 seconds. The top 80 stackers headed to one of four ballparks to compete on the field before games, with 16 finalists then flying to New York City in October to attend the World Series, meet players Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey, Jr., and stack one last time — with baseball umpires serving as judges. Volume sales increased, and per-store sales rose 12 percent compared with the ’99 effort.

Campaign: Kissmobile Tour 2000
Agency/Client: Marketing Werks/Hershey Foods

In its fourth year, the traveling Kissmobile again produced even better results. This time, the year-long tour kicked off with launch parties in New York City and Los Angeles which generated national media attention. Two road teams traveled 50,000 miles each, stopping at events, schools, hospitals, and retail outlets. Visitors watched videos and played the Great Kiss Game to win prizes. A new Hugs and Kisses Award recognized people who made outstanding contributions to cause partner Children’s Miracle Network. The tour generated 181.5 million impressions (10 percent more than goal), raised more than $2 million for CMN, and helped boost sales 7.7 percent.

Campaign: Camp Jeep
Agency/Client: Pentamark Worldwide/DaimlerChrysler

BEST BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS

Campaign: Do it All, Have a Ball
Agency/Client: Momentum/Boise Cascade

Office-products supplier Boise challenged Momentum to increase sales, smooth communication with sales reps, and drive traffic to its home page. The shop’s program distributed calendars to customers and sales reps that featured decorating suggestions, cooking tips, and ideas for entertaining. Each month on the calendar carried a different product special and three time-sensitive premium offers purchasers could earn with orders. A recipe contest had clients submitting their favorite concoctions, while an online component provided quizzes and recipes; a partnership with Kraft Foods spiced up the offerings. Sales of promoted products jumped 41 percent while unit sales rose 31 percent.

Campaign: Print Smart Get Smart
Agency/Client: Aspen Marketing/Hewlett-Packard

Out to heat up cooling sales of Hewlett-Packard’s LaserJet line among small and mid-sized companies, Aspen rolled out an incentive promising free printing software worth $300 with every $2,000 purchase of printers and accessories. Direct mail pieces sent recipients to a Web site to learn all the details, while e-mails notified customers and resellers about the promotion. Rebates on specific printers sweetened the offer even more. The campaign produced a company-record $54.6 million in revenues from 14,000-plus customers at nearly 11,000 different companies. Online, more than 17,000 customers bought 33,000-plus printers.

Campaign: Personality
Agency/Client: Momentum/Boise Cascade

To generate sales of key supplier products and position Boise as the expert in its field last spring, Momentum mailed packages customers could use to determine which color matched their personality and how they could best “color coordinate” with co-workers. The information was scattered throughout a 36-page national sales flyer delivered to 300,000 customers. Recipients were directed online to take a personality test. The campaign generated $39.3 million in sales of promoted products, 15.8 percent higher than the year-ago period. Requests for copies of the sales flyer rose 27 percent, while 71 percent of Web-site visitors took the test.

BEST RETAIL ACCOUNT-SPECIFIC CAMPAIGN

Campaign: Wave to Win
Agency/Client: Seismicom/ExxonMobil, McDonald’s

To promote McDonald’s test of the Mobil Speedpass payment system in nine Chicago restaurants last fall (while measuring performance for its first trial away from gas stations), Seismicom sent packets to 11,000 local Speedpass holders. The material included coupons and a Wave to Win sweeps dangling a $5,000 prize. Field staffers went to restaurants to encourage sign-ups and usage. FSIs, P-O-P displays, and e-mail drops supported. More than 15,000 transactions were recorded, and 4,000 new accounts were established. As a result, McDonald’s decided to expand the program to all 400 restaurants in the Chicago market.

Campaign: grl>lab
Agency/Client: Upshot/Procter & Gamble

To help P&G and partner CVS develop greater insight into teen shopping behavior (and increase sales of Cover Girl products), Upshot recruited girls 12 to 17 to conduct videotaped “diaries” of their trips through three drug stores. After reviewing tapes and conducting focus groups, the agency culled findings to launch “grl>lab” merchandise sections. Print ads, a Web site, and a loyalty program supported. After three months, the gap between Cover Girl sales in CVS and the rest of the food/drug/mass channel had closed by 1.7 points, and the brand’s market share within the chain was running 19 percent higher than elsewhere.

Campaign: Eat Like a Champion
Agency/Client: CoActive Marketing Group/Safeway

To increase sales of perishables without resorting to price discounts. CoActive devised a four-week program funded by six of Safeway’s produce vendors that used a soccer theme to promote nutrition in schools. All 1,460 stores “adopted” local schools, which received Five a Day for Better Health kits (developed with a nonprofit foundation of the same name) filled with premiums, recipe books, and trading cards of U.S. Soccer pros. Schools were encouraged to track students and reward their progress. P-O-P displays and circular ads supported. Case shipments rose 50 percent and dollar sales jumped 61 percent during the month-long promotion.

BEST IDEA OR CONCEPT

Campaign: Fundraiser in a Box
Agency/Client: Civic Entertainment Group/A&E

A viewership-generating program tied to a Biography special on Impressionist artists last spring featured A&E’s now-standard collection of alternative partners. The network solicited 185 art museums to host fundraising events around screenings of the mini-series, and got 64 museums to join in. Fundraiser in a Box kits included screeners, tune-in postcards, posters, audio and video reels, tips for pitching the media — and two cases of wine provided by partner Gallo. The subsequent events attracted 38,000 attendees. More than 85,000 postcards were mailed, and more than 250,000 museum patrons viewed the P-O-P. The show’s ratings were 32 percent higher than average.

Campaign: Art of WEGA
Agency/Client: Brand Buzz/Sony

Campaign: Eat Like a Champion
Agency/Client: CoActive Marketing Group/Safeway