Top of the Class

While brawn and beauty got a nod, the majority of finalists in this year’s Reggie Awards had something that appealed to the kid in all of us. The Promotion Marketing Association, New York City, announced finalists in mid-February; winners were announced by the PMA at its annual conference in Orlando last month. The standings by category will be published in PROMO’s May issue.

M&M’s Brand Global Color Vote, Thomas J. Paul Inc., for Masterfoods USA. More than 10-million consumers from 200-plus countries entered the M&M’s Global Color Vote, when Masterfoods USA, Hackettstown, NJ, announced purple had won. The three-month campaign (PROMO, April 2002) was the biggest in the brand’s 61-year history.

dnL Flipit, Brand Buzz, for Dr. Pepper/Seven Up. Marketing support for dnL was literally turned upside down. The dnL $5 million “Flip It Shot” sweepstakes launched in December 2002. One “lucky winner” collects $5 million with a basket scored during halftime of the PAC-10 semi-final men’s basketball championship game…while hanging upside down.

Yahoo! Internet Train, in-house by Yahoo! Yahoo’s in-house team in Sunnyvale, CA, partnered with Amtrak beginning in January 2002 for the rollout of three interactive trains wrapped in Yahoo!’s purple and yellow colors. Guests got Yahoo! content and services on-the-go via Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs. Guests were given old-fashioned wooden train whistles as a premium.

LEGO Bionicle: Power Lies Beneath Tour, Marketing Werks, Inc. for LEGO Systems, Inc. Lego last year staged a tour for its Bionicle toy line at skate parks and other alternative sporting events. “We wanted [field staff] that was old enough to be responsible, but young enough to be hip,” says brand manager Colin Gillespie. “And we wanted [people] who knew how to skateboard.”

Jimmy Neutron Gotta Blast, in-house for Nickelodeon. On-air, Web and the Nick magazine each contributed to a campaign designed to encourage kids to collect game codes (eventually reaching nearly 2-million code entries) from partner products. They then built, designed and raced their rockets, and registered to race on-air. Quaker, Ore-Ida, Embassy Suites and Burger King all provided tie-ins.

Hawaiian Airlines Celebrates Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, Starr Seigle McCombs, Inc., for Walt Disney Company. Promotion pieces, including a Lilo & Stitch-themed Hawaiian island map with special offers, were distributed in-flight to families. The airline provided dozens of free trips as sweepstakes prizes, including five roundtrip tickets for families of four for the ‘’Where’s Stitch’’ Disney Interactive promotion.

Fisher-Price Little People Club, Eric Mower and Associates, for Fisher-Price. The Little People Club continuity program offers a free First Birthday Kit. Moms also receive dollars-off coupons and nine Little People-themed birthday party invitations, ready to be customized with a picture of her baby. Eastman Kodak Co. provided a free coupon for the photos needed to complete the birthday party invitations.

Forensics in the Classroom, in-house, for The Courtroom Television Network. A free, desperately needed and legitimate educational tool for high school science teachers, turned cause to coin. The press covered as many Forensics in the Classroom schools as possible, drawing attention to the plight of an under-funded public educational system.

Wild About Writing, Momentum for Paper Mate/Sanford. To boost back-to-school sales, PaperMate leveraged contest partnerships with Scholastic and Animal Planet. Scholastic Magazine encouraged kids to write through a “Watch, Write and Win” essay contest. Students wrote 50-word essays about their favorite animal adventure. Winners appeared on Animal Planet TV.

Eat Like A Champion, CoActive Marketing Group, for Safeway. CoActive Marketing Group joined Safeway, 5 a Day and 15 produce vendors to create a retail mega-event. Eat Like a Champion was developed to educate and excite children about healthy living and eating fruits and vegetables. (It also became PROMO’s campaign of the year.)

Then there were the campaigns targeted at the moms out there, including:

Rimmel London Bus Tour, in-house, for Rimmel. This UK-based cosmetics firm, distributed in the U.S. by Wal-Mart, cleared a path in the crowded cosmetics category with the Rimmel London Double Decker Bus. Throughout 2002, close to 21,000 makeovers took place on the bus, and almost 150,000 product samples were distributed. Wal-Mart stores saw average 24 percent sales increases in Rimmel products for as long as four weeks following the promotion.

My Ocean by Club Med Fragrance Launch, Do You Kiss a Fish?, Entertainment Marketing Inc. for eBay. A coquettish virtual mermaid who could interact with consumers in real time personified the brand. Using leading-edge technology, the national launch campaign brought to life Mya, the Virtual Mermaid, who became the centerpiece of a national kissing contest and sampling event program.

Avon Sales Representatives Online Order Conversion Campaign, Don Jagoda Associates, for Avon Products, Inc. Avon needed to drive online ordering by its sales reps, so DJA drafted a series of online instant winner games, presented as an incentive after online ordering. Odds of winning were very high, reinforcing the primary objective of maximizing online ordering.

The Great Safety Adventure, by US Concepts. This national mobile tour visits schools, childcare centers and Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores, teaching children and their families about home safety, including falling, choking, poison and fire/burn prevention.

Best Legs in Chicago, Momentum, for American Airlines and Coca Cola. To tout legroom in coach, this campaign generated $100,000 for breast cancer research. Photos of celebs’ legs were used in ads and collateral; voting took place online at the aa.com/bestlegs. Collateral at O’Hare International Airport supported. A Coke sampling station at the American Airlines terminal included a before-and-after “More Legroom” display with actual airline seats.

“Reel Moms,” in-house for Loews Cineplex Entertainment. Loews wooed new moms with reduced ticket prices for adults (babies were admitted free). Co-sponsored with UrbanBaby.com, a media company targeting parents.

“Die Another Day,” Kobin Enterprises Ltd., for Revlon. Revlon introduced its Limited Edition James Bond 007TM Color Collection, “Inspired by Bond, Created by Revlon,” to coincide with the film’s opening. This worldwide promotion capitalized on spokesmodel Halle Berry, the star of the film.

Biography Celebration Tour, Civic Entertainment Group LLC, for A&E Network. Biography wanted buzz in local markets with women, ages 35-49, skewing affluent and well-educated. This traveling exhibit allowed consumers to experience the brand in a new way, and to discover Biography’s integration into their community life.

“Do You Know a Brawny Man?”, DVC Worldwide, for Georgia-Pacific. Thousands of wives and girlfriends believed they did. Georgia Pacific leveraged the paper-towel icon with an essay contest. The grand-prize winner got a Dodge Durango and a limited run as the packaging model. In the first two weeks, more than 40,000 entries were downloaded from the site. Looks like women did want 365 dates with a Brawny man.

Finally, for the dads, there were:

NFL Kickoff Live, in-house by the National Football League. Times Square rocked with Bon Jovi and other stars, who entertained via live broadcast for 3 1/2 hours, prior to game kickoff. On-premise promotion co-branded by Coors supported, and an NFL.com fantasy football challenge contest included Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi. A record-setting 8-million consumers logged on to NFL.com during Kickoff week.

Spider Man Cingular Nation, in-house for Sony Pictures Entertainment. Spider-Man spun his web, and flew effortlessly across the USA claiming “you too can roam for free.” This message was then reinforced through every Cingular marketing channel, including TV, print, radio, online and in-theater advertising, direct marketing and P-O-P.

Coldwell Banker Concierge, in-house, for The SPI Group LLC. Concierge was easy to implement, with two operational models to appeal to brokerages of all sizes. As a result of the promotion, active registered customers increased 29 percent over 2001.

The Taken Experience, Lime Public Relations & Promotions, for Sci Fi Channel. Targeting the 80 percent (!) of Americans who believe the existance of aliens is possible, this tour let visitors send a broadcast message into space and experience a simulated abduction. Visitors were also given a sneak peek of the mini-series. The tour hit outdoor locations in eight top markets via sponsorship by IBM, T-Mobile and Diamond Trading Company and a local cable affiliate.

The Court TV Upfront Tour, The Michael Alan Group, for Courtroom TV Network. To spark interest among ad agencies and buyers for the new TV season, Court TV’s director of sales introduced himself, then was interrupted by two “cops” looking for a buyer accused of over-buying Court TV. The “suspect” then stood up to the cops — using Court TV’s sales presentation.

Mobile Investigation Unit, Michael Alan Group, for The Courtroom TV Network. The forensic-driven tour allowed patrons to solve a mystery using real forensic techniques. The plot centered on “The Klooz Family” a fictional clan whose cookies go missing. The tour benefited KlaasKids, a nonprofit organization for child safety.

Kid Engineering Calls, in-house, for Strottman International. Strottman specializes in family-targeted promotions. It employs “kid engineers” to call target client phones after hours to break through the client’s “defenses”.

The New Hotness, in-house, for Sony Pictures Entertainment. The Men in Black movie sequel, which premiered in 2002, features young, hip Agent J driving the “new hotness,” the Mercedes E500. Mercedes launched a worldwide integrated plan that included TV, print, in-dealer, ROP, auto shows, websites, along with local market activity.

eBay Bid, Play, & Getaway, Marden-Kane Inc. for eBay. This game encouraged consumers to opt-in to the promotion and place bids on eBay.com in return for an online instant win game card. Instant-win prizes included free airfare via Priceline.com; a trip for two aboard Carnival Cruise Lines; Las Vegas vacation packages; $150 gift certificates provided by bedandbreakfast.com; and magazine subscriptions from Time, Inc. Nike Italy SKO Tour, Relay Sports and Event Marketing, for Nike Italy. Aimed at soccer-passionate and tech-savvy teens, the SKO event was designed to support new products and extend the reach of advertising and retail efforts. TV creative broke April 2002 in conjunction with the event marketing launch and featured Nike-sponsored players playing 3-on-3 soccer in the belly of an abandoned cargo ship — first goal wins, and the losing team is thrown overboard (the “knock-out”).

The Nike Italy SKO program broke new ground with a campaign that took a unique but one-dimensional TV ad and made it three-dimensional and alive — allowing Nike to engage the difficult-to-reach teenage target in a relevant way. The interruptive and high-tech communication tactics, the execution of events and the results all furthered Nike’s goal of being the leader in soccer equipment in Italy, and worldwide.