Live From Chicago: Draft, DDB Win Top Tempo Awards

Draft and DDB took home the top honors Wednesday night at the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing’s Tempo Awards.

Seventy-five awards in 15 categories were presented during a ceremony at Navy Pier during the 50th annual Chicago DM Days & Expo.

For the second year in a row, Draft won the “best in show” Past President’s Award, this time for a direct response campaign category entry for DeVry Inc.’s DeVry University.

“Your Best Move” was created to enhance the image of DeVry as a full-fledged university, not just a technical school. The goals included increasing cost efficiency of lead generation and decreasing cost-per-lead by 10% versus average lead costs of the control. The ongoing campaign, launched in June 2003, consists of seven humorous spots using a narrator who introduces a different “hero” — representative of the target audience — in each, and features a call-to-action number. The new campaign beat the goal by reducing DeVry’s cost-per-lead by 12%.

The fourth annual Jay Gondelman Award went to DDB for a campaign entered in the e-mail advertising category for Home Depot. “The Home Depot Do-It-Herself Workshop” took first place for marketing results in the e-mail advertising category. The e-mail campaign was sent to more than 900,000 consumers, primarily female home improvement enthusiasts. The messages offered a free CD-ROM for registering online and attending a “Do-It-Herself Workshop.” Because this was a first-time event, there were no benchmarks. However, results were better than anticipated, generating an ROI of 2,942 percent and making this one of Home Depot’s most successful marketing campaigns ever.

The awards drew over 190 entries. “The Tempo committee based our goals on the assumption that a reinvigorated Chicago direct marketing economy could translate into increased entries, said Maggie Pelletier, vice president-account director, Euro RSCG 4D, and chair of the 2004 awards program. “We specifically looked to attract organizations beyond those who regularly enter. We’re thrilled that many organizations entering for the first time added to the list of loyal entrants.”

Other highlights included:

* The Marketing Store won first place awards for both creative achievement and marketing results in three categories: Consumer Direct Mail ($400-per-thousand or more), for Nissan Canada; Dimensional Mailings, for a self-promotion, and Loyalty/Frequency Marketing, also for Nissan Canada.

* State Farm Insurance took both first place awards in the Business Direct Mail ($500-per-thousand or more) category, for Hallmark Loyalty for State Farm Insurance.

* Anderson Lithograph won both firsts in the Consumer Space Advertising category, for DDB Chicago/State Farm Insurance.

* Draft won 11 total awards, Euro RSCG 4D won nine, The Marketing Store received eight, Foote, Cone & Belding won six, and iLeo received four.