• CAMPAIGN: Save Our History
• AGENCY: Civic Entertainment
• CLIENT: The History Channel

As 2005 A&E Television Networks didn’t set out to earn $7 million from advertisers with Save Our History, but the money was a nice validation of The History Channel’s landmark-restoration program.

The History Channel leveraged its quarterly Save Our History show into a halo for the whole network. It began by getting First Lady Laura Bush on board, then signed Bank of America and Lowe’s as sponsors. The campaign helped fund 48 restoration projects with $250,000 in grants, matched cable affiliates with local schools, mayors and preservationists — and gave THC enough sponsorship cash to keep it going.

Mike Mohamad was mulling how to mine Save Our History for philanthropy when he read about Mrs. Bush’s restoration campaign, Preserve America. Mohamad, A&E’s senior VP-marketing and on-air promotions, asked Civic Entertainment Group if the White House would collaborate; Civic set up the meeting that led to the first-ever marketing partnership with the White House.

Save Our History launched in January 2004 with on-air, in-market and school curriculum elements touting preservation of historic landmarks. A national workshop and awards event co-hosted by The Smithsonian honored grant recipients chosen from 700 applications (nearly triple expectations).

THC registered 55,000 students for local restoration work; grants ($10,000 each) went to communities with the best projects. Cable affiliates, Bank of America and Lowe’s helped host kick-off events in 10 markets, a chance to stand with mayors, school officials and local preservationists to show their commitment to the community. THC’s affiliates ran a total of 25,000 promotional spots, unusual for a non-programming effort.

Save Our History ran for six months before Bank of America and Lowe’s signed on. “Sometimes you’ve got to just take the plunge,” Mohamad says. “When I proposed the idea to senior management, there wasn’t one negative comment.”

The White House is a strict partner — lawyers vetted all Save Our History materials and kept Mrs. Bush from endorsing affiliates or brands — but the First Lady “gave it instantaneous recognition,” Mohamad says. (Rudy Giuliani and actors George Lopez and Mekhi Phifer also appeared in PSAs.)

Save Our History won PROMO Magazine’s 2004 PRO Award for Best Idea in November and PMA’s Super Reggie in March.

A&E will expand — moderately — with added partners and more celebrity PSAs. THC has already parlayed its link to New York City with a $19.5 million deal to promote landmark tourism (also via Civic) with an Official History Center, opening in Manhattan this month; preservation (with the city’s Parks & Recreation Department) of 10 historic sites; and a Passport program touting sites to natives and tourists. The deal earmarks $15 million for tourism ads, $3.5 million for historic preservation, and $1 million for programming.

Mohamad wants to “do New York right” before talking to other cities.

“The White House asked, ‘What are you doing about historic tourism?’ and I said, ‘Isn’t it enough that we’re doing this education and renovation?’” Mohamad laughs. “I have to make sure we’re doing it right before extending it further.”

Amazingly, 1998 was a major milestone for two driving forces: it was NAS-CAR’s 50th anniversary and Goodyear’s 100th anniversary. With all the hoopla surrounding NASCAR, it was imperative for Goodyear, the exclusive tire sponsor, to do something big.

Our idea was a one-of-a-kind card set housed in a Goodyear card tin, featuring car and driver portraits to celebrate each year of NASCAR’s history. Along with that we produced uncut card sheets signed by the top 10 NASCAR Winston Cup drivers as a special dealer loader.

We charted a race strategy that started with hand-illustrating 50 cards and 50 portraits in three months. We researched each NASCAR year to develop a story for each, found color photos for each car and driver, wrote and designed the card tins, and got legal approval from drivers or their heirs.

We made two research trips, one to NASCAR headquarters and archives in Daytona, FL, and the second to the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame in Talladega, AL.

Selecting the stories to feature each year proved to be a tough task. There are just so many fascinating figures, legends, and characters throughout NASCAR history. For example, what successful driver/car owner was a legendary moonshine runner whose life was turned into a movie starring Jeff Bridges (Junior Johnson). Who drove with a monkey named Jocko Flocko in his car (Tim Flock). Another hurdle was finding color photos since color was used only sporadically until the 1980s. We went to drivers and their families.

It was necessary to dedicate a team to produce the art work, since car illustrations take 12 to 14 hours, and driver portraits six hours. Working six- and seven-day work weeks the team sought to capture both the mystique of the drivers and the mechanical exactitude of the cars. Painstaking detail went into adding correct logos on all cars.

Teamwork made this multifaceted project a success, so when we passed the April finish line, we could celebrate together.