PRO AWARD 09 WINNERS

THE 2009 PRO AWARD WINNERS really pushed the envelope this year to come up with unique, engaging and experiential campaigns that attracted and held not only their audiences’ attention but their wallets and loyalty, as well.

The winners were honored during an awards party and presentation at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago on October 8th.

#1 BEST MULTIDISCIPLINE CAMPAIGN

True Blood

Agency: Campfire, PHD, And Company, Ignition, Deep Focus, Behavior, Cornerstone, OMA, Spacedog, Grand Central Marketing

Client: HBO

#2 BEST USE OF EVENT MARKETING (FIVE OR LESS VENUES)

CNN Election Coverage

Agency: Civic Entertainment Group

Client: CNN

#3 BEST USE OF EVENT MARKETING (MORE THAN FIVE VENUES)

Meow Mix Think Like a Cat Game Show

Agency: Grand Central Marketing, Inc.

Client: Del Monte Foods

#4 BEST VEHICLE-BASED EXPERIENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Morris’ Million Cat Rescue

Agency: Smith Brothers Agency

Client: 9Lives

#5 BEST SAMPLING PROGRAM OR TRIAL RECRUITMENT

Reader Revolution

Agency: The AIM Agency

Client: Sony Electronics

#6 BEST CAUSE-BASED PROMOTION
Morris’ Million Cat Rescue

Agency: Smith Brothers Agency

Client: 9Lives

#7 BEST SPONSORSHIP OR TIE-IN CAMPAIGN

AT&T Team USA Soundtrack

Agency: The Marketing Arm

Client: AT&T

#8 BEST USE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN A PROMOTION CAMPAIGN

Doritos Crash the Super Bowl

Agency: The Marketing Arm

Client: Frito-Lay/Doritos

#9 BEST USE OF GAMES, CONTESTS, AND SWEEPSTAKES

Fill The Plane

Agency: GMR Marketing

Client: Orbitz

#10 MOST INNOVATIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

True Blood

Agency: Campfire, PHD, And Company, Ignition, Deep Focus, Behavior, Cornerstone, OMA, Spacedog, Grand Central Marketing

Client: HBO

#11 BEST INTERACTIVE/WIRELESS PROMOTION

AT&T Team USA Soundtrack

Agency: The Marketing Arm

Client: AT&T

#12 BEST MULTICULTURAL/ETHNIC CAMPAIGN

HUGGIES® and PULL-UPS® “El Tren de Vida de Mamá”

Agency: MASS Hispanic Marketing

Client: Kimberly-Clark

#13 BEST CAMPAIGN TARGETING A MICRO AUDIENCE

Meow Mix Think Like a Cat Game Show

Agency: Grand Central Marketing, Inc.

Client: Del Monte Foods

#14 BEST CAMPAIGN GENERATING BRAND AWARENESS

How Sweet the Sound

Agency: Momentum Worldwide

Client: Verizon Wireless

#15 BEST LOYALTY PROGRAM OR SHOPPER REWARDS PROGRAM

Feed the Senses

Agency: Arc Worldwide

Client: Nestle Purina

#16 BEST DEALER, SALES FORCE OR BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS CAMPAIGN

Heroes Happen Here

Agency: OPTS Ideas

Client: Microsoft Corporation

#17 BEST USE OF P-O-P

The USPS Innovation Center

Agency: Draftfcb

Client: U.S. Postal Service

#18 BEST USE OF VIRAL MARKETING IN A PROMOTION CAMPAIGN

True Blood

Agency: Campfire, PHD, And Company, Ignition, Deep Focus, Behavior, Cornerstone, OMA, Spacedog, Grand Central Marketing

Client: HBO

#19 BEST PREMIUM-BASED PROMOTION

American Express My Wishlist

Agency: Digitas

Client: American Express

#20 BEST RETAIL/CO-MARKETING CAMPAIGN

AC/DC Album Launch

Agency: Arnold Worldwide

Client: Walmart

#21 BEST CAMPAIGN ON A BUDGET (UNDER $250,000)

31 Days of the Dragon

Agency: Ivy Worldwide

Client: Hewlett-Packard

#22 BEST IDEA OR CONCEPT

True Blood

Agency: Campfire, PHD, And Company, Ignition, Deep Focus,

Behavior, Cornerstone, OMA, Spacedog, Grand Central Marketing

Client: HBO

#23 BEST CREATIVE

True Blood

Agency: Campfire, PHD, And Company, Ignition, Deep Focus,

Behavior, Cornerstone, OMA, Spacedog, Grand Central Marketing

Client: HBO

best overall
a real thirst quencher

TRUE BLOOD

AGENCY: Campfire, PHD, And Company, Ignition, Deep Focus, Behavior, Cornerstone, OMA, Spacedog, Grand Central Marketing

CLIENT: HBO

VAMPIRES WERE ALL THE RAGE IN THE 1960S, evidenced by the popularity of Gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows.” But in more recent years, thanks to the success of books written by Anne Rice, films like the “Underworld” series, the “Blade” trilogy and “30 Days of Night,” and cult TV shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Twilight,” the vampire genre has gained a lot of attention from a whole new generation of enthusiasts. That paved the way for HBO to push the envelope, and with the first season of “True Blood” (2007), HBO proved that this is not your father’s vampire program.

After coming off an impressive first season, lead agency Campfire and its partners (PHD, And Company, Ignition, Deep Focus, Behavior, Cornerstone, OMA, Spacedog and Grand Central Marketing) were tasked with heightening awareness and increasing viewership for the show’s second season (which premiered Sept. 7, 2008). HBO wanted to take the number of viewers to a whole new level and had given the agency high viewership goals.

The outstanding strength of the “True Blood” promotion lay in the way it surrounded the show’s target audience, grabbing hold of them to such a degree that the lines between reality and fantasy melded and blurred.

To pull viewers into the story, Campfire began by focusing on influencers within the vampire and horror community and “turning them into evangelists first for the campaign and then for the show,” explains James Young, account supervisor for the full-service agency, who notes that there was an immediate reaction and build among that group.

Also, HBO wanted to break the stereotypical mold of classic vampires and portray them “not as monsters, but as citizens who were living openly as people.”

The agency and its partners continued to draw people into the story line by creating an interactive “prequel” across multiple channels, by inventing story elements that supposedly took place five years before the show began. They supported the prequel with multiple forms of media placement.

A separate portion of the campaign focused on the show’s main beverage. The plot of “True Blood” centers on a Japanese scientist’s invention of a synthetic blood substitute — Tru Blood — which is put into a soda-like drink. This frees vampires from targeting humans to fill their need, and allows them to live more normal lives as “ordinary” members of their communities.

An ad campaign was created for the drink, including out-of-home, print, online and television media, where a call-to-action drove traffic to www.TruBeverage.com. At the Web site, visitors were enticed to purchase “Blood Orange — a unique, carbonated, slightly tart, lightly sweet blood orange drink” — with “all flavor, no bite.” To the left of the copy is a picture of the bottle, and over the logo is printed the blood type, “O Positive.”

To perpetuate reality, vending machines selling the drink were placed in office buildings with signs across them that read “sold out.” Posters in convenience store windows carried the same message, giving the impression that the beverage existed. The campaign also included backlit posters, coasters, pint glasses and parked custom delivery trucks. Samples of the beverage were sent to influencers in the horror community to drive buzz.

Following the show’s launch, a “buy now” feature was added to the TruBeverage.com home page, which takes people to a genuine checkout page where they can purchase a real 4-pack of the faux drink for $16 and a 24-pack for $96.

In the next leg of the campaign, direct mail and print were used to drum up interest in the show. The copy was written in Babylonian and Aramaic — languages that no longer exist (i.e., “dead” languages), but that 1,000-year-old vampires would remember. The mailers went to 500 horror and vampire enthusiasts who quickly decrypted the message and moved to the next level. “They not only figured out the puzzle in the copy, but the whole thing unfolded quickly, because people became rapidly interested. So that was pretty cool,” says Young.

Faux organizations such as the American Vampire League — a coalition to bring vampires together — and Fellowship of the Sun — an anti-vampire organization — were created, including the launch of their own Web sites, and marketed to make things look even more realistic. An outdoor, print, on-air and online PSA campaign was launched both in support of and against an upcoming Vampire Rights Amendment vote. Street teams posed as pro- and anti-vampire rights petitioners. Microsites launched to extend discussion, including americanvampireleague.com and fellowshipofthesun.org. Merchandise from both organizations was available at HBO.com.

Two community sites played an important role in building the show’s audience and enthusiast base. The first was Revanantones.com, a read-only forum of discussions among vampires, guarded by a “gatekeeper” who kept the audience engaged via webcams as she waited for permission to get into the vampires-only Web site.

The second was BloodCopy.com, a blog discussion of vampires living among the human world, which Campfire says became the central hub of the campaign by aggregating all story elements, including multiple daily text and video postings. “Some of our posts had over 50 comments a day and some people got really engaged; that’s what we were looking for,” says Young. “We didn’t want to speak ‘to’ the consumer, we wanted the consumer to be part of the conversation. The purest form of success on our end is that we had a really great conversation with the consumer we were targeting.”

In addition, HBO aired weekly four-minute video recaps as the campaign moved forward, with additional distribution via HBO.com, YouTube, Apple/Zune, HBO Mobile and Affiliate Broadband.

A “True Blood” comic book, which debuted at Comic Con 2008 in San Diego, recapped the prequel story. The comic book continues online at HBO.com/trueblood. Local bar presence at the conference included branded pint glasses, coasters, napkins and “Fangbanger” girls.

Results blew targets away. Roughly 6.6 million viewers tuned in for the first episode of the second season; the Web site generated 29.5 million page views, over 100,000 user contributions, 6 million video views and 50 million PR impressions. The audience was collectively engaged for a total of 50,000 hours.

What caused this program to become such a deep success? “This was a campaign that tied together very organically,” says Young. “We created a fictional world within our reality. Not only were we presenting the story online, but there were all these pieces in the real world that added to that and took it beyond a Web site or video. So people were experiencing the show on multiple levels.”

What is reality and what is fiction? Only the vampires — the HBO-agency team — know for sure.

SIX TIMES A CHARM

• In addition to Best Overall, this campaign was a winner in five other categories, the most ever won by a single campaign: Categories: #1 Best Multidiscipline Campaign, #10 Most Innovative Communication Strategy, #18 Best Use of Viral Marketing in a Promotion Campaign, #22 Best Idea or Concept, #23 Best Creative.

IDEA TO STEAL: MAKE IT REAL

If you make it realistic, you will drive genuine interest among your target audience. Once you reel in passionate enthusiasts, interest will accelerate quickly and organically.

CNN=Politics

#2 Best use of event marketing (five or less venues)

CNN ELECTION COVERAGE

AGENCY: Civic Entertainment Group

CLIENT: CNN

cable news network cnn left no detail uncovered when it claimed ownership of both the Democratic and Republican conventions, as well as election night. To assert its “leading position as the epicenter of political news,” the network took over a bar/restaurant at the two conventions and created the CNN Grill, rebranding the original venues with everything CNN, from the outdoor signage and table umbrellas down to the menu of “CNN Prime” angus burgers, “CNN Brew” beer, and 45 HD TVs tuned into CNN 24/7. A lucrative A-list of media, political and industry-leading invited guests reported the locations as the “hottest spot at the convention.”

CNN also hosted an open-to-the-public party in Times Square on election night. The two jumbotrons reported CNN’s election coverage, while a party went on around them. An “iReport” booth added a social media effect by letting viewers file their own news segments to CNN.com; comedian D.L. Hughley performed; and even pretzels and hot chocolate were branded with the CNN logo.

“The team at CNN challenged us to come up with something unique that would break through the clutter,” recalls Stuart Ruderfer, CEO of marketing and promotion agency Civic Entertainment Group, which conceived of and built the two Grills and their supporting efforts. “They needed to build a ‘big tent’ at what is really the ‘Super Bowl’ of politics. So for them, it was critical that their brand dominate that environment and capture as much attention as possible. The message was that CNN equals politics.”

CNN wanted to reach a plethora of target audiences, including all the government officials attending the convention, CNN’s channel distribution partners and advertising clients, the media, including political writers and bloggers, and CNN’s viewership audience.

The cable news network also wanted to create a hub for hospitality, ad sales, affiliate sales people and public relations so that, “rather than chasing after reporters, it would be the ‘watering hole’ where all the reporters and bloggers who were covering the event would want to hang out,” Ruderfer says.

“People were having a good time at the convention — we wanted to be that ‘hang-out’ spot.” They got their wish. Some of the most important media analysts made the CNN Grill their headquarters for the week. And Ruderfer notes that “even the Kennedys and Schrievers etc. came,” because this was the place to “see and be seen.”

To keep the energy high among the online audience, several CNN staffers blogged and reported daily from the Grill. Also, early on, online viewers were invited to participate in building and designing the Grill at www.CNNPolitics.com. “We put the question out there of, ‘What does CNN = politics mean to you?’ And thousands of people entered their own values and views of what this election cycle and process and our democracy meant to them. Then those views and quotes were incorporated into the design. We literally painted their comments on the outside of the building and on the interior walls. So it was a nice way for consumers to be able to participate.”

Civic Entertainment Group reported that CNN was the No. 1 most watched network across both conventions among adults 18 to 49 and 25 to 54, and garnered the most ratings on election night. The event generated more than 100 media stories, as well as tens of millions of media impressions. In the end, “We were able to distinguish CNN from all the other branded activities in and around the convention,” Ruderfer says. In addition, some of the relationships CNN ad sales staff fueled at the CNN Grill continued to pay dividends for several more quarters.

This campaign was a success because it hit on all cylinders. “This was a great relationship builder, a great brand builder,” says Ruderfer. “That politics can be fun and give a delightful, enjoyable, light experience to people around this kind of historic occasion is something I think people are seeking out, and it was received favorably and fondly. Did we achieve our objectives? I think the answer is a resounding yes.”

IDEA TO STEAL: MARKET DOMINATION

When building a brand promotion, dominate your category in every possible way.

let’s play

a winner in two categories:
#3 Best use of event marketing (more than five venues)
#13 Best campaign targeting a micro audience

MEOW MIX ‘THINK LIKE A CAT’ GAME SHOW

AGENCY: Grand Central Marketing, Inc.

CLIENT: Del Monte Foods

as a follow-on to 2007’s “meow mix acatemy,” which taught people about cats and cat behavior, Del Monte worked again with experiential agency Grand Central Marketing in 2008 to come up with a new branding campaign for Meow Mix.

Del Monte felt that all cat owners believe they have a special bond with their pets and understand what their cats are trying to tell them. If Meow Mix could help pet owners learn to think like their cats, the cats would be happier and the owners would feel better about the brand. In addition to generating awareness for the tag line, “think like a cat,” Meow Mix had released a line extension called Wholesome Goodness.

Grand Central Marketing introduced the “Think Like a Cat Game Show,” at which cat owners, accompanied by their felines, were able to show off their cat knowledge and the strong connection they have with their pets.

The show, which aired on the Game Show Network five times, was hosted by well-known game-show host Chuck Woolery. Auditions were promoted in commercials, online, on pack, in FSIs, through local radio and print, and via local partners (including pet shelters). The network also aired 223 promotional spots.

An eight-city audition tour drew 1,200 people. “Cat-testants” were narrowed down to eight finalists after going through a three-step process: a 20-question multiple choice quiz on cat facts; a behavioral examination of the cats; and a screen test by a panel of experts to ensure the feline’s camera-friendly personality. The experts included Vincent Pastore, who played “Big Pussy” on “The Sopranos,” and Lee Meriwether, the original Batman movie’s Catwoman.

Three days prior to the show, guests walked down an “orange” carpet at a Hollywood-style premiere. Famous game show hosts Monty Hall (“Let’s Make a Deal”), Peter Marshall (“Hollywood Squares”) and Richard Karn (“Family Feud”), as well as all-time “Jeopardy!”champion Ken Jennings, were in attendance.

Finalists were flown to Hollywood to compete in three rounds: “The Fast and the Furriest,” in which owners had to call their cats to them in a race; “Are You as Smart as a Cat?” — a cat trivia game; and “Do You Think Like Your Cat?” in which owners had to predict their cat’s behavior. The winning team also got to compete in a $1 million bonus round.

Woolery arrived at the event driving the Meow Mix Mobile. Wolfgang Puck catered using foods inspired by Meow Mix’s fresh ingredients, such as tuna tartar and filet mignon.

Meow Mix products were also integrated into the show’s content. For example, in one round, cats had to race toward cups of Meow Mix cat food, while in the million-dollar bonus round, the pet owner and cat had to choose from among 10 bags of Meow Mix to find the two with matching ingredients. Contestants received a Meow Mix goody bag; more than 10,000 samples were distributed.

“I think the sense of surprise and sense of humor we brought to this program is what really made it a success,” says Matthew Glass, chairman and CEO of Grand Central Marketing. The “Think Like a Cat Game Show” generated more than 250 million media impressions and more than 1 million viewers tuned in — a 1.1 cume rating. Many of the cat-testants started blogging about their experience before and after the event, which added to the exposure. Also, on the night of the premiere, some towns had viewing parties with local cat-testants being featured in their local media.

The winner, from Tampa, FL, received $25,000 and presented the shelter of his choice with a $2,500 check. A plus: Many of the finalists really bonded over their show experience; they still keep in touch and are putting together a “cat-testant” reunion.

IDEA TO STEAL: GO FOR THE HEART

Focus on your audience’s emotion and you will capture their loyalty.

rescue me

a winner in two categories:
#4 Best vehicle-based experiential campaign
#6 Best cause-based promotion

MORRIS’ MILLION CAT RESCUE

AGENCY: Smith Brothers

CLIENT: 9Lives

9lives was suffering from brand maturity and heavy competition in the cat food category and needed invigoration. “It’s a small brand in a large category,” says Lindsey Smith, co-creative director and partner of Smith Brothers Agency, which created the “Morris’ Million Cat Rescue” campaign. “A number of retailers were threatening to discontinue the product, so 9Lives was on the defensive and looking for a program that would renew people’s interest, shore up its distribution and, if possible, increase its presence.” With the Million Cat Rescue, they achieved their goals and then some.

During the Smith Brothers team brainstorming process, one thought that was prevalent was that one out of every four cats in shelters was being euthanized. Then one day, while in the dusty back storeroom of 9Lives headquarters reviewing old brand assets, the team made the discovery that Morris himself had been adopted — rescued from a Hinsdale, IL, shelter just minutes from being euthanized. It was then that they put the two thoughts together and conceived of a campaign centered on saving the lives of Morris’ orphaned brethren.

The role of the program was to find loving homes for 1 million shelter cats. Targeting female heads of households with a high presence of children, an adoption center tour bus designed by partner agency Red Peg; two satellite vans visited 460 shelters, retailers and other venues in 34 markets, including the shelter from which Morris was saved.

9Lives worked with a local shelter in each market to bring adoptable cats to the bus, help distribute 9Lives coupons and samples as part of a new adoption Welcome Kit (designed by Dialog), and answer visitors’ questions. A kiosk printed out personalized adoption certificates and photos of consumers in several scenes with Morris, such as on 9Lives packaging or driving the bus. An interactive control center let parents and kids follow the bus tour via cameras, TV monitors and a map. Outside the bus was a cat nutrition tent and an inflatable obstacle course that engaged pet loving visitors in a little fun by encouraging them to act like cats.

It wasn’t possible to visit every shelter in the U.S., so 9Lives partnered with 3,600 of them to distribute more than 1 million Welcome Kits to new adoptive pet parents.

The concept was created on a DVD “before we had a single element fully produced” to give the sales force something to sell with. They knew they had a winner early on because “It had an immediate impact on distribution and the way retailers were perceiving the brand,” Smith says.

Morris himself rode on the tour bus and adopted the first cat — a younger version of himself named Lil’ Mo who served as co-spokescat for the campaign. “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson — the official spokesperson, was the first human to adopt a cat, at the New York City kick-off event.

Additional publicity was gained when Morris received a key to the city of Hinsdale; when he accepted a $55,000 donation by Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas and mascot Benny the Bull; and when E! News’ Giuliana Rancic adopted the 1 millionth cat.

Overall, 13 million people saw and interacted with the tour; 100,000 samples and coupons were distributed; and more than $300,000 — in addition to a percentage of 9Lives sales — was donated to animal rescue shelters. Not only did sales of the brand increase 20% as a result of the campaign, but retailers that previously wanted to retire the brand became fully involved in the effort.

As a result of the exposure the brand received from the introduction and adoption of Lil’ Mo, 9Lives launched a product line extension called Growing Years for cats ages one to three, which led to incremental facings at Walmart and other major grocery retailers.

Best of all: 1.5 million cats were adopted.

IDEA TO STEAL: MATURE PRODUCT? REINVIGORATE IT BY REINVENTING IT

Make your mature brand new again by introducing a new idea that really captures people’s hearts and minds.

readers unite!

#5 Best sampling program or trial recruitment

READER REVOLUTION

AGENCY: The AIM Agency

CLIENT: Sony Electronics

sony’s reader digitial book was the first of its kind to go to market in January 2006, but it now faces competitive pressures from other brands such as Amazon’s much publicized Kindle. Yet while Sony’s research showed that consumers’ likelihood of purchasing increased after they tried the product, a national study reported that Americans — in particular, those 18 to 24, who were born into the digital world — were spending less time reading. Sony not only wanted to increase market share, but get the younger generation excited about reading.

The goal for this campaign was straightforward — “create 2 million consumer trials,” says Robert Gonzalez, vice president of operations for The AIM Agency, which created the promotion.

The agency formed the Reader Revolution, designed to change how people receive, manage and interact with digital content. Through revolutionary-themed creative that featured slogans such as “join now” and “because we all have the right to a better read,” the campaign sought to create a strong call to action, inviting consumers to ‘join the revolution’.

More than 1,200 “revolutionaries” were deployed nationwide to bring the message to people in book, electronics, religious, specialty, and mass retail stores, as well as at book and travel fairs, office buildings and airports. They passed along propaganda directing people to www.Sony.com/reader, where they were offered an interactive trial and could learn about digital reading technology, participate in the movement and recruit their friends, family and colleagues to get involved.

The creative concept was based on research that came to two conclusions. “First, there was a low awareness in the category of digital books; second, once people found out about the Sony Reader Digital Book and the product was in their hands, they were twice as likely to buy it,” explains Gonzalez. “We wanted to do trials at retail, but we also wanted to do trials in places you might not necessarily expect them, so we started to look at transit stations, airports and office buildings.”

In the first phase of the revolution, Sony took over Grand Central Station’s north terminal, where more than 40 revolutionaries were posted. They offered commuters two-minute free trials of Sony’s Reader Digital Book through their mobile phones. Station billboards also invited people to fill in the blank and complete the title of a classic book (e.g., Huckleberry _ _ _ _) by texting it to a designated number. For each trial conducted, Sony donated 10 ebooks to schools and learning institutions nationwide. Virtual trials and informational content about the product were also offered at Sony.com/reader.

To add buzz, Sony hired Dave Farrow, the two-time Guinness world record holder for memory, as designated reader in a month-long sit-in inside a Manhattan storefront. His readings could be viewed online or on-site. For every 40,000 pages Farrow read, Sony donated an ebook library to a learning institution.

“The goal was to donate 15 million digital books across the country. I think having that component really helped, especially at a time when the recession was just starting — and combined with the fact that education is always getting the short end of the stick. All consumers had to do was complete a trial and, by doing that, a local school would benefit.,” Gonzalez says.

The campaign was an overwhelming success. In just four months, revolutionaries interacted with 2.2 million Americans. The Web site generated a 500% increase in traffic, with more than 100,000 people visiting www.Sony.com/reader and participating in the free trial. All totaled, Sony distributed 15 million ebooks, while sales for the Reader Digital Book increased by 300% — and it did it all without spending a single dollar on paid media.

IDEA TO STEAL: HOW TO BUILD PRODUCT TRIAL

Put your product in your target audience’s hands and you will increase your opportunities to convert.

champion songs

a winner in two categories:
#7 Best sponsorship or tie-in campaign
#11 Best interactive/wireless promotion

AT&T TEAM USA SOUNDTRACK

AGENCY: The Marketing Arm

CLIENT: AT&T

AT&T wanted to use its sponsorship of the 2008 summer olympics to align itself with its 18- to 24-year-old target — which is younger than the typical Olympic audience. The program needed to seamlessly integrate into the environment and tonality of Olympic programming to receive the endorsement of both NBC and Team USA, and to inspire the younger audience to take action. The public, AT&T felt, would judge the telecom provider not just on program benefits, but on how well it supported Team USA and helped American athletes reach their goals.

“We wanted to provide a compelling reason for young consumers to interact with AT&T, while also giving back to the Team USA athletes,” explains Adrienne Barber, strategic account director at The Marketing Arm agency. And what better way to reach the younger generation than through music and entertainment?

AT&T contracted with popular musical artists to write songs specifically for a new CD that it would produce and distribute. The result was the “Team USA Olympic Soundtrack,” around which AT&T built its Olympic campaign.

The CD consisted of 16 new, exclusive songs from 16 artists, including Sheryl Crow, the Goo Goo Dolls, 3 Doors Down, Nelly and Taylor Swift. The soundtrack musically chronicled Team USA’s Olympic journey and highlighted all their hopes, struggles, determination and triumphs. “We had a special premiere for the 3 Doors Down track, and it worked out that the song, “The Champion in Me,” became somewhat of an anthem,” Barber recalls.

The music came to life on the opening day of the Olympics. AT&T had negotiated in-broadcast, 40-second prime time features on the 15 core nights of the summer Olympics telecast. Each night, one new song debuted on NBC and Telemundo to a backdrop of a video montage of the day’s Team USA highlights. Television commercials drove viewers to download songs, ringtones and answertones. It also pushed them to the AT&T Olympics Web site, WAP site, U-verse and retailers where they could view full-length music videos of the songs, as well as behind-the-scenes content about the athletes and artists.

In addition, NBC arranged for 3 Doors Down to sing “The Champion in Me” on America’s Got Talent, and put Sheryl Crow on “The Today Show.” The artists, labels, publishers, AT&T and iTunes donated all proceeds from the downloads to Team USA.

Stories about the program and music were reported in leading print and broadcast media and were hot topics among radio DJs. Consumers helped spread the word by uploading music videos to YouTube and discussing the program in blogs and on Facebook and MySpace. AT&T launched its own press tour and went out on the road with Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and U.S. Olympic Committee chief operating officer Norman Bellingham to promote the $1 million Team USA donation from consumer downloads of the soundtrack.

All told, AT&T sold 700,000 downloads — seven times their expected estimate, while the $1 million in proceeds was 10 times their original estimate. The campaign generated more than 60 million media impressions. And of consumers who downloaded content, 65% said they had a more positive impression of AT&T because of their experience, while more than half said they were likely to purchase and recommend AT&T products and services in the future.

“AT&T was giving out unique and cool content that had a nice, feel-good aspect to it of giving back, so it was a combination of several things that made it successful,” says Barber. According to The Marketing Arm, the 2008 Summer Olympics were the most watched sporting events of all time.

IDEA TO STEAL: GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT

To reach your target audience, put yourself in their shoes and give them what they want.

a super idea

#8 Best use of public relations in a promotion campaign

DORITOS CRASH THE SUPER BOWL

AGENCY: The Marketing Arm

CLIENT: Frito-Lay/Doritos

doritos wanted to help consumers “crash the super bowl” by letting them create their own ads. This promotion worked well in 2007, with the one exception that they had not been able to shake Budweiser from the top advertising position. While Doritos’ consumer spots have consistently made the top five, Budweiser has held the coveted leading position for 10 years. To make the program bigger and better in 2008, Doritos challenged consumers to take the leading spot (based on USA Today’s Ad Meter statistics) and win $1 million.

The Marketing Arm began drumming up submissions among Doritos’ core customer at the start of the football season by targeting college newspapers, top film schools and large universities. An audio news release was distributed on more than 1,000 national youth radio shows. The agency utilized viral video and photo Web sites, such as Flickr and YouTube, targeted blogs and podcasts that reach the core consumers (age 16 to 24), and even secured a story in The Wall Street Journal to publicize the program’s launch. The promotion was leveraged on every bag of Doritos. Consumers had six to eight weeks to create and produce their ideas.

Fans submitted videos on www.CrashTheSuperBowl.com for a chance to win a commercial spot during Super Bowl XLIII. Roughly 1,900 submissions were received — twice as many as the first year — and there were 8.5 million video views. Agency partners and the brand team narrowed down the submissions to the five finalists. Consumers voted online for their favorite ad and were entered to win tickets to the Super Bowl. The five finalists were then flown to the Super Bowl and put into a suite, where they were allowed to view all five entries. Of note, Doritos doesn’t edit the winning entries in any way.

“Doritos is all about unleashing potential,” says Lori Sutherland, account director at The Marketing Arm. “But one of the goals was to generate PR. Advertising is never more closely watched than during the Super Bowl — you get buzz going into the event and buzz if you win, so we figured, why not do it on the biggest day of the year.”

The chosen ad, “Free Doritos,” succeeded in achieving the No. 1 spot on USA Today’s ad meter, as well as the YouTube Super Vote and the MSNBC Ad Poll. It was also the most twittered Super Bowl ad. Overall, publicity generated 1.4 billion media impressions — more than double the company’s goal. Also, “Free Doritos” aired thousands of times as part of news coverage, including 25 national print/wire stories, 108 national TV and radio segments, 360 online news stories and more than 2,200 local TV/radio mentions.

The winning commercial was featured on both “The Today Show” and “The Jay Leno Show.”

“The ultimate measure of our success is that we won the number-one spot,” says Sutherland. “And what made it so successful is the consumers. They stepped up and met the challenge and provided amazing Super Bowl ads. Another part of it is that we have some continuity. We have been giving consumers this opportunity for five years, so people always want to see what Doritos will do next.”

Overall, the total earned media impressions garnered through PR were valued at nearly $40 million in advertising equivalency, according to The Marketing Arm — 13 times the cost of an average Super Bowl ad.

“There’s no added cost for all that PR, it’s just added value, so it makes the idea even more successful,” Sutherland says. “We got more PR than we ever planned to get out of it. That’s how you make a good idea really great.

IDEA TO STEAL: GIVE CONSUMERS CONTROL

Create a big idea and then challenge your customers to build it.

first-class promotion

#9 Best use of games, contests and sweepstakes

FILL THE PLANE

AGENCY: GMR Marketing

CLIENT: Orbitz

i can think of a lot of things i’d like to fill a plane with. Money would be my first choice. Chocolate would be second. But Orbitz had an idea of a different kind.

Orbitz wanted to break out of the pack with a promotion that would allow it to own the business and leisure travel customer. “Fill the Plane” was a viral promotion that challenged entrants to be the first person to fill 300 seats on an online airplane-seat diagram. A forward-friendly video e-mail encouraged users to invite their friends to join their plane and keep forwarding. Entrants played for the chance to win a trip for all 300 people to Aruba, Las Vegas or Orlando.

“We wanted to utilize people’s social networking skills. We felt the quirky nature of this program aligned very well with the brand personality,” explains Tiffany Kurtz, senior director, client management, of GMR Marketing.

The program was highly organic. Participants were allowed to send out only two invitations, then those two people were able to send out two more on the originator’s behalf, and so on. The registrant served at the plane’s pilot. Overall, more than 12,000 viral e-mails were delivered.

“The guy who ended up winning used his Facebook account, e-mail, IM and the phone,” says Kurtz. “What we discovered was that, through Facebook, he could see who was online at the time, so he increased his chances by focusing on friends who were online to generate a faster turnaround. He was very clever about it and it proved to be to his benefit. The promotion lasted seven days, but the winner filled his plane the first day.”

Orbitz’ objectives were to drive talkability, buzz, new qualified traffic and opt-ins for Orbitz.com. “Fill The Plane” was communicated to key broadcast outlets as an opportunity to engage their listeners or viewers and to drive traffic to their own Web sites. The promotion was also previewed for key print media. At launch, a press release was issued to print, broadcast and online media. Post-promotion news announcements emphasized how the winner was able to harness the power of social networking.

An online banner campaign helped fuel the social fire, ultimately generating more than 22.1 million impressions. Word-of-mouth was used to integrate the Orbitz promotion into blogs, message boards and chat rooms. In addition, people posing as flight attendants were deployed to high-traffic areas in large cities and positioned in areas that attracted business professionals going to and from the office. They handed out flight safety cards, conducted flight safety demonstrations and gave away snack-size bags of peanuts. Airline chairs and in-flight service carts added to the atmosphere.

“The notion that you alone had to have a network of friends for yourself to win created a really competitive nature and allowed people to get creative with how they recruited and gathered people,” says Kurtz. “Then we added to the competition by allowing people to see who was winning and how far ahead they were of each other. People were saying, ‘So and so is taking over and we need to get our plane filled faster’; it just kept going like that.”

In the end, more than 5 million media impressions were generated and nearly 2,500 planes were created, with an average of 7,297 entrants in a seven-day period. Orbitz garnered 5,318 new online registrations and 2,616 opt-ins for future promotions and potential new long-term relationships. Kurtz says, “This promotion was about identifying something unique that was ownable by Orbitz. We feel we’ve really accomplished that.”

IDEA TO STEAL: FEED INTO CONSUMERS’ COMPETITIVE NATURE

Let contestants see how they rank against other contestants, to drive increased competition and enthusiasm.

a mom’s reward

#12 Best multicultural/ethnic campaign

HUGGIES AND PULL-UPS “EL INCOMPARABLE TREN DE VIDA DE MAMA”

AGENCY: MASS Hispanic Marketing

CLIENT: Kimberly-Clark

kimberly-clark wanted to expand reach and distribution of its Huggies and Pull-Ups brands in the Hispanic-American market, but it was looking to do more than just increase sales. The promotion “El Incomparable Tren de Vida de Mama” was designed to get the brands out into the community and at the same time give something back.

“Tren de vida” translates literally as “train of life,” but more loosely means “the pace or rhythm of daily life.” The campaign, which included a nationwide tour and a giveaway book, was designed to validate and reward the efforts that Hispanic moms with children age 0 to 4 put into their busy days, from changing babies to feeding, bathing and play time.

To reach moms in their own communities, MASS Hispanic Marketing played on the literal translation of a train and produced the “Whistle Stop Tour.” This included a bright, colorful train with an inflatable tent, a caboose and two back-end tents. The train was positioned at Walmart stores nationwide and in select markets at other key retailers, public parks, festivals and sports stadiums.

The program kicked off at the Fiestas Patrias Festival in Los Angeles. Stops also included family gathering places such as at Los Angeles Galaxy soccer and Anaheim Angels baseball games. Moms also learned about the promotion on scoreboards, fan newsletters and team Web sites.

For the book, the agency took a collaborative approach. Research concluded that, to garner Hispanic moms’ loyalty, rather than push a message out to them, it was best to ask for their input. “Engineers” and “conductors” at each event asked moms to share their motherhood tips and original bedtime stories via video, audio or written submissions through portable electronic touch-screen stations.

“We asked, ‘How do you do it?’ ‘What’s your sense of parenting?’ ‘Bath time, play time, changing time, is your time the same as everybody else’s?’ We all have a routine. ‘What’s your routine?’” explains Monica Duran, senior account executive at MASS Hispanic Marketing,

In exchange, the moms received diaper bags, tote bags, blankets, hats, growth charts and potty training DVDs. In addition, moms with ShopRite loyalty cards were automatically entered to win a “Room Makeover for Your Little One” when they purchased a qualifying product.

Local radio supported the campaign in Los Angeles and five other markets, with recording artist Thalia, a new Latina mom, and Hispanic radio psychologist Dra. Isabel as spokespersons. The media invited moms to share their tips via a 1-800 number and text-message for a chance to win products and prizes, while Dra. Isabel created her own contest for moms who submitted original bedtime stories.

At www.Huggiesenespañol.com, moms could look up the Whistle Stop schedule and program, as well as Huggies and Pull-Ups product information, and enter a tip-sharing sweepstakes. Registered visitors received a diaper-bag premium. In addition, a B-to-B blog (www.TrenDeVidaTour.com) chronicled the news of the tour for Kimberly-Clark staff and retail and business partners.

Nearly 45,000 women shared tips and original bedtime stories for the book, which was given out to 200 moms and expectant moms on Mother’s Day. “The fact that we provided a service for the community and that the brand reached out to moms and asked about them as opposed to dictating something to them is what really drove the success of this campaign,” Duran says.

Overall, El Tren de Vida de Mama generated 1.5 million consumer impressions and 48 million media impressions. The bottom line: Sales increased. Dollar volume and equity volume growth among the Hispanic market vs. the previous period outpaced the total market.

IDEA TO STEAL: GIVE CONSUMERS THE REINS

Instead of telling your customers what to do, ask them for their opinion. They will gladly give it.

sweet results

#14 Best campaign generating brand awareness

HOW SWEET THE SOUND

AGENCY: Momentum Worldwide

CLIENT: Verizon Wireless

verizon wireless reports that it leads the cellular industry with a 30% market share. But the best cannot stand still. To keep up, over the last several years Verizon Wireless has continued to mold and shape its customers’ experience. The goal has been to provide a service that is rich in “productivity, communication and entertainment.’”

In looking at the greatest growth opportunities, Verizon Wireless uncovered that the African-American segment was under-penetrated and represented a high lifetime value and incremental revenue opportunity. While revenue was the key driver, Verizon also looked to drive emotional engagement while giving back to the community, creating goodwill and ultimately making a positive impact.

Research indicated that African Americans are highly spiritual, so Verizon Wireless created a family-friendly program to drive brand engagement on three cultural pillars — community, music and church. It also wanted to transform an existing single-market event into a national, 360-degree experiential program. The end result was the “How Sweet the Sound” gospel church choir competition.

Choirs could submit applications at www.HowSweetTheSound.com or by mail. Submissions were ranked by combining scores of celebrity judges and online consumer votes. The top-eight choirs in each market advanced to the live regional event, which ran in 11 key markets and culminated with a national finale in Atlanta that featured the winner from each market.

Choir registration and ticket sales were promoted through print, TV, radio, out-of-home, public relations and gospel influencers. A low-priced ticketing structure ($5 to $7) encouraged attendance, while free tickets were given to participating churches and community organizations. Also, to help bolster morale in Houston after Hurricane Ike, the event was free with donations made to the Houston Red Cross.

Supporting activities included premium giveaways, a children’s choir showcase featuring a local choir in each market, and low-priced merchandise such as T-shirts, hats, totes and bookmarks.

The on-site arena experience outside the concert doors entertained people while also introducing them to Verizon Wireless’ core services and applications. Doors opened 90 minutes prior to each competition to give people time to walk around and take part in preshow activities. These included a festival-like experience and donations to Hopeline bins — which collect old cell phones and accessories. Hopeline donated all proceeds to local shelters and non-profits that focus on domestic violence prevention.

The family-oriented 6:00 p.m. start time, alcohol-free concessions, exhibits by local artists and pre-event gospel karaoke — in which participants performed gospel songs in front of a full choir composed on a green screen — drove high community involvement. Free ringtones of local art, as well as the V CAST demo station, text-to-screen messages and text-to-vote capability, all tied the concert directly into the Verizon Wireless brand.

The results say it all. In addition to 80,000 attendees, 6 million impressions were generated through exposure from seven branded tractor-trailers and four tour buses. More than 80 million online impressions were generated, with the average user time exceeding five minutes. Perception of the Verizon brand and intent to purchase improved by 33%. Cash prizes awarded to 84 church organizations, as well as the gospel contest details, generated 100 million PR impressions and improved the perception that Verizon Wireless is a company that “cares about the community” by 20%.

IDEA TO STEAL: GIVE BACK

In order to get, you sometimes have to give. To reach the heart of your target market, give something back to their local community.

Join the club

#15 Best loyalty program or shopper rewards program

FEED THE SENSES

AGENCY: Arc Worldwide

CLIENT: Nestlé Purina

friskies dry cat food was struggling to differentiate itself in the marketplace. Cat owners liked variety, but instead of buying multiple Friskies products, they were buying across brands. Meanwhile, competitors were gaining market share. And to make matters worse, Friskies, marketed by Nestlé Purina, had sent out so many coupons over the years that their customers had become addicted to savings.

“People absolutely love their pets,” says Scott Clark, vice president and account director for Arc Worldwide. “The trick was, how do we invite the brand into that relationship. The insight we uncovered was that, with this particular pet lover, she wants to understand what’s going on in her cat’s world. So we landed on this notion of ‘feed the senses,’ focusing on how to unlock the genesis of the cat’s world.”

The next step was turning the slogan into an experiential program. “We wanted to go beyond product differentiation to show the pet owner that we really get her,” explains Bass Phillips, vice president and creative director of Arc Worldwide. “We get what she’s thinking when it comes to providing for her cat, and that goes well beyond nutrition.”

The team concluded that the Web was the best place to build experiential relationships. It wanted to spark longer conversations, offer exclusive content, reward people’s engagement, and inspire advocacy and greater loyalty. Arc revamped the brand Web site into a dynamic site, but still wanted more. That’s when the team came up with the idea for the Friskies Explorers Club, a place where cat lovers and Friskies customers could come again and again to ‘feed their senses.’

The club helped cat owners experience their cats’ world through digital education and entertainment. The site consisted of three main areas: The Sensory Zone, which allowed people to compare their own senses to their cat’s; Friskies Pix, which let pet owners create pictures of their cats; and a daily blog, where cat behaviorist Pam Johnson Bennett and others explored the topics of senses and behavior. The site also offered a free kaleidoscope screensaver, feline ringtones and an e-card. In addition, Explorers members could save their pictures to the Friskies gallery, comment on the blog, download premiums, enter sweepstakes, receive newsletters and be the first to sample new products.

“We wanted to use digital to bring to life that world that you can’t get just by seeing a message on TV or in print,” says Clark. “We wanted people to experience it themselves, so a lot of the tools in the Club speak to that.”

Right out of the gate, the Explorers Club and the new Friskies.com Web site garnered quick popularity. The Club generated 450,000 members in the first two months (at press time, it had 650,000 members). Overall traffic to friskies.com increased 70%, and people began spending more time on the site looking for important information rather than just coupons.

In the 16 weeks after the site launched, repeat visits rose 163% compared to the 16 weeks prior to launch. This was in part due to the success of Nestlé Purina’s e-mail re-contact strategy. Early e-mail testing produced a 41.8% open rate with 28.6% clickthroughs (versus an industry average of 4% to11% and 1% to 4%, respectively).

Shipments of Friskies Dry in August 2008 were up 15%, as compared to the previous year. And according to market research firm Millward Brown, cat lovers cited Friskies as the brand they’d most consider purchasing within the segment.

IDEA TO STEAL: BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME

Open a dialogue and create a relationship that meets buyers’ needs and provides high value, and you will get the sale.

unsung heroes

#16 Best dealer, sales force or business-to-business campaign

HEROES HAPPEN {HERE}

AGENCY: OPTS Ideas

CLIENT: Microsoft Corp.

when microsoft launched the 2008 upgrades of its server products — Windows Server, SQL Server and Visual Studio — it chose something other than the standard features-benefits promotion. Rather than telling its usual story to its customers, Microsoft’s customers told their stories of how the server products enabled them to make a profound and positive impact on the world. The program, called “Heroes Happen {Here},” made its own huge impact.

“I got a call from Microsoft asking me if I wanted to participate in a launch event for these products, and it didn’t strike me that what Microsoft was planning on doing was something I wanted to get involved in, so I actually said no,” recalls Michael Christman, CEO and partner of event marketing agency OPTS Ideas, which had a long-standing relationship with Microsoft putting together launch events. “But instead of hanging up they said, well, what would you do if you could build a program from ground up? That’s when we came up with this idea.”

He thought back to the 1970s when technology solutions companies, including Microsoft, had to convince people they needed software. Christman, who knew a cookie-cutter approach wouldn’t work, thought it would be interesting to look at the people using the software and get them to tell their stories about what they were using it for and how it had impacted the communities they serve.

Over nine months, Christman and his partners traveled the four corners of the globe to drum up support from Microsoft field reps to get their customers to go to www.HeroesHappenHere.com to tell their stories. In the end, a nominating process chose 80 of the most compelling narratives. OPTS then hired world renowned photographer Carolyn Jones and a film crew to take still photos and video footage of the 80 chosen storytellers.

Customers were interviewed away from the work environment in their casual clothes, and were encouraged to talk about who they were and what interested them. “When they realized we cared about who they were, they told us different things,” Christman says.

For example, “There was a woman who is the head of transportation in Singapore. She said that her grandmother had taught her to look out for people less fortunate than her. So in using Microsoft server products to improve the transportation system, she asked herself, ‘How can I make it easier for people who don’t speak the language or have handicaps to use the system?’ When we videotaped her, she held up a picture of her grandmother and said, ‘This is my influence.’ ”

The stories were put into a book that was given out at launch parties. Each country had the option of personalizing the book in its own language. Videos were used at keynote speeches worldwide. In addition, a superhero-like comic strip was drawn on the Web for 26 weeks to bring the stories to life and hold everyone’s attention during the process.

The main launch event was held in Los Angeles with keynote speakers Tom Brokaw and Steve Ballmer. Carolyn Jones held an autograph signing session for the book. More than 1 million people watched the L.A. launch event online, while a total of 300 launch events, both virtual and physical, were conducted worldwide.

Overall, the site generated more than 12 million unique visitors. More than 5 million Microsoft product evaluations were conducted and 733,000 customers were trained during the launch period. Sales in the six-month period following launch increased by double digits, Christman says.

“Focusing on the impact the product had on a community allowed the customers to shine,” says Christman. “Everybody watched the videos, read the book, looked at the pictures and said ‘look at this person’ or ‘that person.’ That’s what made this launch a success, and we got lots of accolades for that.”

IDEA TO STEAL: LET YOUR CUSTOMERS DO THE TALKING

Customers trust other customers more than vendors. So let your customers do the talking for you.

innovation station

#17 Best use of p-o-p

THE USPS INNOVATION CENTER

AGENCY: Draftfcb

CLIENT: U.S. Postal Service

more than 5,000 post offices serve the small-office/home-office communities. And the U.S. Postal Service’s expedited shipping services are less expensive than its competitions’ services — representing its greatest opportunity for growth. Yet research showed that small-business owners considered the USPS outdated. The Postal Service decided to reinvent its offerings to small businesses by starting a pilot program in Schaumburg, IL, from which it could learn and grow.

“We did a lot of research on our current offices to find out what’s not working,” explains Joyce Carrier, manager of advertising for the U.S. Postal Service. “We have some in-store signage, but it doesn’t help you move through the place and figure out what you need to accomplish and where to go to accomplish it. So we tried to build the center to meet those needs.”

The goal was to deliver a revolutionary brand experience while increasing sales for expedited shipping (Express Mail and Priority Mail) and building credibility and reliability among the small-business audience. The firm also wanted to increase the use of automatic postal centers by 20%.

Draftfcb and the USPS married small-business customer insights with a team of retail intelligence experts to plan and design the ultimate small business Post Office. Targeted focus groups helped pinpoint precise store dynamics.

The idea was a USPS Innovation Center — a fully operating Post Office — with an open floor plan and freestanding checkout stations where retail associates could get out from behind the counter and provide personalized service; a business lounge with Wi-Fi; a meeting room; pack-and-ship stations; self-service postage machines; and automated kiosks. Digital signage greeted, engaged and entertained customers, and provided on-screen tips and tutorials. Day-parting was employed to target messages based on key small-business traffic patterns.

Promotional videos built internal momentum for the program and convinced high-profile brands, including OfficeMax, to partner in the launch by selling office supplies at the Center.

Everything was kept confidential until the store was complete. Then prior to opening, information was slowly leaked to the media, with front-window signage piquing interest. Personal invitations were sent to the mayor and business and community leaders to build buzz for the opening, along with PR and direct mail to the rest of the community. Television, radio, newspapers and online all came to life when the Innovation Center opened.

“That people stood up and took notice of the Post Office and enjoyed their experiences there was key to the success of this program,” Carrier says, noting that “instead of going straight to the counter, they used the entire Post Office, including the meeting room and Wi-Fi lounge.”

Results showed that 20% of customers utilized the business lounge daily in an amount of time equal to that which is typically spent lounging at Starbucks. Within six months, the Innovation Center became the No. 1 self-service Post Office in the U.S., and automated Postal Center usage rose 700% in the pilot location compared to average growth nationwide.

What was learned is being analyzed so it can be implemented in other Post Offices. And innovation continues. The 1,500 largest Post Offices are testing a Hallmark program where customers can buy a greeting card, address the envelope, buy a stamp and then mail it all in one location.

“We’re going to keep thinking with the best retailers out there,” says Carrier. “It’s our goal to be one of them.”

IDEA TO STEAL: REINVENT YOURSELF

Forget what your core competency has always been. Think about what your customers need, then provide those products or services.

wishful thinking

#19 Best premium-based promotion

AMERICAN EXPRESS MY WISHLIST

AGENCY: Digitas

CLIENT: American Express

“my wishlist” is a five-year-old annual promotion that provides American Express card members with exclusive access to a limited supply of unique items and experiences across four different pricing categories, all at a substantial discount. In addition, an Ultimate Wish instant-win portion featured a giveaway of three Mercedes GLK 350s.

“My Wishlist” was created for two reasons: “To keep our cardmembers loyal and engaged with our brand and to give our merchants a platform to showcase their best products,” says Luke S. Gebb, vice president of global network marketing at American Express’ Global Merchant Services division.

In fall 2008, with the recession just starting and the biggest selling season of the year ahead of it, American Express wanted to go above and beyond to cut through the holiday clutter. “We knew we wanted to achieve the above two goals in a new and innovative way,” Gebb continues. “We wanted to give both cardmembers and merchants an incredible experience where they would say, ‘Wow, that’s really a cutting-edge campaign from Amex.’ So in working with Digitas, we brainstormed innovative campaign constructs and decided on this ‘first-come, first-served’ deeply discounted model because it was fun and exciting, as well as easy to understand.”

There were five categories: Hot Products, which offer 50% to 60% discounts on the highest value items; Featured Products, which offer 30% to 50% discounts on mid-range products; Wish Certificates, coupons offering a minimum 25% discount on a variety of products; Holiday Offers, standard everyday discounts from Amex’ merchant partners; and then the Ultimate Wish Instant Win, the biggest draw of the program, which gave cardmembers a chance to instantly win a new car.

The Hot Product was released each day at 12 p.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and sold out in minutes. One Featured Product was introduced each day and remained online until all units were sold. In 2008, American Express introduced Wish Certificates in the form of a paperless discount, where savings were automatically applied to cardmembers’ Amex card statements.

The program was advertised through direct mail, e-mail, online banners and at AmericanExpress.com. A teaser campaign that ran for a month before the program encouraged card members to pre-enter their ID numbers to complete their purchases more quickly to prevent losing the item they wanted to a faster buyer. Those who pre-IDed got advance information and tended to be top-tier Amex customers. A countdown clock to the exact sale time added to the sense of community and excitement.

Despite the recession, “My Wishlist” was a great success. During the promotion period (Dec. 1-18), nearly 2 million unique visitors spent an average of 12 minutes on the site, surpassing traffic goals by 5%. And the program was so popular among partners that 75% of the products were bartered in exchange for media exposure, saving American Express millions of dollars.

Gebb attributes the success of the program to a combination of value and highly sought after, hard-to-get items. “We work with some of the best brands out there and are highly selective in the products we choose to showcase,” he says. “It really is the best of the best. Overall, we’re very happy with the outcome.”

In fact, American Express was so happy with the outcome in 2008 that it decided to make the program permanently ongoing. Now Amex members can go to www.DailyWish.com and buy deeply discounted items all year long. That certainly is a wish fulfilled.

IDEA TO STEAL: DISCOUNTS WORK WHEN USED RIGHT

If you’re going to discount, make it worth your while as well as your customer’s.

this promotion rocks

#20 Best retail/co-marketing campaign

AC/DC ALBUM LAUNCH

AGENCY: Arnold Worldwide

CLIENT: Walmart

walmart wanted to make a big splash for ac/dc’s new “Black Ice” CD release, the heavy metal band’s first studio album in eight years. The band agreed to sell the CD exclusively at Walmart, Sam’s Club and Walmart.com, along with exclusive rights to the AC/DC LIVE Rock Band game Track Pack and assorted AC/DC men’s apparel and merchandise. Brand marketing agency Arnold Worldwide was charged with coming up with a concept and putting it in motion.

Wanting to attract a wide range of fans and build on the band’s cross-generational appeal, Arnold designed a multidimensional program. “They wanted us to create and concept this idea of a cross-category promotional area where they could not only sell the CD but also add a couple of exclusivities to the program, such as the Rock Band Track Pack and the licensed apparel,” explains Mary McLaughlin, vice president and director of brand promotions for Arnold Worldwide.

To generate high sales of the midnight release, the agency was tasked with three goals: create an in-store concept — “somewhat of a store within a store” — that would work across 3,000 Walmarts of varying shapes and sizes; figure out how to bring all the partners together in a cohesive way; and drive PR and buzz.

“Everything at Walmart is blue and we were tasked with, how do we create this new destination and not have it look like a regular Walmart department? So we came up with this idea called the ‘Rock Again’ section. It consisted of these roadie cases and a black design that had never been done before at Walmart. Then we made the cases easily installable with varying Walmart footprints.”

Located in the apparel section to promote cross-sales, the Rock Again displays featured Rock Band video gaming units to test out the new AC/DC Track Pack game. They were merchandised with Black Ice CDs and men’s AC/DC apparel, and additional promotions from partners Sony, Pepsi, Doritos, Amp and Sirius.

The design, she says, was meant to be a little bit disruptive and edgy. “We wanted to create a cool destination that could bridge the gap between a Baby Boomer and his kids,” McLaughlin recalls. “It had to be a place and a look and feel that was appealing to somebody who was a teen, but could also appeal to that Boomer generation that grew up with AC/DC and attract them into this promotional area in the stores.”

A mobile tour was used to generate buzz in Los Angeles and New York where Walmarts weren’t available. “We brought in ‘Black Ice’ cream trucks that were outfitted with Rock Band 2 and with the exclusive AC/DC Rock Band game and, at midnight, we sold the CDs and made a big event out of it.”

Lookalikes for Angus Young, the Scottish-Australian cofounder and lead guitarist of the group, emceed the events and built excitement among the audience for a chance to win concert tickets and merchandise giveaways. National television, network radio, online, out-of-home, pop-up retail and Walmart in-store channels were used to market the products.

In total, PR buzz reached nearly 137 million people and generated more than 3,000 media placements. During the campaign period, roughly 2 million CDs were sold. Black Ice was the first AC/DC album ever to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, a spot it held for two weeks; and it was the highest selling debut album in Sony and Columbia history.

Walmart’s partners also fared well: sales of Doritos’ XXL Nacho Cheese flavor packs were up 38%; Amp Energy Drinks saw 154% growth, and Pepsi’s total carbonated beverage category increased 14% during the program period.

IDEA TO STEAL: BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL CROSS-CATEGORY PROMOTION

When cross-selling multiple products in a single promotion, create a cohesive look and feel; place your display in the most relevant, highly trafficked location; and offer exclusive incentives.

a giveaway extravaganza

#21 Best campaign on a budget (under $250,000)

31 DAYS OF THE DRAGON

AGENCY: Ivy Worldwide

CLIENT: Hewlett-Packard

the hdx “dragon” laptop had been on the market for nine months and sales were slowing down. Prior to another product launch, Hewlett-Packard wanted to entrench itself deeper in the blogosphere and other new media that influencers live in — both to reinvigorate buzz and sales around the laptop and, at the same time, better position awareness of the company prior to a new product launch.

“We had done a number of programs to get bloggers to help design a notebook, talk to HP people and become a consulting arm. During this process, we continued to take the pulse of the blogosphere and ask, ‘What more can we do for you?’ Unanimously, they said give us something to give away, because readers love giveaways,” explains Chris Aarons, partner of social marketing agency Ivy Worldwide,

And that’s just what HP did. They gave 31 influencers each a Dragon laptop to give away to their readers. Each blogger then created a contest tailored to their specific audiences, engaging their followers in discussions about both the company and the laptop. Bloggers had complete control over how their own contests were run and each one added his or her own personal sense of style to the mix. “They handled all their own marketing,” Aarons says. “We didn’t even give them any logos.” They also publicized their neutral endorsements of the product and the company.

In the best of all possible worlds, bloggers took it upon themselves to join forces and build a contest site — 31daysofthedragon.com — and promoted their giveaways with active links to all the sites involved in the program. They also created and shared other marketing materials, including graphics, logos, videos and RSS feeds. Reviews and readership benchmarks were also shared and cross-promoted among the blogger community.

“In seeking out bloggers, we looked for evangelism — people who could promote our products in a credible, open and transparent way,” Aarons says. The size of a blogger’s following is a relative credibility factor. “Transparency is something that is 100% important,” he says. “We have bloggers ranging from 25,000 to 5 million readers. You can’t build a following of 5 million people unless you are honest and open and transparent.

“Each blogger put his or her own twist on the contest. For instance, Xavier Lanier from NoteBooks.com had been meaning to do a forum for a long time on his site, so he used the giveaway as a way of driving and publicizing his forum. He said, ‘I’m going to finally do it and put it up and everyone can enter for the giveaway.’ Some other people had essay contests and photo contests; one site even had people create some code for the site. It was really specific to what they wanted and what would be best for them. We allowed them to do whatever was in their best interest. That was the magic of this project.”

The program was a record-breaking success. As a result of more than 50 million media impressions across 123 countries and 40 languages, sales for the Dragon increased by 84%. Bloggers used YouTube and Twitter to help spread the word, and their third-party endorsements were picked up heavily by Google.

“They built the microsites and banner ads,” Aarons says. “The only costs to HP were the laptops, the agency time, and the tax abatement checks we gave to the winners.”

Not bad for a $250,000 investment.

IDEA TO STEAL: BUILD BLOGGER RELATIONSHIPS…THEN STAND BACK

To build credibility among the blogging community, understand what they are looking for, seek out the ones who can best promote your product in a credible, open and transparent way, then step back and let them do what they do best.