Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Dream Big


Agency: Arnold Worldwide
Client: Carnival Cruise Lines


In 2008, Carnival was the industry leader. However, the image of cruise lines in general was that cruising was for “newlyweds or nearly deads.” To change this misperception, in 2008, the agency created a campaign that refreshed the Carnival image by capturing the fun that comes with a Carnival cruise. The first step was changing the tagline from “Fun for All” to “All for Fun.”

Following up on their prior work, in 2009, Arnold was tasked with creating a new way to bring the fun of a Carnival cruise to life on land in New York City. The cruise line’s largest and newest fleet member, the Dream, was debuting in November, 2009 in the big apple. Carnival wanted to create an impactful media event that would not only break through the early holiday clutter but also set the brand apart from its chief competitor, Royal Caribbean, which was planning to launch a new ship in December.

Arnold conceived the world’s largest children’s book (15’6” x 20’), “The Dream Plucker of Perrysport,” designed to create “fun for all.” The content of the book was inspired by imaginations and dreams of children who sailed on a Carnival fun ship in the spring by asking children 6-11 finish the thought, “I’m always dreaming up fun stuff. Wouldn’t it be awesome if…” and shared a drawing of their dream. Twelve dreams were selected from more than 800 submissions.

The structure was unveiled in Rockefeller Plaza and read to school children by honorary “godmother” Marcia Gay Harden nationwide on the TODAY show with help from Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry and Al Roker. The media and consumers were invited to participate in activities. The book was dedicated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and was downloadable at carnival.com.

Activities on the plaza included Carnival’s Fun Force acrobatic team, Carnival dancers, musical acts, jugglers, magicians, balloon artists, web photo stations, coloring stations, temporary tattoos and more.
Carnival also partnered with the TODAY show to find the show’s next Kid Reporter who would include among his or her assignments coverage of the book unveiling and the ship’s inaugural celebration.

In total, media impressions reached more than 150 million, while 500,000 consumers were exposed to the Carnival brand.

Monday, August 30, 2010

alli & Wynonna-my story, my alli


Agency: Draftfcb
Client: GlaxoSmithKline

Alli & Wynonna

Over-the-counter weight-loss product alli was suffering from slowing sales since its 2007 launch. In addition, they were challenged with reaching consumers who were ready to make the commitment to eat and live healthier lives. GlaxoSmithKline wanted to do something that would make an emotional connection and get people inspired about the brand.

Meanwhile, country singer Wynonna Judd, an actual user, approached alli about endorsing the product because she was excited about the difference it made in her life. The agency leveraged her experience through an integrated, mobile campaign featuring the “My Story, My alli” experience. The bus tour worked in tandem with Wynonna’s U.S. concert dates and built momentum through TV, print and promotional elements featuring Wynonna.

Between March and April, the bus made 39 stops, including Wynonna concerts, retail visits, festivals, and health-related runs or walks, where more than 4,000 people interacted with alli. Consumers learned about alli, watched a video about Wynonna’s inspiring story, spoke with dietitians and made a pledge to live a healthier life. The bus experience was supported at mystorymyalli.com.

Overall, 31% of people who visited the alli experience recorded their story. Of those, 9% were enrolled in the 1-2-3 Start Plan and an additional 2% enrolled via email. Most people left extremely positive and inspiring messages, particularly with regard to Wynonna and her alli journey. Several people reported already losing weight with the help of alli. 

Little Debbie Share-a-thon


Agency: Luckie & Co.
Client: McKee Foods

McKee Foods wanted to create the largest-ever product launch in company history for their new Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcakes, by giving away 1 million cupcakes on National Chocolate Cupcake Day (October 18th). They also wanted to grow their Facebook fans and Twitter followers to continually engage consumers and gain insights from their ideas on snack cakes. They came up with the “Share-a-thon Tour” to encourage consumers to try the product and share it with others, as well.

The tour, which visited 21 cities between October  and December, covered 6,808 miles. It consisted of four Smart Cars custom-wrapped to look like Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcakes along with a truck and trailer with similar graphics. One smart car had a webcam for recording consumer videos, for which participants received a cupcake t-shirt. 

little debbie

Six brand ambassadors, or the “smile squad,” handled sampling at each stop and took photos of consumers, who then received a unique code that allowed them to view, print, upload and email their photo, and find it on the photo mosaic. Consumers also had the opportunity to enter several sweepstakes to win a free carton of Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcakes. The tour was supported by television, radio, FSIs and social media.

As the largest promotion by McKee Foods in its 50 years, Share-a-thon made the Little Debbie Chocolate Cupcake the number one selling cupcake in America during the eight-week campaign, surpassing a competing brand that had been on the market for 90 years. They generated more than 1 million sweepstakes entries; consumers sampled more than 11,000 cupcakes on National Chocolate Cupcake Day in New York City alone; and 125,000 cartons in total were given away. Meanwhile, 500,000 people became fans of the Little Debbie Facebook page. 

Mobile RocPopShop


Agency: MRA
Client: Rocawear

Rocawear Rock Pop Shop

The year 2009 marked Rocawear Apparel’s tenth anniversary. The brand wanted to make a big splash, but the economy presented a challenge. With no Rocawear storefronts, and consumers not frequenting shopping malls and other independent stores as often, Rocawear wanted to find a way to connect with consumers that would make the brand stand out against both niche brands such as Sean John and broader brands like Levi’s.

The agency created the RocPopShop -- a 53-foot double expandable trailer which expanded into 1,000 feet of retail space outfitted with features such as leather chairs, suede walls, zebra-wood cabinetry and flat screen TVs.

Over the course of a year, the RocPopShop mobile trailer made 46 stops in 15 markets at music and street festivals, block parties and trade shows. It also was positioned as a standalone event in a variety of locations. During Jay-Z’s BP3 Tour, the RocPopShop was parked in front of his concert venues and offered fans the ultimate concert tailgate party. The tour was supplemented  with radio, street teams, online marketing, giveaways and a website, roc4life.com.

At all events, fans were invited into the RocPopShop to watch special concert performances, test their skills at Jay-Z’s recently released video game, “DJ Hero: Renegade Edition,” shop for Rocawear men’s and women’s apparel, and post comments on roc4life.com. Throughout the tour, everyone who made a purchase received a limited-edition RocPopShop shopping bag, among other giveaways.

Over the course of the campaign, 20,000 people toured the RocPopShop. While sales were not a main focus of the campaign, more than 3,000 items were sold.

Drive One 4 UR School


Agency: Team Detroit
Client: Ford Motor Company


Drive One 4 UR School was a series of one-day test-drive events held at local high schools nationwide to help fund school sports while building the Ford brand. For each test drive completed on event day, Ford donated $20 to the high school booster club, up to $6,000. Schools had an opportunity to earn up to an additional $6,000 by participating in a Student Video Contest. Participants also could enter to win additional prizes, such as a Gateway LT20 Netbook.

High schools and dealers received a pre-event instruction kit, including guidelines, event best practices, PR support information, timelines and sample event-day agendas. Dealers received promotional items such as banners, posters, window clings and floor graphics and had help from a program headquarters team and the website driveone4urschool.com. PR efforts helped seed buzz for each event.

All totaled, Ford dealers nationwide hosted 819 events between December 2007 and November 2009. They were attended by roughly 125,000 participants who conducted more than 115,700 test drives and generated more than $2.6 million for high school activities all across the country.

Sixty-eight percent of participants did not currently own a Ford and favorable opinions of Ford jumped from 65% before their experience to 82% after their test drive. At the conclusion of the 120-day sales window for each event, Drive One 4 UR School had a 1.48% buy rate, the highest of any Ford, Lincoln or Mercury test-drive program.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

California Lottery Replay Program


Agency: Alcone Marketing Group
Client: California Lottery

Over the past few years, the California Lottery has experienced a phenomenon called “jackpot fatigue,” by which players have become used to higher and higher jackpots and it takes an especially high jackpot to prompt consumer participation and purchase.

At the same time, players have been feeling that the chance of winning is astronomically against them. Even with scratch-offs, which have better odds, players are desensitized and do not expect to win. Frequent and loyal players are looking for more opportunities to win and look forward to the excitement and anticipation of winning.

Alcone created the Lottery Replay program, in which “every 2nd counts.” To participate, new scratch games included a code that could be entered online at calottery.com/replay for additional chances to win. The program rewarded frequent and loyal Lottery players with increased odds of winning. In addition, every three months, the Lottery conducted a drawing of all eligible codes, and 10 winners each received $1,000.

The program was supported with in-store POS and email blasts to the Lottery database, including a photo contest designed to spark interest, in which people could send in funny photos from memories they wish they could redo, for a chance to win cash prizes. Over the first eight months of the program’s existence, the Lottery offered three additional cross-promotions, providing players with a third way to win.

The Lottery achieved their goal of developing a loyalty program that delivered consistent ways for players to engage with the Lottery after buying a either a winning or losing ticket. The program generated more than 2.5 million unique visitors who went to the website more than 6.3 million times with an average visit of between six and 14 minutes. More than 39.7 million codes were entered. The program is ongoing. 

InterContinental Hotels Group: Screaming


Agency: Digitas
Client: InterContinental Hotels Group 


The InterContinental Hotels Group wanted to increase business from its loyalty club members, Priority Club Rewards, and bring in new members, despite a down market. At the same time, they wanted to drive email address and e-communications opt-in. The agency created the ‘Stay 2 Nights Get 1 Free’ promotion, nicknamed “Screaming.”

During the promotion period, anyone who booked two nights from May 5 to August 15 received a free night to use from July 3 to December 26. Registrants could earn up to a total of four free nights from any InterContinental brand and could also redeem them for any brand, excluding Japanese hotels.

Marketing support for the campaign included countercards and tearpads at the point of sale, print, online, TV, radio, postcards, member statements, member email, card stickers in new member and elite fulfillment kits and inserts with the hotel chain’s partner Chase.

The hotel chain felt the campaign was a screaming success. It generated an incremental $108,000 for InterContinental Hotels Group. Roughly 900,000 people registered during the stay period, 30% more than an average quarterly campaign. While the majority of registrants were existing members, 120,000 new people join the Priority Rewards Club. The goal was for registrants to stay 5 nights, but most stayed 7.

MyCokeRewards


Agency: The Marketing Store
Client: Coca-Cola
Since 2006, MyCokeRewards.com has been one of the largest online loyalty programs in the consumer packaged goods industry with over 14 million members and 4.5 million unique visitors every month. However, loyal though they are, these members were asking for a better experience. Specifically, they wanted a quicker, easier design and more benefits.

Coke’s strategy called for a friendlier site re-built from the ground up, with an intuitive layout that highlights the three benefits of the program – Pick Up Points, Spend Your Points and Get Extras & Exclusives. The site offered more fun ways to redeem points and provide extra benefits, all while making them feel better about the brand.
A brand campaign supported the launch, including emails, billboards, direct mail and business-to-business partner elements.
 
In the first month of the redesign, there were over 6 million visits to the site – up +27% from the previous month, with the average visit lasting 10 minutes. In addition, the site saw the highest total sweepstakes entries ever and more members entered Coke codes than any other month since November 2008. Overall, new member registrations were up 25% for that month.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Energi to Go



Agency: Pro Motion, Inc.
Client: Energizer

Energi to Go

Despite its well-known pink bunny who’s energy goes on and on, Energizer’s Energi to Go portable instant cell phone charger was not so well known and, as a result, not so well purchased. Pro Motion was charged with raising awareness and, ultimately sales, through a sampling program.

Using guerilla marketing, the agency put the chargers in the hands of people who needed them the most – those attending all-day outdoor events with no access to electrical outlets or charging stations.
Their first stop was Lollapalooza in Chicago’s Grant Park. Working in teams, the agency distributed the Energi to Go chargers to more than 20,000 people over three days. The agency reports that some participants were so excited at the opportunity to grab the $20 charger and ensure they’d be able to Facebook, text and tweet all weekend that they got out of line to get it.

Their next distribution venues were three-day Komen Race for the Cure walks in Seattle, Chicago, and Minneapolis where more than 11,000 Energi to Go chargers were given out. Word of mouth during these events drove the distribution numbers up. Additional stops included the Austin City Limits Music Festival, the St. Louis Balloon Race, the CES Show in Las Vegas and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
The Energi to Go Sampling Program has distributed more than 130,000 chargers to date, on target with a goal to reach 200,000 before program end. The best result of all: the buzz generated interest from Walgreen’s, which is now distributing the product in all 7,000 of its stores. 

Ho Ho Hold the Lactose


Agency: The Zucconi IDEA Agency, Inc.
Client: Valio USA

valio hold the lactose

Valio USA felt that the lactose-free milk category was cluttered with confusing messages and similar products. Valio felt it had a genuine product innovation to talk about – its Real Goodness brand of lactose-free milk is made using a patented process that retains real milk taste and creaminess, while improving the nutritional value. The challenge was getting that message out to its niche audience; lactose-intolerant consumers had become desensitized to the taste promises of the other brands. Valio needed to cut through the clutter. The agency felt the best way to achieve its client’s goals would be by getting the products into their hands. Once they tried it, the difference, the agency felt, would speak for itself.

The holidays were coming, and who knows more about milk than the man who downs a glass at every home he visits on Christmas Eve? So they came up with a headline that mashed up a holiday message with their own: “Ho-ho-hold the lactose!”

They chose 15 busy malls throughout the northeast and mid-Atlantic region on the busiest shopping weekend of the year – the weekend before Christmas 2009. It gave the brand the opportunity to reach the greatest number of people with their message.

And as luck would have it, NestlĂ© USA was baking and distributing Toll House cookies that weekend, and the Zucconi IDEA Agency obtained permission to put Valio’s Real Goodness milk sampling table right next to it. The connection was immediate and irresistible: an almost-instinctual response that attracted consumers in droves, and powerfully reinforced the brand's “taste” message.

More than 50,000 Real Goodness samples were delivered that weekend which elevated brand awareness among lactose-intolerant consumers and their families and generated meaningful market share growth. 

Lunch Is on Us


Agency: Wunderman Chicago
Client: Kraft DiGiorno


DiGiorno wanted to attract convenience-oriented adults who do not buy DiGiorno Single Serve, shop at least two or more of the categories of Single Serve Frozen Meals (sandwiches, pizza and/or entrees), are in a non-weight-management category, buy premium brands and get carryout from restaurants or pizzerias. The agency put together a sampling program called “Lunch Is on Us.”

The objective of the campaign was to compete effectively against the cold, deli-bought lunch by replacing it with a hot, fresh home-baked DiGiorno Flatbread melt. A multi-faceted sampling strategy was used with Chicago as the main focus. The first phase was “Lunch Is on Us in the Office”, where 18 companies with 1,000 employees were selected and served free lunch for two weeks.

For the second phase, “Lunch Is on Us in Chicago,” Wunderman transformed Pioneer Plaza (401 N. Michigan Avenue) into a delicious takeout experience without the takeout price -- everyone who came received a free full-sized Flatbread Melt. A 40’x40’ branded ground graphic, among other graphics, drew people’s attention along with hand-crafted Flatbread Melt benches and branded tables that were brought in. A newspaper buy spread the word, while wallpaper content transmitted to people’s Bluetooth devices within a limited geographic area.

Overall, the office invitation generated a 31% response rate resulting in 1,106 lunches; an additional 2,400 were served outdoors; and a total of 3,700 coupons were distributed. The event generated 256 blog posts and 217 tweets. 

Friday, August 27, 2010

Know Your IBM


Agency: CiLoyalty, IBM Corporation & Merscient Inc.
Client: IBM Corporation

The Know Your IBM (KYI) program is IBM’s primary sales and training initiative for sellers to the small and medium-sized business market. In 2009, despite the economic downturn, the marketing team was tasked with driving the KYI program to new levels of engagement in learning and cost-effective selling. The program needed to be deployed and managed across 104 countries in 12 languages. 

Know Your IBM

IBM charged its marketing team with ambitious sales targets and ROI goals, including completing 195,000 education modules, generating 9,700 active participants and producing $850 million in revenue.

The loyalty program included Learn and Earn, a component that provided incentives for educational and learning behavior, and Sell and Earn, in which participants were motivated to sell IBM products and services. Participants received electronic monthly activity statements customized by country.

Communication tactics included motivational online interaction; in-person visits from IBM account managers and individually scripted teasers. A real-time online reporting tool measured email open rates, clickthroughs and time and day of each action. The information was cross-referenced with email content, number of words used, number of images embedded and type of headline utilized. Together this data created an individual profile on every participant. As the information became more detailed, communications tactics were developed to achieve greater cut through and call to action. 


Two interactive website portals were also created, one for the Learn and Earn module and logging of sales, and the other for the leader-boards, rewards and redemptions. Results and important announcements were communicated via email to all program participants. Leader boards were created in each country and the top achievers were awarded with bonus loyalty points.

The promotions averaged an 82% increase in module completion compared to the same period in 2008. Participants in the loyalty program completed 195,395 modules, an 11.2% year over year increase. Active participants increased 10.1%; and sales increased 10.1% for a total of $864 million.

Cinemax High Def’n Awesome


Agency: Civic Entertainment Group
Client: Cinemax


Cable network Cinemax, which runs in 12 million households, was breaking a consumer ad campaign “High Def’n Awesome” to tout its best-in-class HD service and fourth-quarter line up of HD films. The network wanted to raise the energy for operators in affiliate partners’ call centers and help them internalize the consumer advertising message.
Call center operators have stressful jobs, handling 40-70 calls a day selling cable service packages to consumers. 

They’re flooded with product information that’s tough to absorb and remember. To give them an idea of what the customers would experience, High Def’n Dance Crews recruited from high profile acts such as Janet Jackson and Avril Lavigne – staged surprise performances in call center break rooms and lobbies, engaging operators for 20-40 minutes with their dance moves and a custom rap song touting the benefits of Cinemax’s 1080i HD and new fourth-quarter programming line-up.

Operators enjoyed the experience, posing for photos, taking part in mini dance-offs and competing for branded prizes, including t-shirts and movie vouchers.

Every major cable affiliate participated, including AT&T, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Verizon, and more than 8,000 operators in 18 markets were directly engaged. Overall, Cinemax sales through call centers increased 12% during the campaign period. 

U-Drive Regional Direct Response Program


Agency: Fathom Communications
Client: Navistar, Inc.


Navistar International Corporation, which produces International brand commercial trucks and MaxxForce brand diesel engines, as well as truck and diesel engine service parts, relies on International truck dealers to move current inventory in preparation for new 2010 models.

Research showed that small fleet customers were still unfamiliar with the upcoming 2010 emissions reduction changes and the company’s Advanced EGR technology solution. With the economic depression, not only were companies’ trucks sitting for lack of business, but they were cutting costs in all areas. The good news was, they were still planning for the future and knew that if a good deal came along on the perfect truck, they would consider it, fearing that emissions changes would drive up prices in January.

Objectives were to support International’s marketing efforts in a down economy, capture data from hard-to-reach small customers, generate leads and drive sales by providing education on 2010 emissions. The agency provided up to 1,000 contacts of long-haul fleet managers and small to medium-sized business owners with a fleet size of 299 or less for 33 participating dealers for a year-long communications plan.

The program had three phases, starting with a self-mailer, which drove customers and prospects to a personalized URL to learn more about 2010 emissions changes and the benefits of MaxxForce Advanced EGR, with the ability to download special offers from their local dealer.  Reminder emails were also sent out to encourage customers to see their dealer and take advantage of limited-time offers. Mailers were highly customized with dealer logos, a list of locations, a personal letter, special offers and inventory photos.

Telemarketing was used to reach out to a portion of the audience to encourage them to complete the online survey, to help capture data. In each communication, the dealer was positioned as their business partner and 2010 emissions expert.

The program generated a total of 1,536 responses – a 1.9% response rate – and collected 1,369 new email addresses with 80% of the audience choosing to opt-in to the company’s monthly e-newsletter. From the personalized URLS and telemarketing surveys, 1,560 leads were generated and 1,584 trucks were sold. 

Advertising Week Event Activation


Agency: Momentum Worldwide
Client: Microsoft Advertising

Microsoft Advertising wanted to create buzz and a unique experience for attendees at Advertising Week with its recently launched brand campaign, “The Unified Theory of Advertising.” They were also the lead sponsor for MIXX/IAB and wanted to break through conference clutter and ignite new interest in Microsoft’s business advertising solutions.
To create the perception that Microsoft Advertising was everywhere and to demonstrate the power of unifying, 1,000 red RFID bracelets were given to registered visitors, providing real-time information for personalized interaction with each wearer, including pulling them to the front of a line, giving them VIP seats at conference events, providing free rides in Microsoft’s pedi-cabs and allowing entry to The LOFT party. The red color tied in with Microsoft Advertising’s new RED identity. When the number of bracelet holders who scanned in reached critical mass, the Microsoft “unified theory” was proven and XBOX and ZUNE prizes were given away.


Users could follow online via a live, interactive Bing map tracking event attendance and Twitter feeds, sign up for text alerts when events approached critical mass, or check out other things that were happening in real time.

The unified theory was strengthened within the advertising community throughout weeklong communication streams. The RFID bracelets created a cohesive experience, allowing attendees to feel that they were part of the Microsoft Advertising community. The campaign also gave the sales team an ownable experience to work with, while the RFID registration drew in new potential partners. 

Overall, the campaign and experience generated 12,000 brand impressions, 21 unique brand footprints, 452 opt-ins and 893 RFID registrants. Twelve out of the 16 events achieved critical mass. 

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Give a Day, Get a Disney Day


Agency: Disney Destinations LLC
Client: In-house

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts wanted to inspire one million people to volunteer in their local communities. They conceived the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program, in which the first one million people who donated a day of their time to charity received a free one-day ticket to either Disneyworld or Disneyland. Guests were also given the option to donate their ticket to a charitable organization. 

Disney Day

The campaign involved PR, advertising, digital media, promotion, broadcast radio and television, including a tie-in with ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover, a Muppets viral video, events, community relations, CRM, park operations and more.

During the September 2009 kickoff, Disney sent 1,000 volunteers, including Disney employees and characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Muppets Kermit the frog and Miss Piggy to work on five projects across five cities. Following that was a 26-city tour that included entertainment, media and a volunteer project in each location. A street team passed out collateral that drove consumers online to share how they celebrate volunteerism for a chance to win a ticket and encourage them to sign up to give a day. The winners joined Disney Parks at a local volunteer event in each city.

At the campaign finale, a canned food sculpture, consisting of 115,527 cans, was unveiled in the shapes of Goofy, Mickey, Donald Duck and Pluto. It took more than 500 man-hours to construct, contained 44 tons of food and broke a Guinness Book World Record. The volunteers and media distributed the cans to food banks.
Overall, it took Disney just 67 days to reach its goal of inspiring one million people to sign up and commit to a volunteer activity.

New Balance 20th Anniversary Campaign

New Balance 20th Campaign
Agency: Marketing Drive / GMR
Client: New Balance

new balance 20th anniversary

On the 20th anniversary of its participation with Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, New Balance wanted to inspire action among consumers to join the brand in its fight against breast cancer. New Balance contributes 5% of sales from its Lace Up for the Cure® collection of footwear, apparel and accessories to the cause.

The agency created a multi-faceted program that included a consumer contest, media partnerships and event activation taking place throughout the year, culminating in October --Breast Cancer Awareness month. A co-branded New Balance and Susan G. Komen for the Cure 20th anniversary mark was used on all support materials.

The program included a presence at 120 race events and 15 three-day walks, with on-site staff attendance, prominent signage, and consumer giveaways; in-store communication and marketing kits carried the anniversary theme, including gifts such as a workout DVD with purchase; a special edition pink shoe; and a short film New Balance produced titled “Running for Hope,” featuring the story of a two-time breast cancer survivor and her daughter – the result of a national contest that invited runners and walkers to share their personal experiences.

The 20th anniversary campaign was one of New Balance’s most successful programs. PR impressions totaled over 212 million with placements on The Ellen Show, Today Show, CBS Early Show and Good Morning America. The number of Lace Up for the Cure® collection items purchased increased 80% from September to October. The in-store pin-up program resulted in $29,014 in donations to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. An additional $55,000 was raised through donations at New Balance’s race booth. 

AT&T Team USA Soundtrack



Agency: The Marketing Arm
Client: AT&T

AT&T Team USA soundtrack

For the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, AT&T built upon the success of its 2008 program (for the summer Olympics) by launching a second version of its Team USA Soundtrack. Partnering with entertainment companies including iTunes, NBC and major record labels, among others, AT&T aimed to engage the consumer while enhancing their Olympic-game watching experience.

To achieve its goals, the agency negotiated in-broadcast, 40-second primetime features on each of the 15 core nights of the NBC Olympic telecast. During those features, AT&T introduced the Team USA Soundtrack featuring exclusive inspirational tracks from leading artists, strengthening the brand’s tie-in with entertainment to its 18-24 year old target demo.

Artists on the new version included Mariah Carey, Rascal Flatts, 3 Doors Down, Sugarland, Puddle of Mudd, Green River Ordinance and more. All proceeds from the downloads went to Team USA.

One new song from the AT&T soundtrack premiered each night during primetime coverage on NBC accompanied by a video montage of the day’s key highlights from Team USA. At the end of each segment, consumers were driven to download the songs, ringtones and answer tones via AT&T’s Olympic website, mobile site or U-verse. The campaign was supported with 128 media placements, 330 million digital impressions and consumer viral marketing.
The program generated more than $360,000 in proceeds for Team USA during the Vancouver Games and soundtrack video content was viewed by 1.3 million people. To date, the AT&T Team USA Soundtrack has raised more than $1.3 million for U.S. Olympians. Of those consumers who participated via downloads, 63% have a more positive impression of AT&T because of the Team USA Soundtrack. 

The Recovery Project



Agency: Civic Entertainment Group
Client: A&E Television

Recovery Project

A&E is known for its real life drama shows such as Intervention, which tells individual stories of addiction and recovery. More than 22 million Americans struggle with addiction, yet fewer than ten percent receive treatment. A&E wanted to break that cycle, so Civic created a national, multi-platform, social outreach program and ongoing advocacy campaign to raise awareness and promote treatment. Called The Recovery Project, the program supports organizations in prevention, research and treatment. In its second year, A&E doubled the size of the program, reaching a wider audience and heightening its reputation as a leading advocate for recovery.

Working with strategic partners such as The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and U.S. Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, A&E sponsored a National Recovery Day Rally. More than 10,000 people, including those in recovery, as well as their family and friends, politicians, non-profit leaders, , recovery professionals, celebrities and other supporters walked together across the Brooklyn Bridge (which connects Manhattan to Brooklyn) to form a human chain -- a living symbol of recovery. The walk began with a rally in which Gil Kerlikowske, director of ONDCP, delivered a message from President Obama, and it ended with remarks from NY Gov. David Paterson and a concert by Smokey Robinson.

Through its national recovery delegate program, A&E selected “recovery delegates” – people with 10 years or more of recovery who actively promote addiction awareness and recovery services in their communities -- from every state and Washington, DC to lead the rally. Celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg, Benjamin Bratt and Russell Simmons, among others, recorded PSAs. A&E also sponsored more than 70 local events across the country and held intervention town hall meetings -- year-round public forums about addiction A&E Interventionists, local officials and treatment providers address local issues and promote resources.

In addition, a dedicated website www.therecoveryproject.com lets visitors plan or attend local events, share personal stories, advocate to legislators and community leaders, volunteer. Outreach includes email to over 1,000 groups for 3.5 million impressions, plus web marketing for another 3 million impressions, along with social media such as a Facebook page.

The overall program generated more than 17 million impressions; helped garner $1.5 million in sponsorships an ad sales. Most importantly, it brought a worthy cause to the forefront and helped thousands of people in need. 

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Hammertime Viral Video


Agency: A&E Television
Client: In-House


Hammertime is a reality show centered on MC Hammer, the 1980s/90s rapper, entertainer and dancer, and his family, as they live their not-so-simple lives in Tracy, California. The team was charged with promoting the program in a way that differentiated it from other reality shows, with the objective of generating mass awareness and tune-in to the show’s premiere. The target audience was adults 25 to 49, with a slight female skew and a median age of 40.

The team produced the “Hammer Pants Dance” viral video. The campaign began by seeding stores with a few “employees” wearing ’90s style gold, baggy, parachute Hammer pants, to promote recognition. Then, a group of 60 amateur dancers flash mobbed a Los Angeles clothing store on Sunset Boulevard, grabbing previously planted Hammer-inspired pairs of gold baggy pants, put them on and “spontaneously” performed the artist’s moves to the tune of his 1990 hit “U Can’t Touch This.”
 
A video of the event was placed on YouTube, and generated 1.5 million views. It was also featured on pop and news sites. In addition, the Hammer Pants Dance was shown on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly and ESPN. Hammertime premiered with 673,000 adults 25 to 54. 

Killed Ideas (by Blurb)


Agency: Isobar/Ammo Marketing
Client: Blurb


Blurb.com, an online platform for self-published books, was successfully reaching personal users, but wanted to reach a broader set of business users – specifically, advertising and marketing agency professionals.

Isobar/Ammo Marketing was challenged with positioning Blurb’s service as an indispensable professional tool. Agency creative’s are driven by a passion for the newest, best, most unique answer to a client’s challenges, although many of their ideas are “killed” in the course of the creative process.

Isobar/Ammo Marketing came up with the idea to bring those killed ideas back to life and celebrate creativity as a way of engaging with agency professionals. The campaign asked creative professionals to submit ideas that, whether for reasons of boss, budget or timeline, had not previously seen the light of day.

The best of those Killed Ideas were collected in a curated book, published on the Blurb platform and distributed to creative people and agency professionals in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and London. Those who opted in for Killed Ideas communication received newsletter updates.

Steve Hall, a leading pundit in the agency world who publishes the Adrants blog, acted as curator, and selected his favorite 50 ideas. The campaign was frequently covered on AdRants. Hall also maintained a Killed Ideas blog at the microsite, killedideas.com. Bob Isherwood, former global head of creative for Saatchi & Saatchi, wrote the foreword for Vol. 1.

Contest entry submissions were collected on the microsite. Once the final 50 ideas had been selected, visitors were able to review them and vote for the Killed Ideas ‘People’s Choice’ award.

Social media was a key component of the campaign, including Twitter, a Facebook fan page, a LinkedIn group and postings to relevant online discussion boards. Strategic outreach was made to more than 300 marketing, advertising and design blogs, with influencers being tapped prior to the campaign’s launch.

A total of 250 Killed Ideas submissions were received from 31 countries, representing 170 different brands. Total campaign impressions reached 834,000. The killedideas.com microsite had more than 35,800 unique visits and 78,000 page views, and more than 11% of killedideas.com visitors clicked on to blurb.com representing a qualified pool of potential new B2B users for the brand.

Volume 2 of Killed Ideas — focused on a different angle into the conversation with agency professionals — is already in the planning stage.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Extra 3PM Snackdown Challenge


Agency: Ryan Partnership
Client: Wrigley’s Extra Gum
wrigley extra gum
Wrigley’s Extra®  sugar-free gum was looking for a way to leverage the findings of sponsored research revealing that chewing Extra helped reduce snack cravings. Additional research revealed that mid-afternoon was a time when the calorie-conscious woman was likely to give in to snacking so the agency launched “Extra 3PM Snackdown,” positioning Extra as a viable tool for weight management with the message that something as simple as chewing gum can help you snack less.

The campaign was supported with a sponsorship of the NBC show, The Biggest Loser, with celebrity trainer Bob Harper as the campaign spokesperson. Through content integrated into episodes, Harper coached show contestants (and viewers) to chew Extra instead of high-calorie snacks as an effective way to manage weight. In addition, Harper was featured as the face of The Extra 3pm Snackdown Challenge Instant Win Game delivered on 107 million packages.
An in-pack code drove consumers online for a chance to win several prizes, including the grand prize – a trip to the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge, Utah, including training with Harper. Banner advertising promoted the campaign’s website extra3pmsnackdown.com. Other program support included PR, online banners, satellite radio, social media and retail merchandising.

The Extra 3PM Snackdown generated $5.5 million in incremental sales – a 220% increase versus the same time period in 2009, and the highest dollar share for the brand in almost two years.

P&G Sponsors the 2010 Olympic Winter Games


Agency: Taylor Global, Inc.
Client: Procter & Gamble

P&G sponsors 2010 olympics

In 2009, Procter & Gamble announced an alliance with the U.S. Olympic Committee to become an official sponsor of Team USA for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The partnership encompassed 18 brands and 16 athletes. But although its brands are in almost every household, this was the first-ever corporate campaign in the company’s 170-plus year history. Therefore P&G was not only competing for attention as an Olympic sponsor, it felt it was also introducing itself to America as a brand.

The campaign’s goal was to have consumers recognize brands like Tide, Pampers and Pringles as P&G products. Meanwhile, the public relations objective was to own positive corporate and brand media coverage during the Olympic Games. A goal of 1 billion media impressions was set.

Taylor Global developed two programs: ‘Thank You Mom’, which was created to help defray the costs of Vancouver travel for all 200+ Olympic moms and 50+ Paralympic moms; and the ‘P&G Family Home’, a place where athletes and their families could go to be together, featuring the Pringles Snack Lounge, Crest and Oral-B Smile with U.S.! Center, Tide Laundry Center, Pampers Village and the P&G Beauty & Grooming Salon & Spa. Events were designed to tell a story specific to each product while leveraging the appeal of Team USA athletes and family members.

Marketing support included advertising, public relations, in-store merchandising, mobile, digital and direct mail. Public relations garnered over 2,800 total placements and more than 2.6 billion media impressions for the duration of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games. The P&G Family Home received more than 12,000 visitors; 998 bags of laundry were cleaned at the Tide Laundry Center; 1,371 treatments were given in the salon and spa; 1,991 photos were taken in the Crest Smile with U.S.! studio and 67,200 Pringles were eaten. Overall, P&G posted its highest market share of the year. 

Monster Director of Fandemonium


Agency: The Marketing Arm
Client: Monster
 
Monster Director Fandemonium

As the Official Career Services Sponsor of the NFL, Monster wanted to drive traffic to its website, boost consumer engagement through social media and transfer affinity for the NFL to Monster.com. The careers site needed a platform that would inspire people to find their dream job – or enter for a chance to win it.

The agency created the position of NFL Director of Fandemonium, presented by Monster.com. In addition to a $100,000 “signing bonus,” the winner participated in a variety of NFL events, including the Super Bowl coin toss ceremony, calling a play at a Pro Bowl and in on-field player introductions.

Media support, including national television, email, e-newsletters, search, banners, social media and newspapers, drove visitors to mobile and microsites where they were encouraged to “apply” for the position. Consumers then voted on 32 semi-finalist applicants to give them one of eight spots in the finals. Semi-finalists were given an online tool kit with social media 101s, personalized banner ads, graphics and other assets.

The eight finalists were then flown to New York for four days to participate in a variety of events to increase their chances of getting the job. Two finalists were eliminated each week leading up to the Super Bowl. During Pro Bowl week, the two finalists were flown to Miami to film a final interview and participate in a play-calling challenge.
Monster.com saw a 100.2 percent increase in promotional microsite traffic as a result of the Director of Fandemonium campaign. Of the off-site links featured on the microsite, “Search for Jobs on Monster.com” was the most-clicked link, with about 23,000 more clicks than the next highest performing off-site link (a link to a discount on NFL.com). 

Chipping for Charity


Agency: Vitro Agency
Client: P.F. Chang’s

chipping for charity

Restaurant P.F. Chang’s gets two appearances a year from its contract with PGA pro Briny Baird. But they wanted more than the typical ho-hum meet and greet for the next appearance. They wanted to do something outrageous to generate buzz, so they put Baird on top of a skyscraper in downtown San Diego and had him hit golf balls at a target in the outfield of PETCO Park, home of the Padres.

He was 37 stories up and 270 yards away. Every time he hit the target money would be donated to his charity – The Navy/Marine Corps Relief Society. If he hit the bull’s-eye, everyone in America would get free lettuce wraps from P.F. Chang’s. During the event, two ESPN anchors talked about the ingredients in lettuce wraps, while sports reporters and local news anchors talked about which P.F. Chang’s dish was their favorite.

Both restaurant and website staff were prepped for the onslaught of consumers who would visit the site to join the CRM program, watch the event and download the free lettuce wrap coupon (with entrée purchase). A press announcement was also distributed, while a video of the stunt was posted on YouTube.

The event, which was covered by CNN, ESPN – on which it won shot of the week and play of the week -- and all the major networks, among dozens of other media, generated $1.35 million in sales in just two weeks as a direct result of the stunt. Over  300,000 new members were added to the CRM program, with whom P.F. Chang’s can now create ongoing relationships. Traffic to PFChangs.com doubled for more than a month following the stunt.

The campaign got an extra boost in July 2010 when Baird hit a hole in one at the Canadian open and said, jokingly, “So P.F. Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps for everyone?”