Showing posts with label Public Relations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public Relations. Show all posts

26.4.09

Carlsberg::: Best Mate

BRAND OWNER:Carlsberg Group
CATEGORY:Drinks (alcoholic)
REGION:Canada
DATE:Apr 2009 - Dec 2008


Carlsberg was looking for a campaign to enhance brand awareness as it launched in Canada, building on its brand slogan “Probably the Best Beer in the World”. It wanted to engage with a primarily male target and link the brand to sociability.
Carlsberg came up with a nationwide competition akin to the Canadian Idol phenomenon. Competitors are required to show what makes them the “Best Mate” and why they can lay claim to the title.

The competition looks for “the guy that can make every situation better, is always connected and never lets anything stand in the way of a good time.
Visitors to www.bestmate.ca can enter to prove that with pictures, stories and videos that they are the best Best Mate. The 30 top “Best Mates” will be given a new Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman phone with integrated Facebook and YouTube applications.
The finalists will then be encouraged to record events and interactions as they build their case demonstrating their “best mate” skills.
A final winner will be selected and announced in June. The big prize is a VIP trip for the winner and three mates to Las Vegas. The advertising declares “Sinners needed for Vegas” and was created by GJP creative team Louis Duarte and Craig Burt.
The initial phase to invite contenders will be supported using a combination of outdoor, radio, online, video and social media tactics to cast a wide net.

18.4.09

American Express:::Members Project

BRAND OWNER:American Express
CATEGORY:Financial
REGION:USA
DATE:Mar 2008 - Nov 2008


The American Express Card was struggling to maintain its uniqueness in a flooded credit card category. Its competitors were also beginning to target a more affluent customer – Amex’s traditional target. American Express needed to differentiate itself and establish new relevance with today’s consumers in sensitive economic times.

Amex decided that what made it unique was the community of card members, which it decided to activate to make ‘the value of belonging’ central to American Express’s core value proposition.
Digitas identified a strong “sense of purpose and moral integrity” among American Express Card-members. Members Project had launched in 2007 to allow Amex cardholders to channel donations to specific charitably causes. MP ’08 saw those who participated the previous year contacted at a grassroots level and then activated via social media. They were invited to submit their project ideas and use a wide range of promotional tools, including Facebook pages, project widgets, HTML emails, IM techniques and video to rally support for their favourite projects.
Having submitted their cause ideas they were hosted on a powerful Web 2.0 platform and voting was encouraged by the project owners themselves, promoting their entries and buoyed by paid media tied to milestone voting dates. The winning causes received up to $2.5m from American Express.
The social and self-promotional elements of the communications strategy increased organic visitation and engagement with MembersProject.com over 500% from previous year. Participants in MP ’08 were also more than 5 times as likely to socially promote the program compared to previous American Express marketing efforts that did not contain an appeal to the collective power of Membership.

Vaseline:::Getting men to moisturise



BRAND OWNER:Unilever
CATEGORY:Toiletries/ Cosmetics
REGION:USA
DATE :Oct 2008 - Nov 2008


When Vaseline launched its men’s range of hand and body lotion, it wanted to raise awareness about the product and ensure that men connected the dots between skin health and body health.




The idea was that Vaseline Men helped fortify men’s skin to help it perform more efficiently.
The target audience was an average guy in his mid-30s with a family who used lotion every so often. He loves sports and is picky about his media usage.
Vaseline's main challenge was to differentiate Vaseline’s sports theme from other brands such as Gillette and Gatorade..
Vaseline chose athletes as brand ambassadors whose sports seasons were peaking during the Q4 launch: baseball and football.
The campaign idea was “15 seconds a Day to Stronger Skin”.
Athletes spend countless hours practicing their sports and preparing their bodies to deliver strong performance. But it only takes them 15 seconds a day to strengthen their skin.
Vaseline partnered with ESPN and worked across TV, radio, digital and print to create content featuring New York Giant’s football star Michael Strahan and Philadelphia Phillies baseball champion Chase Utley.
Not only were there TV vignettes about the sportsmen’s off-field regime, but there was also a digital hub and radio sponsorship of ESPN’s top-rated radio broadcast. There were also advertorials in ESPN magazine with a Vaseline ad on opposite page.
Additionally, content was delivered beyond ESPN properties to a broader audience with a homepage takeover of both YouTube and AOL, as well as Broadband Enterprise, and NFL.com. This was the first time ESPN created non co-branded content and allowed it to be syndicated across multiple channels.
As a result, Vaseline Men ended the year 40% ahead of the share target. The 24.5oz (lead product) was in the top 3 selling Unilever variants for 12 straight weeks at WalMart, making it one of Vaseline's most successful launches.

17.4.09

Van Gils:Dating a dummy

BRAND OWNER:Waalwear Group
CATEGORY:Accessories/ Clothing/ Footwear
REGION:EMEA
DATE:Aug 2008 - Sep 2008

Van Gils was a successful formal menswear brand across Europe in the eighties. In its prime it rivaled Hugo Boss, but had fallen into decline and had become largely unknown. Van Gils wanted
to rebuild the brand’s visibility among 28-40 year old men in four local markets: Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands.

While other fashion brands use celebrities as models to add borrowed interest to the products, Van Gils understood that it is really only the suit that counts.

The campaign consisted of magazine spreads featuring an anonymous mannequin who “gets a life” and lives out a celebrity life.

The strategy was to take the mannequin (an actor in costume) to high profile events in each market. On each occasion the mannequin would be ‘dating’ a glamorous female star with a high profile in that market.

This meant model Susan K at the Survivor TV Party in Denmark; Miss Belgium, Alizee Poulicek, at David Coulthard’s pit at the Belgium Grand Prix; model Carolina Gynning at a film premiere in Stockholm and actress Lieke Lexmond at the Netherlands Film Festival.
Two international events saw Pamela Anderson ‘date’ the mannequin at Vivienne Westwood’s London Fashion Week show and Channel 5 presenter Laura Esposto at the ‘Burn after Reading’ premiere at Venice Film Festival.
This helped to generate major press interest and PR. In each market an exclusive content deal with one key publication was negotiated (such as FHM) to ensure a minimum level of coverage. To raise the profile beyond this base level they used extensive online seeding and blogging, while employing a local PR agent in each market to gain exposure in more channels.
Despite a relatively low weight of press advertising, the campaign achieved a 6% increase in Van Gils suit sales. This was accompanied by a 90% increase in new visits to the Van Gils website.

The viral


11.4.09

Dove::: Finding body and soul

BRAND OWNER :Unilever
CATEGORY:Toiletries/ Cosmetics
REGION:Canada
DATE:Feb 2008 - Sep 2008



Some 91% of Canadian women believe it's time society thought of aging in a positive way. Dove agrees, and in support of its Pro-Age products, spearheaded a campaign to change societal views on aging by promoting the belief that beauty has no age limit.
Dove commissioned an award winning playwright to create a one-of-a-kind live play, "Body & Soul", using a cast of real women aged between 45 and 78.
The media strategy was based on partnering with a limited number of media suppliers to foster a meaningful relationship with the audience, maintain their attention through the narrative and allow them to participate in the program. Dove chose Transcontinental Media (Canada's leading publisher of women's magazines) as the print and online partner, and CBS Television as the broadcast support.
To find cast members for the play, women were invited to write an audition letter, Dove and Transcontinental worked closely together to create customized magazine and online content which built emotional credibility for the campaign, and encouraged women to audition.
Advertorials, letters from the editor, e-blasts, web forums and brand ads were used to drive submissions. To promote the theatrical run of the play, the partnership with Transcontinental resulted in an eight page article featuring interviews with the cast and playwright, letters from the editor, web features, a chat session with cast members, a contest to win tickets to see the play, and a cast picture on the cover of Canada's top ranked women's magazine.
As a result, Body and Soul played to sell out crowds, winning rave reviews. CBS was the platform for the documentary, "Finding Body and Soul." The campaign delivered 124 million media impressions, with 55,000 unique visitors to the website

10.4.09

Johnsonville Sausage










Overview
Weave Johnsonville brats into American culture by introducing the brand to key influencers and driving media coverage.

Objective
Through and on-going news bureau and special events, create opportunities for consumers, media and influencers to experience Johnsonville brats.

Strategy
Build a steady drumbeat of news with seasonal stories, tips and recipes. By partnering with key spokespeople already aligned with Johnsonville, leverage their authenticity to drive media awareness and create memorable consumer interaction.

Program Elements -- Creating the Brat News Network
Johnsonville Sausage was looking for a way to put its delicious, Austrian bratwurst on the national map. After years of successfully growing its business to be the leader in the category, the company was successful, while also being one of the best-kept secrets in the U.S.

· Brat News Network: We developed the Brat News Network to give the company its just desserts. The BNN is an aggressive media outreach strategy, which includes enlisting every possible media outreach tactic. From top tier media spokesperson and grilling guru Steven Raichlen, to satellite media tours, desk-side briefings, messaging, training, “Make Summer Sizzle” press kit, “Tailgating Tips and Techniques” outreach, and a steady drumbeat of pitching, the Brat News Network is taking the humble, coarse-ground and highly seasoned sausage to new “links”!

· Johnsonville Bratwurst Tailgating Hall of Fame Recipe Contest: Tailgating season is a bratwurst’s time to shine. Fans from across the nation hit parking lots before each game with time-tested favorite recipes. In fact, according to a survey of more than 3,000 tailgaters across America by www.tailgating.com, 71 percent of Americans tailgate at least six times per season. In fall 2004 Boomer Esiason, legendary NFL Quarterback and CBS Radio Monday Night Football Announcer, teamed up with world renown Johnsonville Brats to search for America’s favorite bratwurst tailgate recipes and grilling tips. And, each week during nationally broadcast Monday Night Football games, Esiason inducts one winner into the “Johnsonville Bratwurst Tailgating Hall of Fame.” Each winner received a year’s supply of Johnsonville brats and is eligible to compete for the title of MVB—Most Valuable Bratwurst.


The grand prize winner, to be announced on or around January 15, 2005, will receive the “World’s Ultimate Tailgate Party” with the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill rolling up to the winner’s hometown during the professional football championship game in February and hosting an all-expense paid tailgate party for their friends, family and neighbors. Johnsonville’s Big Taste Grill is a converted semi truck sporting the world’s largest grill weighing in at 53,000 pounds and 65 feet long. The grill can cook an amazing 2,500 brats an hour. For each winning recipe or tip, Johnsonville makes a donation of $5,000 to the Boomer Esiason Foundation, with a pledge of $200,000 total to the Foundation.

· Pentagon Brat Festival – A day of brats and music: Johnsonville sausage loaded up its Big Taste Grill and headed out to the Pentagon on Oct. 7, 2004 for a traditional Wisconsin “brat fry.” Together with Miss America, Miss Virginia and Washington Redskin Cheerleaders, the sausage company set out to raise $25,000 for the Pentagon Memorial Fund by selling $5.00 lunches to the employees of the Pentagon. The Pentagon Memorial Fund is currently campaigning to raise $17.5 million to build a beautiful memorial park and $10 million for an endowment to maintain it for future generations.

Results
· More than 1,000 placements, including ESPN Cold Pizza, FOX & Friends, WB11, New York, Woman’s World, RedBook, Fresno Bee, WTXF-Fox (Philadelphia), Popular Mechanics
· First time ever media briefings with top tier consumer magazines including Woman’s Day, Country Living, First for Women
· Coverage in more than 7 non-traditional brat markets, including New York, Boston, California, Florida, Washington DC, Denver, Seattle
· Total advertising equivalency: more than $685,000
· Reached more than 69,000,000 consumers nationwide!

7.4.09

K-Y: An Intriguing Product Launch


Challenge:
The K-Y brand team wanted to reach beyond menopausal women and target a new generation of consumers—couples, both men and women—to give them the tools they needed to make their intimate moments together more special.
To successfully transform K-Y into an iconic intimacy brand and support its foray into the premium lubricant category, K-Y charged us with devising a multidimensional campaign that included traditional media outreach, influencer marketing programs, unique events, targeted sponsorships and sampling, and product placement in unexpected places.
Insight: We conducted an omnibus survey and study on intimacy and the relationships and interpersonal communication of more than 600 consumers.
These studies showed the importance of intimacy and the significant role it plays in successful and lasting relationships, which served as a great entry point as we talked with the media.
An in-depth analysis of the media through conversations and background research helped us identify the most receptive targets and create personalized approaches. This also gave us an understanding of reporters’ editorial needs and how K-Y could meet those needs.
Action:
• Created a temporary art gallery in New York’s Chelsea district.
Intrigue: The Art of Sensuality displayed works from nine artists. We used the venue to host two major events—an opening reception and a closing celebrity bash.
• Established grassroots buzz and developed an influencer program to enlist the support of brand ambassadors and evangelists before the product launched.
• Positioned K-Y as a leader in intimacy beyond its product and engaged industry specialists to communicate the importance of healthy intimacy and relationships in and out of the bedroom.
• Educated specialists on the benefits of the product and armed them with the K-Y brand’s research and survey statistics.
• Sponsored the Heatherette fashion show during New York Fashion Week as an opportunity to speak to the brand’s target luxury consumer. The product was included in 500 gift bags and handed out at the show, and it was distributed to guests at the after-party.
• Sponsored celebrity blogger Perez Hilton’s birthday bash in Los Angeles.

Outcomes: In 2007, Intrigue was the top-selling K-Y product at Walgreens and CVS. In overall drug store sales, K-Y Intrigue came in fourth place behind only Altoids and two new candy bars.
Finally, the pinnacle of K-Y success measurement, these numbers easily surpassed those of Valentine’s Day 2006.
In total, K-Y Intrigue received more than 128 million impressions, including hits on Wall Street Journal.com (WJS.com) and the coveted beauty shots of the product in several women’s magazines. K-Y Intrigue was highlighted in top-tier national outlets, including the TODAY show, Perez Hilton’s birthday bash, New York’s Daily News, New York’s Newsday, Glamour, Women’s Health, Essence, MORE, Redbook and others. Bloggers were writing about K-Y Intrigue; the media now calls K-Y “lubricant” rather than “jelly.” It was clear that we made conversations easier. It was a significant achievement for the brand and for Ogilvy PR.






6.4.09

LensCrafters::: Sees More




Challenge: Transform a brand perceived as a discount retailer into a trend setting purveyor of stylish specs for fashionistas and people looking to make a fashion statement by wearing optical eyewear to create a desired “look.”
Insight:
• Appoint style guru Lloyd Boston as the company’s first “Chief Style Officer”
• Place the LensCrafters brand in high-fashion events (New York Fashion Week)
• Build credibility among key fashion editors and influencers through in-store editor events
Action:
• Utilized stylist Lloyd Boston as LensCrafters “Chief Style Officer” by having him give eyewear makeovers on ABC’s The View and co-host WE Women’s Entertainment Television offering fashion and style commentary during the Oscars
• Launched the LensCrafters 5th Avenue flagship store at 45th and 5th in Manhattan

• Built the “Eye On Style Transformation Station”– a mobile replica of the 5th Avenue LensCrafters flagship store to allow consumers to “eye-cessorize” with LensCrafters luxury brands. The Transformation station was present at numerous New York Fashion Week events
Outcomes:
• Wall Street Journal front-page article positions LensCrafters as leading the charge in optical glasses as the latest “must-have” trend in fashion accessories
• The New York Times front-page article on LensCrafters flagship store opening
• Provided over 300 editors and fashion influencers with designer frames during New York Fashion Week

• Celebrities like Jamie Foxx, The Pussycat Dolls and Denise Richards were all gifted with designer eyeglasses

American Home Furnishings Alliance

Challenge: in 1998, when Americans’ disposable income was high and McMansions were emerging, yet Americans were not focused on the home as a haven for their growing families.
Furniture was simply not top of mind. AHFA wanted to increase purchase by educating consumers about the importance of furniture to their lives and homes.
We began with comprehensive consumer research. We learned that homeowners did not understand or trust their own sense of style and that women were afraid of making the wrong furniture choices. ‘Furniture fear’ kept people living with furnishings that did not reflect their personalities or lifestyles.

Insight: Everyone has a “tipping point” when it comes to needing a new piece of furniture – it may be the addition of a new child or when a child leaves home – or even when someone says, “I just can’t take looking at this old chair one more day!”

Action:
•Developed publicity-driving press kits addressing the furniture needs of multiple groups – from empty nesters, to parents, to people have small living spaces. Our media kits featured national opinion poll results, product photography and advice from industry experts.
•Created two award-winning Web sites – one for consumers to help them find their furniture styles (www.FindYourFurniture.com) and one for the news media from which to gather sources information for stories (www.ahfanews.com).
•Helped AHFA provide news and information resulting from Furniture Market, the twice per year High Point, North Carolina event that determines the future of furniture fashion. Currently we are working with the furniture industry to encourage Americans to donate their safe, underutilized


Outcomes:
•There has been a 180 degree shift in consumer attitudes and behaviors. According to independently conducted new 2008 qualitative research, 10 years after our benchmark research, consumers are highly motivated buyers, confident in their choice of furniture and rely on their own sense of style for furniture purchases.
•AFHA is viewed as the authority on home furnishings trends by America’s home and lifestyle media corps.
•AHFA has secured more than 2 billion impressions, including numerous placements in long-lead magazines and daily newspaper home sections. The industry has also been covered on “Oprah.”

3M Pharmaceuticals:::Media Launch of Aldara


Issue: 3M Pharmaceuticals had a new first-of-its-kind skin cancer treatment cream, Aldara, which it wanted launched on the Australian market.
Australia, often referred to as “the sunburnt country”, has the world’s highest skin cancer incidence and a great appetite for medical advances for it. But because the issue is so serious for Australia, any irresponsible promotion of treatments or supposed cures is widely condemned and attracts massive fines.

Within this context 3M Pharmaceuticals approached Parker & Partners last August to launch its world-first skin cancer treatment, Aldara, onto the Australian market. Aldara is the world’s first treatment for superficial cases of Basal Cell Carcinoma (sBCC) – the most common skin cancer type – to come in the form of a self-administered cream and avoid the need for medical procedures/surgery.

Challenge: Irresponsible promoters considered to be in breach of medical promotional guidelines can attract fines of hundreds and thousands of dollars. Aldara had to be launched responsibly, while still harnessing all the great media angles presented by Australia’s skin cancer experience.


While the launch of Aldara presented a great media opportunity, there were important considerations:
1. Aldara had not yet been approved in Australia for Government subsidy to make it more affordable to Australians. The Government would monitor Aldara’s promotion to ensure it acknowledged limitations and avoided creating false demand.
2. Aldara, as a pharmaceutical product, was subject to strict promotion guidelines which if breached, attract huge fines.
3. Aldara’s clinical trials had been extensively reported in the media over the past few years. We needed to convince media there was a new ‘news’ story to report.
4. Dermatologists, involved in the world trials of Aldara, were staunch advocates. But Aldara created a new market for GPs and skin cancer clinics that could negate the need to visit a dermatologist. We needed to ensure we targeted all relevant medical constituents without alienating any of them.


Insight: If we developed effective and creative media hooks into the treatment, we would not need to embellish Aldara’s significance or role in skin cancer treatment to achieve a phenomenal media outcome.
Parker & Partner’s insight was that if we developed creative and effective media hooks into the treatment, we would not need to embellish Aldara’s significance or role in skin cancer treatment to achieve a phenomenal media outcome.

Understanding the extent to which sBCC affected Australians was pivotal in how we approached this project and required extensive research in medical publications.

Creative Idea: Launching Aldara in early spring allowed us to heavily promote it as a new treatment available just in time for Spring/Summer and peak skin cancer season. We would remind Australia of its skin cancer incidence and play upon Australia’s role in the clinical trials for Aldara to give Australians a sense of ownership in this global breakthrough.

To this end we used dermatologist experts and patients from the world trials to emphasise the clinical and scientific advance of Aldara.

Campaign: Leading up to the launch date, Parker & Partners aimed for the most media coverage possible on a national basis. We prepared media across Australia pre-launch to be teed up with experts and patients local to their area on the day.
We pitched nationwide so media from all Australians states were covering it from their locale. We pampered trusted sources but otherwise were very strict with embargo.

We decided we could appear responsible as well as attract media through the issue of warnings about misuse of Aldara for cosmetic purposes. This gave the launch an issue around it and acted as a signal to authorities we were responsible promoters.






Outcome: The result was phenomonal media coverage across Australia. Every television network covered the launch, most of them several times during the day, with live crosses and updates. Every tabloid newspaper in Australia covered the launch as well as regional and rural newspapers. Aldara also achieved significant exposure in the signature national broadsheet, The Australian, and other broadsheet newwspapers through their websites.

Radio conducted feature interviews on top rating breakfast programs across Australia and there was also community service announcements and blanket coverage on news bulletins until late. We also received massive numbers of requests for information from sources as diverse as seniors publications to womens’ magazines. Television coverage extended through to the next day where top rating breakfast programs reported on Aldara. The key messages were carried and our experts did as we requested in not exaggerating the benefits of Aldara which sent the right message to authorities about 3M as a responsible company.
3M Pharmaceuticals was delighted with the media launch, attendance and the ensuing media coverage. The media coverage was nationwide, responsible and massive, a testament to our approach to this media campaign.

Aaron Diamonds AIDS Research Center:::Full Court Press: Turning the Yao Ming/Magic Johnson PSA into a Slam Dunk





Issue

China faces a crushing HIV/ AIDS epidemic, some estimates suggest that by 2010, China could have up to 10 million people infected by the HIV virus. Public awareness regarding the disease is low, in particular with regards to who is at risk and how it is contracted. China AIDS Initiative (CAI) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) decided to create a public service announcement (PSA) that would rectify common misconceptions.
The PSA featured Yao Ming, a basketball hero both in his native China and in the United States, and Magic Johnson, a former L.A. Lakers superstar, who disclosed his own HIV-positive status in 1991. The series of PSAs were designed to help educate the Chinese public about HIV/AIDS prevention, dispel common mistaken beliefs about how the disease is transmitted, and encourage viewers to visit www.aids333.com, a Chinese-language AIDS information website.
In October 2004, our firm was approached to find the best strategy to distribute the PSA, in a way that would target at-risk demographics and maximize broadcast exposure on as many Chinese TV channels as possible.
Challenges
While the PSA was compelling to a Chinese audience, at this stage it lacked a great delivery. The PSA needed to overcome the stigma regarding HIV / AIDS that remained at local TV channels, and convince television executives to air the announcement, pro bono, in a targeted way that would maximize exposure and results. Our campaign had two primary objectives:
•Maximize the exposure of the PSA
•Identify the priority target audience for the PSA based on geographic and age segment considerations.
These were vital considerations given China’s huge and fragmented media landscape of more than one thousand TV stations spread across 23 provinces, and the fact that our resources did not incldue any real budget for media buying.
Insight
With a campaign based on the unique combination of technical expertise from the China Aids Initiative, the endorsement from the influential National Basketball Association and our firm’s on-the-ground media counsel, the PSA could deliver a powerful and relevant message when adequately distributed to the right target group.
Creative Idea
The campaign would focus on the youth segment (15-25 year old) and viewers in provinces with high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. This audience would be receptive to the PSA’s format (basket ball stars) and would also be familiar with the disease.
Campaign
To target the appropriate audience, we focused on the provinces with high HIV/ AIDS prevalence rates and The youth segment, (roughly 15 to 25), which would be most receptive to the basketball theme of the PSA and also the most apt to change their behavior towards AIDS. One this had been established, the most effective channels could be identified; we worked with our media buying agency to select TV channels which had the relevant geographic reach and focus audience.
After this initial phase, TV stations were contacted to convince them to broadcast the PSA – pro bono. They key to achieving this was educating TV executives on the importance of the message, and the value of the PSA.
Outcome
The PSA was broadcasted on more than 24 TV channels throughout China, including all of the high risk provinces of Yunnan, Anhui, Shanxi, Hebei, Sichuan, Xinjinag, Henan and Inner Mongolia. In total, the Yao Ming/Magic Johnson PSA reached over 83 million viewers, making it one of the most viewed public safety announcements in China’s history.

adidas:::Rejuvenating Chinese Volleyball: Bringing the Game Closer to China’s Youth

Category Entered:Specialist & Technique: New Media
Title of Project: Rejuvenating Chinese Volleyball: Bringing the Game Closer to China’s Youth
Client’s name:Adidas (Suzhou) Co., Ltd
Budget: US$362,500


With 2008 fast on our heels, Beijing Olympic partner and Chinese Volleyball Association partner—Adidas, was faced with several immediate challenges: The national Chinese women’s volleyball team’s (CWVT) image and the sport of volleyball itself had lost its “coolness” factor among Chinese youth. This posed as a discrepancy from Adidas overall brand persona of Young, Energetic, Fashionable, Confident and Cool.
It wasn’t always this way. Most Chinese will recall CWVT’s golden victory at the 1984 Olympics; the team had catapulted to national heroes. However thereafter, CWVT gave dismal performances which caused the team’s popularity and the sport of volleyball to decline; volleyball was perceived by youth as a game primarily for “older people.” Meanwhile, China was catching on to “the two big balls,” basketball and football, which were perceived as entertaining, star-studded and key players in shaping youth culture—exactly where Adidas aspired volleyball to be in China.
OBJECTIVES/BRIEF FROM THE CLIENT
The goals of the campaign:

  • To rejuvenate CWVT image and the game of volleyball among the target audience (14-24 years old)
  • Create and maintain excitement among China’s youth for CWVT as a gold contender of the 2008 Olympics
  • Strengthen Adidas association with CWVT, 2008 Beijing Olympics and overall brand ownership of volleyball
STRATEGY
Get youth involved. Speak their language. Drive youth participation while giving the game and the team an image makeover. Research by All China Strategic Research (ACSR) focused on the target audience, both male and female. From qualitative research findings, ACSR found that:

  • China’ youth culture is heavily influenced by star players, sports icons and celebrities. We need to create star power for the team.
  • Though the old Olympic glory of CWVT impressed China’s youth, the team and the sport’s coolness factor was low. In the sports arena, coolness was described by adjectives such as agile, powerful, fierce, intense and exciting. We need to showcase the power of the game.
  • The target audience preference was driven by a sense of ownership and participation. We need to drive youth involvement.
Furthermore, the 2006 China Internet Network Development Statistic Report points out that New Media channels are an effective medium to increase youth participation and attention.

METHOD DEPLOYED

Build team celebrity status: Drive PR through blogging and glamour shots
The initial phase of the campaign was to increase the profile of CWVT. Up to this point, the general audience had little knowledge of the players’ personalities. We sought to open a dialogue and close the distance between the team and their fans by creating their own blog, which is also the first Chinese Olympic team blog in history. That fact alone drove media coverage and generated traffic to the site.

Each player was given a professional makeover and photo shoot to capture fashionable shots which debuted on the blog; the photos were picked up instantaneously by major print media.

Make the game cool: Volleyball stunts through viral films:
The next phase was to shift perceptions of volleyball as a “tougher, faster, scarier” sport than previously thought. We focused on promoting six entertaining viral films via BBS and many more youth-targeted websites. The viral films were created by Adidas’ advertising agency to portray the volleyball game as edgy, dangerous and exciting. They sought to manifest the high speed of volleyball movements through creative stunts demonstrated by youth, such as:

  • Digging (defensive save) in 2.5 seconds was demonstrated through flying off the roof of a racing car or from a speeding skateboard.
  • Spiking at 92 km/h was illustrated through a water-gushing fire hydrant that hits a pedestrian and a coconut flying from a slingshot that hits a bystander
Increase fun factor: Youth call-to-action through the volleyball chant competition
Similar to popular cheers for basketball and football, we sought to create a national chant, cheer or jingle that volleyball can own. This was an opportunity for youth participation, thus Adidas launched the nation’s first chant competition (still going on now). The competition allowed for entry of a broad range of cheering forms, such as the creation of cheering slogans, chant themes, fans’ T-shirts, hand motions, dance moves related to volleyball moves. Participants can upload their cheering ideas and creations to the CWVT mini site and also rate other entries.

Incentive to participate includes selection into CWVT’s official cheering squad. Rules and registration of the competition were promoted through schools, retail stories, a press and video news release and media editorials.
OUTCOME
The campaign created new icons:

On attitudinal parameters, there was a clear positive shift of CWVT being perceived as “cooler,” sexier and more fashionable than ever.

  • Post-launch research revealed that in some cities, within several months there was an increase of as much as 16% of the target audience who defined CWVT as “cool” (source: ACSR). Shanghai Times noted that fans were impressed with the team’s “never-seen-before sexiness” and their “excellent skin tone,” even drawing comparisons to professional models. One fan’s comment on the blog stated, ”I never knew the girls were so fashionable and cool!”
  • CWVT extended their presence beyond the usual sports pages and made a leap towards various lifestyle media, such as popular youth magazines Easy and Touch.
The campaign generated tremendous hits and buzz:
The campaign was effective in stimulating buzz about CWVT and activating an attitudinal shift on volleyball.


  • The blog attracted 160,865 unique visits and nearly 400,000 unique visits to the chant competition site in the first three months of its debut (source: From Zero). Oriental Sports Daily commented, “Without any prior announcement or promotion, visits to CWVT’s blog on the first day of its launch exceeded more than 20,000 page views!”
  • 73% of viewers found the viral films “innovative” and “stimulating,” further describing volleyball as technique-driven, “passionate” and “powerful;” 78% of viewers also forwarded the viral films to friends.
  • Within three months of the release of the viral films, more than 5.5 million visitors have clicked and viewed the films; in fact, the viewing rate was double that of the market average (source: ACSR).
The campaign fuelled youth energy for the team and the game:
For the first time, a channel was opened up for direct dialogue between CWVT and their fans, which gave the team an extra morale boost.
Chen Zhonghe, Chief Coach of CWVT, commented, “Adidas brought the girls closer to their fans, which is helping to boost the team’s morale and their performance! I am confident about the team’s performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.”
RELATION TO OBJECTIVES and COST EFFECTIVENESS
The campaign activated an attitudinal shift:
The blog established a radical facelift for CWVT, the viral films channelled a positive perception shift on volleyball, the chant competition called on China’s youth to infuse passion for the team, and the overall campaign is effectively strengthening Adidas brand association with CWVT.
Within six months of launch, research by ACSR revealed that nationally, awareness of Adidas and CWVT partnership increased by 5%, awareness of Adidas partnership with 2008 Olympics increased by 7%, and awareness of CWVT increased by 6%.
The campaign stretched the communications renminbi:
The total media coverage of the campaign to date is worth an equivalent ad spending of US$1.3 million USD (print media value source: Sinofile). To date, the estimated return of investment is more than 3 fold.
CREATIVITY AND ORIGINALITY
The New Media targeted campaign heralded a new era for Chinese Women’s Volleyball. For the first time, the Olympic hopefuls had their first collection of glamour shots with heightened celebrity status, their first blog which was also the first Olympic team blog in China (as opposed to an individual’s blog), the assembly of the first CWVT cheering squad and unprecedented media buzz.
OUTSIDE PARTNERS
TBWA (viral films)
From Zero (blog)
Sohu (viral films and blog)
ACSR (research)
Cinsos (BBS)
BUDGETS
Approximately US$362,500
CATEGORY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION
The 2006 China Internet Network Development Statistic Report points out that more than 18 million Chinese high school students surf the internet. The rate of netizens among China’s youth is increasing at rapid speed
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adidas::: No Impossible Gold: Setting the Stage for four years of adidas-Olympic Communications



Issue
In January 2005, adidas became an official partner for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In a China gripped by Olympic fever, adidas needed an announcement that would grab attention.

Challenge
Adidas did not want another ubiquitous Olympic announcement.


They wanted to:

  • Drive awareness of adidas’ Olympic partnership
  • Establish the Olympic credibility of adidas
  • Demonstrate the position of adidas as a global sports performance leader dedicated to athletes, product innovation and leadership
  • Drive the position of adidas as THE sports brand with an unrivalled Olympic heritage, and ultimately THE Olympic brand
  • Enhance and strengthen the relationship between adidas and key 2008 Olympic business partners
Insight
Rigorous, qualitative research amongst consumer and government officials demonstrated the powerful connection between adidas, winning and ultimately Chinese national pride. This key insight was central to developing the campaign strategy and theme.

Creative Idea:
The original brand message of authenticity and inspiration,“Impossible is Nothing”, was re energized as “No Impossible Gold”. Powerful nationalistic symbols of drums, podiums and celebration were employed.

Campaign
To target a diverse audience including the government and consumers, a two phase strategy was devised.
Phase one: The “wow” campaign of inspiration and innovation, with a focus on raising awareness of adidas and its strong Olympic connections both in the past, present and future. The key target audiences were the media and Government officials
Phase Two: The “echo” phase focused on two disparate groups of stakeholders; consumers and key adidas business partners. This phase incorporated a seven city interactive road show where the impressive Olympic podium visual and sentiment of winning gold was leveraged. Also, 500 adidas stakeholders ranging from BOCOG to sports associations and federations, retailers, key global athletes and the media were invited to celebrate and cheer at a Gala Dinner.

Outcome
Quantitatively; the campaign resulted in 20 TV reports between January and March 2005, over 139 articles including 40% with visual images, and 38 online features. Approximately US$2.83M in media value was generated, with an exposure to an audience of over 410 million. In terms of consumer tracking, a recent study by AC Neilson cited awareness of the adidas partnership with the Beijing 2008 Olympic games as at 65% amongst 16-24 year olds in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
However, it must be remembered that this high profile announcement campaign created new dialogue with new critical stakeholders. In the long term, the benefits of such powerful relationships cannot be quantified or qualified.

1.4.09

Rolls-Royce:::Phantom Launch

Challenge:

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars wanted to generate excitement and awareness with luxury lifestyle and business media in North America
Insight:
• Capitalize on limited tour of new Phantom EWB and 101EX Experimental Coupe to introduce the “new and invigorated” company
• Leverage upcoming vehicle introduction to demonstrate the performance, craftsmanship and luxury that has made Rolls-Royce the standard for excellence in any category
• Highlight features of U.K. headquarters to give journalists inside look at what makes Rolls-Royce special
Action:
• Arranged first-ever visit by U.S. journalists to Rolls-Royce corporate U.K. headquarters
• Created targeted media campaign aimed at luxury lifestyle publications and relevant national and regional press
•Spearheaded media relations in support of vehicles in select cities
Outcomes:
• Exclusive story with CNBC that set the broadcast strategy for Detroit Auto Show
• Features in luxury lifestyle publications including Celebrated Living, Palm Springs Life, POST USA and Malibu Times Magazine
• Lengthy local broadcast stories in select markets that were picked-up across the U.S.

DHL:::Taking on a Duopoly: The Deutche Post Formation of DHL in the U.S.

Challenge:
After acquiring 100 percent ownership of DHL Worldwide in 2000, Deutche Post World Net (DPWN) in 2003 purchased Airborne, Inc., and overnight became the third largest express delivery company in the U.S.

Restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines caused DPWN to spin off the airline portion of both DHL and Airborne.

ABX, Inc. and ASTAR, Inc. were two new independent airlines created by this transaction, and each would contract air lift to DHL’s express delivery ground operation.

The politically powerful U.S. express delivery duopoly of FedEx and UPS quickly reacted by inserting language into the Defense Appropriations bill that required the U.S. Department of Transportation to undertake a prolonged review of the ASTAR application for an airline operating certificate.

By requiring DOT to put the issue through an administrative law judge review, FedEx and UPS were able to use the public hearing process to generate negative press about DHL and DPWN, portraying them as the “German postal monopoly,” and effectively delayed DHL’s entry into the U.S. Our challenge was to not only counter the misinformation campaign being waged by FedEx and UPS in Washington, but also to boost public perception of the DHL brand as it attempted to gain foothold in the U.S. marketplace


Action:
• to develop a strategic communications plan to counter allegations from FedEx and UPS that DHL had an unfair trade advantage by being a subsidiary of the partially state-owned DPWN.


•We waged an education campaign to correct this misinformation through Hill briefings and media interviews, and maintained rapid response to negative media coverage.

•Additionally, designed an integrated marketing campaign to articulate DHL’s world-class expertise to the U.S. marketplace, introduce the company as the new challenger brand and infuse a spirit of competition and choice into the express delivery market.

•Specific strategies included:
–A 360º communications approach that leveraged the announcement of DHL’s $150 million investment in its advertising and marketing initiatives
–Defining the DHL brand to the U.S. business community and gaining credibility as a better option through an aggressive media relations campaign
–Launching a grassroots initiative to generate nationwide media interest in the “New DHL” while emphasizing the company’s U.S. heritage through local community outreach


Outcomes:

Ultimately, ASTAR and later ABX were certified and went on to provide air lift for DHL in the U.S. By actively engaging Capitol Hill and the media, we also were able to change perceptions of DHL and DPWN among the Washington audiences.

Further, we were able to eliminate the editorial descriptor “German postal monopoly” in coverage of DPWN and DHL.

The integrated marketing campaign was also a tremendous success, and the advertising effectively increased brand awareness by 12 percent following launch.

Public relations efforts supporting the brand launch generated approximately 69.7 million media impressions, including national media coverage on CNBC’s SquawkBox, The Today Show, Good Morning America and FOX & Friends and coverage in outlets such as: The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Reuters, AdWeek, and Advertising Age.

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