Print Industry Media Creativity and Innovation Award Winners
Over the next week, Jack Myers Media Business Report readers will receive a series of special reports, underwritten by the Magazine Publishers of America (www.magazine.org), profiling the magazine industry's winners in the fourth annual Myers Media Innovation and Creativity Awards competition.
Agencies:
Company: Initiative Media Entry Title: Weeds Season Launch Other Companies Involved: Showtime/Rolling Stone Award: Gold
Description of goals and strategies of program:
Showtime's premier of the second season of its hit show, Weeds, a critically acclaimed comedy about a suburban mother turned marijuana dealer, was scheduled to air on August 14th. Season One of Weeds was the highest-rated original series in Showtime's history. Initiative's
challenge was to help launch Season Two and gain audience share in the key demographics for the show and for the premium television network (Adults 25-49). The key was to find a way to make traditional advertising break through the clutter and create enough buzz that all the other elements of the campaign would become more visible and memorable.
Description, including what aspects make it worthy of recognition, why it is innovative, how it was developed,
presented, approved, and implemented, as well as obstacles confronted during the development, approval and implementation process:
Partnering exclusively with Rolling Stone magazine, a historically countercultural magazine in the US,
Showtime placed a very unique full page "scent-strip" advertisement, traditionally used by fragrance companies to promote new perfumes. When readers peeled back the strip on the ad, they could "inhale" a scent distinctly associated with marijuana. This unprecedented marketing move was designed to "sniff" out younger viewers, attract incremental media attention and drive viral awareness for the show.
Rolling Stone was selected for the placement not only because of the magazine's views on music and
pop culture, but also for their young, trendsetting readership and because they don't carry fragrance ads that might detract from the Weeds scent.
The scent-strip ad, while a focal point of the campaign, was merely a tipping point for the network's marketing
plans for the show. The network's robust promotional effort also included a mobile "munchie-mobile" in six major markets that handed out free Weeds branded brownies and ice cream.
The print campaign was also augmented by the creation of a "belly band tag" on the Los Angeles Time newspapers left on subscribers' doorsteps the day of the premiere, a first for the newspaper. The
network's online budgets were also increased to target younger potential viewers and to take advantage of a multitude of rich media opportunities including an AOL Instant Messenger Buddy List takeover.
Information on how the success of the media program was evaluated and if it was/is likely to be renewed: Weeds Season Two premiered on August 14th with significant ratings increases over its prior year debut. Showtime measures success based on multiplays across multiple platforms and
windows including, VOD, Sho.com, iTunes, and DVD. So while early indications are that the campaign is an unmitigated success, results will continue to be tabulated until all of the "views" are counted.
The scent-strip ad innovation has already created a lot of "buzz" both in and out of the advertising industry. Major industry publications in the US have touted Showtime's innovative twist on a
traditional print advertisement. The "buzz" has also been felt online as various bloggers, key to the demographic that Showtime was targeting, have articulated their fondness of the innovation.
Company: PHD Detroit Entry Title: Chrysler Sebring "Sexiest Man Alive" Other Companies Involved: BBDO, Organic, People Magazine Award: Honorable Mention
Description of goals and strategies of program:
In 2006, Chrysler and People Magazine partnered together to bring readers an engaging and integrated program built around People's Sexiest Man Alive franchise. The first-ever initiative
was driven by user-generated content and was designed to build excitement and awareness of the All-New 2007 Chrysler Sebring. This program connected the style, technology and sexiness of the new Chrysler Sebring with one of People's most talked about special issues.
Description, including what aspects make it worthy of recognition, why it is innovative, how it was developed,
presented, approved, and implemented, as well as obstacles confronted during the development, approval and implementation process: People approached PHD with the opportunity to run a gatefold or impact unit within the Sexiest Man Alive issue, where the real celebrity winners would be revealed. PHD embraced the concept
but wanted to take it a step beyond. With that, PHD asked People to create some consumer excitement around the vehicle launch AND the Sexiest Man issue via this unique consumer-based contest and creative execution involving People's loyal and trend setting readers.
PHD was able to convince People magazine to run beyond its standard execution with customized in-book creative, a consumer contest, added value promotion, online sponsorship and
bonus events, all wrapped up into one fun marketing program developed around the Sexiest Man Alive Special Issue.
Chrysler's idea leveraged the brand equity of People's Sexiest Man Alive issue through a custom program that provided readers with the chance to be featured in an innovative Chrysler advertisement in the Sexiest Man Alive issue. People created a
full page promotional ad in addition to editorial promotion that launched the program in the 10/02/06 issue. The creative included a call-to-action to drive readers to a custom entry site (People.com/yoursexyman) to upload a picture of "Your Sexy Man." The unique opportunity was for the photo entry to be featured in the Chrysler advertisement in the 11/27/06 Sexiest Man Alive issue with grand-prize trip to St. Tropez for the entry with the most votes.
People readers were invited to enter the "Your Sexy Man" contest from 9/22/06 through 11/29/06. All
entries received before 10/8/06 were then eligible to be featured in the Chrysler advertisement. People.com posted all entries online with corresponding profiles for readers to review and vote on who they thought was the sexiest.
This innovative, first-ever initiative included user-generated content that was themed to the special issue. The gatefold unit received premium positioning upfront and between Sexiest Man Alive edit
features on Patrick Dempsey and Matt Damon. The custom-created photo-mosaic was made up of nearly 1,600 consumer entries from the "Your Sexy Man" Contest. The photos were constructed to resemble the new Chrysler Sebring image.
As part of the Chrysler program, People created a custom email that was sent to the 16,000+ People VIP opt-in community. The email drove awareness of the special issue, encouraged entry to the "Your Sexy Man" contest and featured an exclusive VIP opportunity. The first twenty (20) People readers who responded to the email
received a DVD featuring a sexy leading man. Movies included favorites such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and The Breakup. Each movie was sent to the winner with a card that featured Chrysler branding and a congratulatory message. People received the first twenty responses in less than 90 seconds!
People.com held Chrysler's sponsored special section featuring photo galleries, video excerpts, editor's blog and daily Sexy Man polls. Co-branded banners drove traffic to the dedicated
submission, voting pages and branded homepage roadblocks promoting the 2007 Chrysler Sebring. People.com revealed the "Your Sexy Man" winner on 12/29/06. This reveal page was road blocked with branded Chrysler creative. The lucky winner received over 6k votes.
To celebrate People's Sexiest Man Alive special issue, two parties were held in NY and Chicago on 11/16 for People VIP subscribers. Two hundred guests at each event were treated to on-site activities, cocktails and a sneak peak inside the 2006 Sexiest Man Alive issue a
day before it hit newsstands. As a participating sponsor of the event, Chrysler received logo inclusion on email invitations sent to People VIP members in both markets, exposure on video loop playing throughout the parties and inclusion in gift bags.
Information on how the success of the media program was evaluated and if it was/is likely to be renewed:
The success of the program was based on reader interest and participation, as well as the mass reach the program
provided for the Sebring launch. Total entries prior to print cut-off were 1.6k, of which readers entered a total of 8.5k photos online. The traffic to the "Your Sexy Man" area of People.com exceeded 5.0mm page views and users were spending almost 2 four-page gatefold unit ran in the 11/27/06 Sexiest Man Alive issue reaching an audience of 45 million readers who experienced the new Sebring!
It is undetermined whether the program will tie into 2007 vehicle strategies, though the one thing guaranteed is that it
was the right campaign for the Sexy Sebring launch!
This campaign serves as the "Gold Standard" for Time Inc. properties. The campaign was truly an integrated forum for Chrysler to launch the all-new Sebring in an entertaining environment.
