BE: Creative Award POOL 1

The Brand Experience Awards Creative Award LIVE

Pool 1

This is online Pool 1 of the 2012 Brand Experience LIVE award, an award which culminates in a LIVE final in front of 4 judges at the IOEX exhibition 8th March.

How this competition works

Just 4 finalists will emerge to be chosen from 5 ‘pools’ There are 35 campaign entrants, 7 in each pool. 5 semi-finalists will be chosen by a judge’s score in combination with our visitor poll whilst a 6th semi-finalist will be the highest judge’s score not to win a pool. A panel of 25 independent expert judges are engaged for aiding the online process. Registered site visitors can also vote for their favourtite campaigns using a Poll on this site (if you are not logged in it won’t appear). The six semi-finalists will then be given further consideration by the judges before the 4 finalists are announced on this site on 28th February.

Pool contenders have been selected randomly. Online voting will be open for the same amount of time for weach pool. Pool 1 is open Wednesday 25th January 12 noon (GMT) – Friday 27th January 19.00 (GMT).

For each entry there is a video or slideshow presentation and text that outlines 3 steps: The Brand Challenge, The Big Creative Idea and Why it Worked.

Pool 1 – Contenders

Ignite with Vodafone – video

EMS with 20th Century Fox – video

RPM with Smirnoff – video

PrettyGreen with Cadbury – video

The Tailor of Shoreditch with wagamama –

Carat Sponsorship with adidas – video

VIA with Mitsubishi Pencil Co (Jetstream Rollerball) – video

Ignite with Vodafone

The Brand Challenge: Vodafone wanted to drive buzz around the re-launch of their partnership with McLaren F1 by taking ownership of the 2011 F1 car launch in a fun, engaging and inclusive way, and by placing their customers at the heart of the activity in order to bring to life their brand promise of ‘Power to You.’ Usually, an F1 car launch is a completely non-interactive and fairly standard event in a formal setting where a cloth cover is simply pulled off the car. To ensure talkability we needed to take a dramatic and unconventional approach and one that placed Vodafone customers centre stage as the world’s media looked on.

The Creative Big Idea: Ignite worked with Vodafone, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Race Team, previous world champions; Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and 30 Vodafone customers to deliver an unexpected launch event in Berlin in February 2011. Vodafone customer s (recruited through a social media competition) carried the new car’s components into the centre of the Potsdamer Platz, where the chassis was gradually pieced together by McLaren mechanics. The event culminated with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button assembling the very final pieces; revealing the complete car to the delight of the assembled crowds and world’s media. Away from the venue, teaser updates were posted online at; Vodafone.com, Vodafone Racing Facebook page, McLaren.com and Fifth Driver (McLaren’s twitter feed) in order to engage F1™ enthusiasts around the world.

Why it Worked: The event design was a world first for the industry and drew over 1,500 curious spectators plus 250 press and international media with an impressive 200,000 people watching the event live online. The resulting film was pushed out through digital channels via a global seeding strategy covering both consumer and trade titles and to date has had in excess of 500,00 unique views in addition to the 50+ user generated videos that were posted online within 48 hrs of the reveal. The event received positive global media across 182 international media titles Daragh Persse, Group Head of Sponsorship and Cause Marketing at Vodafone said; “The solution was simply brilliant. To generate 1 million unique online viewers says it all: an extremely innovative, cost-effective and seamlessly executed plan to increase the visibility and engagement with our sponsorship.”

EMS with 20^th Century Fox

The Brand Challenge: Uptake for Blu-ray technology is relatively low across Europe compared to North America and the Far East. To drive sales of new digitally remastered 20th Century Fox back catalogue releases in the run-up to Christmas, they needed to create a consumer campaign that demonstrated Blu-ray benefits first-hand – supported by a viral campaign that lengthened the experience for the public in a uniquely personal way. With key retail distributors to support across four key markets (UK, France, Germany and Spain), 20th Century Fox commissioned a European roadshow to target consumers on the doorsteps of major supermarkets and retail chains, in a multilingual high-impact exhibtion trailer.

The Creative Big Idea: 20th Century Fox created excitement and interaction throughout the tour by giving visitors the chance to take a unique starring role in famous movie trailers; then share their ‘limelight moment’ with friends long after the event through social media. The roadshow incorporated two ‘green screen’ filming zones that allowed visitors to be edited into the original movie trailer – taking the place of the original movie star. 20th Century Fox targeted all ‘movie fans’ – young and old, encouraging them to star in one of four classic films being promoted: The Sound of Music, Alien, Night of the Museum 2 and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Why it Worked: The personal film trailers were automatically edited on-board and emailed to visitors with an own-language message to share on Facebook and Twitter. The viral campaign enhanced and lengthened the event – and exposed the Blu-ray benefits to an international audience through social media (viewed in Ireland, Belgium, US, Canada and even Romania). Vital statistics: tour visited 32 sites in 4 countries over eight weeks; 22,185 Blu-ray leaflets distributed; 7,674 direct one to one interactions; 1,851 experienced a Blu-ray product presentation; 1,918 made their own movie trailer; over 6,000 online views; visitors spent average 30 minutes on the vehicle. Dates: 25th October – 19th December 2010 Photographs: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eventms/sets/72157626399681016/

RPM with Smirnoff

The Brand Challenge: Smirnoff brand affinity scores remained stable despite the launch of the new “Be There” platform. The cerebral nature of “Be There” meant it needed explanation and we needed to engage consumers in order to aid comprehension and elicit an emotive response. Smirnoff needed a series of experiential events that directly engaged with 10,000 of the target population, reached 17% of the target population and shifted brand affinity. The nature of the engagement needed to be extraordinary and emotive, to cement the night in memory and forever align Smirnoff with “Be There” moments.

The Creative Big Idea: 1,500 litres of paint, 6 cities, Smirnoff Paintfest. RPM designed and developed a touring perspexstructure that was erected in the heart of student club nights during their last event of the year. Inside could be found 15 -20 students dressed in white Be There overalls and goggles, a direct feed from the venue’s sound system and 17 strategically positioned, first of their kind, paint cannons. Every three minutes a new batch of students would enter the Paintfest, get totally covered in paint, fully comprehend “Be There” and see Smirnoff very differently. The venues were themed throughout; from perfectly served drinks at the bar to paint splattered toilet symbols. Giveaways drove rate of sale and visibility across the venue. Event dates –throughout June 2010

Why It Worked: MillwardBrown evaluation -“The events had a positive effect on the perception of Smirnoff, strengthening the brand’s association with originality and being a cool night out. Smirnoff was felt to be really involved in the event and consumers could easily link Paintfest to the brand. Paintfest generated a lot of buzz and after the event attendees spread the work even further.” For an experiential campaign of this size to have such an effect on brand equity is a testament to the insight, execution and brand idea itself. The idea engaged consumers completely, establishing a shared purpose and capturing the imagination. The campaign resulted in 18% national awareness amongst target audience. Over 2,000 students took part. 96% said they would come again; 13,000 new Facebook Fans were recruited. Press coverage –38m impressions. LuminarGroup awarded Smirnoff exclusive pouring rights across their empire. “The best even we’ve done so far on Smirnoff” Aoife McDonald, brand manager

PrettyGreen with Cadbury

The Brand Challenge: Communicate and increase entries to Cadbury’s weekly draw for London 2012 tickets. Create a big bang to drive awareness of the sponsorship with the main objective to get national coverage.

The Creative Big Idea: Fallon devised a concept to release 2012 tickets from a giant party popper PrettyGreen then took the concept and developed it into a live event, working with our own PR team to focus single-mindedly on the aim of national coverage PG then built a giant (7metre) Party Popper at Westfield Stratford (naturally high footfall, in site of the Olympic Park) and released 100 Olympic tickets into the crowd Launch the Popper on 20th of 12th month just before the start of Olympic year Use a high profile celebrity (Christine Bleakley) to pop the Popper and drive media and consumer interest An instant redemption for Olympic tickets, alongside collateral, to drive home the weekly draw for further chances Cadbury brands were communicated through instant chocolate redemption on site.

Why it Worked: Ticket draw entries for that week, increased by 280% on the previous week and by 130% over the previous 4 weeks combined – 68% of those were totally new entrants to the campaign Stunt happened on 20th of the 12th 1,500 people participated 5 national pieces of coverage v KPI of 1, including Daily Star 56 total pieces of coverage v KPI of 20 PR Reach 190,609,444 Event budget was small – PR AVE achieved £1,148,094 One consumer received top 100m Final tickets driving further media coverage 49/50 pairs of tickets were redeemed Twitter competition to giveaway final pair delivered ongoing, increased awareness Youtube views of film: (to 6th Jan 2012) 435,834 Social media OTS 456,550 – benchmarked against average Twitter activity for a new CDM advert = 5x Tweeters and over 10 x more OTS

The Tailor of Shoreditch with wagamama

The Brand Challenge: Identify a wagamama entry point into the festival arena Take the wagamama experience out of the restaurant & into public events Drive engagement & awareness, both with customers and internally with wagamama staff. Create something that compliments the brand but also becomes part of the overall festival experience by being exciting and different Judging success: Product sales figures at the events Evidence of brand popularity at the event from immediate customer feedback Uplift in Social network activity, including an event specific Facebook page

The Creative Big Idea: We responded to the brief with the creation of ‘the wagamama lounge’ – a unique and groundbreaking festival experience. The concept can be divided up into three-tiers: Food: Open-plan kitchen with 6 wagamama chefs cooking up noodles for hungry festivalgoers Art: Eye-catching, origami inspired installation design and an interactive digital graffiti wall Music: DJ booth manned by wagamama’s own staff (as part of an employee engagement strategy) We identified two suitable festivals for 2011 with the right fit for the target audience, size, and setting – ‘Parklife’ in Manchester on 11th – 12th June and ‘Summer Sundaes’ in Leicester on 12th – 14th August.

Why it Worked: We combined music + noodles to create an experience unlike any other food outlet at festivals. The combination of the DJ pumping out tunes, the lights, and the graphics, with the chefs energetically frying-up noodles created a dynamic environment that excited festivalgoers. The installation design for was born from the wagamama star unfolding, like the brand unfolding from a restaurant into a live experience, in the style of traditional Japanese origami. A competition was held amongst wagamama staff to select the DJ’s to play in the lounge. A dedicated Facebook page was set up and gathered over 3,000 followers. We had over 15,000 visitors and sold over 5,000 portions of noodles, over 600 digital graffiti images uploaded to facebook, our films have had over 20,000 views. http://www.wagamamalounge.com/ Ingrid Williamson, Marketing Manager at wagamama, gave this response: “This was a big challenge and required the right agency. I’ve worked with many agencies over the years, and working with The Tailor of Shoreditch has been by far one of the most enjoyable and easy experiences. The Tailor got it from the start and delivered an amazing experience with some fantastic results!”

Carat Sponsorship with adidas

The Brand Challenge: Targeting 14-19 year olds in the skateboarding community, we were tasked with raising the credibility of adidas in the world of skateboarding and produce an event to help establish adidas as a super brand in the world of skateboarding and connect with the UK skate scene. The event had to be credible, invite only and something that skateboarders hadn’t previously been exposed too and with a summer scheduled with a huge array of large budget skateboarding events, how do we ensure cut through in such a saturated market?

The Creative Big Idea: In a bold move to stand out and gain credibility we decided to break the mould and create a distinctly unique and bespoke event in a totally unique location with a set of bespoke skating obstacles on 1st May 2011. An online competition to vote for which obstacles were to be built and used, with one being painted by the infamous Mark Gonzales, aka the “Gonz”. Globally recognized the as the founder of modern street skateboarding and a legend in the skating community for over 25 years and is now a world-renowned street artist. A partnership with Sidewalk, one of the most widely read and highly respected skateboarding magazines in the UK.

Why it Worked: With the attendance at one point reaching over 300 a free-for-all may seem like a bad idea but the mutual respect of the skaters was clear from the start and everyone was given their turn. The feedback was outstanding; attendees were overwhelmed with the venue and the class of skating on display. Countless skaters raved about how unique the event was and that it how it would take some effort to better. It has been said to set the bar for the rest of the skating events to follow that summer. It is hard to measure the success of such an event where the most valuable results are achieved through word of mouth.

VIA with Mitsubishi Pencil Co (Jetstream Rollerball)

The Brand Challenge: To find a way for shoppers in WHSmith to want to pick up the newly launched pen and sample it, evaluate it, and gain a good understanding of its unique differences. To connect with the brand and desire to purchase it there and then. To have an experience that they would talk about positively and share with others both by word of mouth and through digital replication. To provide interesting press content.

The Creative Big Idea: What does your handwriting say about you? We devised a fun engagement strategy which gave the shopper something totally unique to them, personally rewarding them for their time and interest invested in the brand and the engagement. We offered the shopper a free handwriting analysis. At the precise moment of sampling, the shopper wrote out (copied form a banner) a carefully constructed sentence delivering the unique sales points of the pen thus, facilitating a neat, concentrated and intimate connection to and evaluation by the shopper. ‘The smooth writing, free flowing quick drying, smudge defying, uni jetstream rollerball, with its uni super ink is awesome.’ Brand Ambassadors were specifically trained in the art of Graphology and were dressed in ‘scientific costume’ for theatrical effect. The engagement led to the shopper having a strong desire to pick up the Jetstream Rollerball and write with it.

Why it Worked: The engagement allowed the brand to communicate directly to the shopper in its purest and most potent form, (as the USPs were being copied down) on the stage we had selected, which as well as theatre provided a point of trial and evaluation as well as opportunity to purchase. The shoppers’ anticipation at the thought of the results of their handwriting analysis created a ‘different from the norm’ frame of mind, an enhanced mind set alert, interested, anticipatory and open. Research has been done into the psychology of writing and memory, and there is good evidence to suggest that the ‘act of writing’ itself helps us to remember far better than being told. The engagement strategy was truly unique to the individual with no two engagements the same. It was a real, personal, poignant and relevant engagement resulting in 90% conversion experience to purchase. The engagement was amplified through all relevant channels offering handwriting analyses to local press, resulting in excellent coverage before and after the event.