With being out of town last weekend and most of this past week I'm just now getting caught up around the house. I always enjoy visiting Chicago, however, I do regret that I didn't get a chance to do any shopping at all. I usually at least make it to Nordstrom's on Michigan Ave. and purchase a new pair of shoes. So I'm sorry I didn't do my part to help the economy. With hotel prices still high you can't afford to spend that extra night to have a little downtime.
Anyhow, I thought the PMA and the team did a good job of putting together this year's two-day conference. It had a little bit of everything for both the brands and the agencies. Yes, the number of attendees was certainly down from previous years, but that's to be expected. Having a smaller number of people though really made for a more intimate gathering and a good opportunity to meet those that where there and have some interesting discussions. I met some really great people who we've already found each other on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The keynote luncheon on Day 2 of the conference was very interesting. It was a tribute to the Globes and featured three different speakers that enlightened us Americans that yes, marketing does go on outside of the U.S. I wanted to take a moment here to tell you about the "Bob" phenomenon, which was a great example of an integrated marketing campaign which won quite a few awards. It was created by The Communications Agency from the UK and was presented to us by Robert Prevezer.
The task at hand was to raise awareness of prostate cancer in the UK and drive donations to the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation. The challenges were that there was a tiny budget, not an easy topic to talk about among the reserved Brits and they were to integrate into the campaign a dead comedian, Bob Monkhouse, who died of the cancer.
The big idea the agency came up with was to bring Bob back to life in a TV ad and integrate him into all the communications of the ‘give a few bob’ campaign. They planned to have Bob himself tell the story for us. So they created this amazing film called ‘bring Bob back’ in which they used archive footage, a body double and voice artist to basically bring Bob back to life.
Next they developed an exclusive media partnership with The Sun that included articles in the printed newspaper, ads online along with premiere rights of the film. The TV exposure and news coverage the campaign received from all the press was incredible and an online donation website, www.giveafewbob.org, went viral with over 4000 targeted applicants.
Retailer WHSmith got all of their 723 nationwide locations involved displaying posters and badges. A direct mail piece was also created that included Bob on the envelope with a "Direct Male" label that was sent to a targeted list. Newspaper ads were placed and movie theaters were integrated into the campaign with screening of the film in all Vuecinemas, plus POS in their foyers, ads online at the Vue website and an email blast that was sent to Vue’s 280,000 database.
Outdoor ads were donated by both Clear Channel and JCDecaux. Other out-of-home media channels were utilized such as taxis that included exterior messages as well as tip-up seat posters with a donation mechanic in the interiors of 250 London taxis. The London Underground featured 4,000 tube cards and Ambient
Media donated the truck advertising and provided this funny bumper sticker.
This truly integrated campaign resulted in the following:
• £3.5million media value from a total budget of less than £50,000
• An estimated 83% of the UK population has seen the campaign an average of 4 times
• There was a 228% increase in the charity’s donor base
• A rise in the number of regularly monthly donors by 580%
• Traffic to the charity’s website increased by 2000%
• The PCRF annual income shows an increase of 70% year on year - $1 million donations
But much more importantly, Mark Emberton MD FRCS (Urol.) Senior Lecturer in Oncological Urology at the Institute of Urology, a Trustee of the Charity commented "I have seen a marked increase in patients being tested and diagnosed with the disease as a consequence of having seen the Bob campaign…it’s saving lives”
The campaign won numerous awards. The top lesson from ‘Bob’ to pass on is: make it simple for the consumer...get one great idea and then execute it consistently through every available communications medium using one message, one look. Thanks Bob for reminding us all and thanks again to the PMA for inviting me.
The
So with that quick review on the Cannes LIONS (I, needed to know) here's what we have in the PROMO Category this year. The
They created "Woman Scorned" billboards which played on the adulterous content of Parco PI and were supposedly purchased by Emily who was trying to get back at her cheating husband. Social media was the channel of choice to further the exposure and buzz. So even before the billboards were placed, the "
Then the lead Cardinals board was altered on all six locations to look as if it had been “vandalized” and the Cardinal Birds had literally been ripped off of the board. For four days, the “stolen” birds
popped up all around town and on the internet but remained missing. This caused a media controversy that resulted in lead stories on every St. Louis TV and radio station, as well as in the major newspaper. To increase the buzz factor, KTRS incorporated online social networks such as MySpace.com, eBay, blogs,
forums while offline they had stagings of random bird sightings throughout the city to further fuel the chatter. 









