Winner: Kimberly Clark/Marina Maher Communications Inc. – Poise and Whoopi Goldberg Destigmatize Taboo Health Condition
Marina Maher was charged to engage the public in a highly private issue—to improve general awareness of Poise, a product specifically designed for light bladder leakage (LBL). To create a safe and even fun environment for women to connect around LBL and reduce the stigma surrounding it, Marina Maher brought in barrier-free comic Whoopi Goldberg as spokesperson. She starred in a series of webisodes discussing that “below the belt condition,” and appeared in the guise of famous women—all in need of a little extra protection. A version played as an ad during the Oscars, and the brand achieved its highest-ever U.S. share and nearly 600,000 unique Web site visits in the first month of launch.
Honorable Mentions:
American Society of Nephrology – Rebranding ASN:
ASN sought to reconnect with consumers as the leading authority on kidney disease prevention with a new tagline: "Leading the fight against kidney disease." The rebranding helped leaders, staff and members adjust to a stronger image of ASN, and ASN featured the new tagline during Renal Week 2009 (the society's annual meeting) within the context of ASN's previous logo.
Bhava Communications – Extreme Makeover: Overland Storage Edition: Bhava created a new logo, Web site and collateral for Overland to rebrand it as a leader in the storage market. From January through March 2010, Bhava Communications wrote and distributed 10 press releases to a targeted media list of over 300 reporters, bloggers and analysts. Furthermore, Bhava conducted over 47 press and analysts briefings on the East and West Coast.
Henson Consulting Inc. – The Green Nut: Rebranding of Pistachios, The Only Green Nut: To help rebrand pistachios as "The Green Nut," Henson Consulting created a simple yet direct tagline, "Go Green with Pistachios for Better Health," which reinforced the industry's nutrition research and health messaging. Since launching TheGreenNut.org in October 2009, there have been more than 98,000 page views on the Web site.
Makovksy + Co. – New Life for an Aging Brand: Relaunch of W. P. Stewart & Company: In January 2009, W.P. Stewart engaged Makovsky's combined Financial Services and Branding + Interactive team to help it give its time-tested investment philosophy new relevance in the current marketplace. Within a year of the program being launched, a former W.P. Stewart investor had returned to the firm's Web site, asked for his account to be reopened and immediately returned a million dollars to W.P. Stewart's stewardship.
Palisades Insurance/MWW Group – “Drive with a Smile” Palisades Highway Art Gallery: MWW Group research determined that the way to regain the hearts of New Jersey residents was through the arts, as budget cuts in 2009 had resulted in no major art activities. In response, Palisades Insurance created the "Drive With a Smile" campaign, which created a highway art gallery using prominent billboards on some of the state's busiest highways as canvases for local artists. The results drove up awareness of Palisades by 85% among local consumers.
Shell Lubricants/Coyne Public Relations – The Revitalization of Quaker State: Coyne designed a national campaign for Quaker State with two components: a contest to launch its rebranding announcement and a competitor challenge to fully engage consumers and customers. The contest, which sought stories of consumers' worst commute, garnered an impressive total of 1,299 stories and nearly 400 million impressions.
WXXI Public Broadcasting - Go Public: To reconnect with listeners, WXXI Public refreshed its logo, with the message "Go Public," and Web site, which boasts new interactive features including a video player. The launch of the rebranding campaign coincided with WXXI's October radio membership drive—it turned out to be the most successful drive in the history of the station.