Winner: Southwest Airlines Company – The Southwest Porch at Bryant Park
The porch offered a lounge-style seating area, with Adirondack chairs and porch swings to generate the essence of summer hospitality. With 125,000 Southwest Porch visitors in the first six months alone, Southwest enjoyed tickets sales 35% higher than recent launches in other markets. The campaign not only gave New Yorkers a quiet respite, it gave them the opportunity to interact with Southwest Airlines Employees and generated brand familiarity in a city with an exceedingly competitive and crowded airspace.
Honorable Mentions:
The Coca-Cola Co. – Coca-Cola Expedition 206: 365 Days, 206 Countries, 1 Mission: Coca-Cola gained millions of followers by sending young adventure-seeking brand ambassadors on a world tour, which they narrated via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare.
Virginia Tech – Song Pitch for David Pogue: Virginia Tech communications manager Heather Chadwick captured the attention of the New York Times for the school's completely solar house by penning an ode to resident tech guru David Pogue to the tune of "Camelot."
Volkswagen of America/MWW Group – VW GTI Becomes the World’s First Car Launched Exclusively on a Mobile Device: MWW Group leveraged the VW GTI's mobile-only launch with social media integration and a sneak peek event at the Classic Car Club in NYC, hosted by gaming guru Olivia Munn. The launch was driven solely by publicity—no paid media or banner ads—and VW's Web site drew more than 100,000 interested viewers following the event.
Weber Shandwick – Liberating Entertainment in a New Dimension: Introducing the Samsung 3D LED TV: To launch its 3D LED, Samsung enlisted the Black Eyed Peas, a globally appealing group known for pushing the boundaries of entertainment and technology, to perform a surprise concert in Times Square. The performance was filmed in 3D by James Cameron's film crew, creating more content for 3D TVs. As a result, during launch week, Samsung 3D TVs were featured on Good Morning America and CNN International, among other outlets.