Winner: Yahoo!
Campaign: Yahoo! 10th Anniversary Global Campaign
othing says happy birthday like ice cream (or cake, but that's another story). In the case of cyber-star
Yahoo!, ice cream said happy birthday a whopping 1,696,296 times. In honor of its 10th anniversary, Yahoo decided to throw itself a little birthday bash, spearheaded by the PR
and communications teams, which metamorphosed into a global, integrated, outreach campaign that targeted both employees and consumers.
Ice cream became the hook when Yahoo! partnered with Baskin-Robbins to give away a free scoop to all users on March 2. Yahoo co-founder David Filo says they arrived at this
decision because "One of the primary food groups of Yahoo! employees is ice cream." Then the company coupled the celebration - which targeted six of its largest markets - with a
"Netrospective" Web site to reflect on 100 turning-point moments in the history of the Web.
But generating buzz on such a large scale is no picnic, although you wouldn't know it from the smooth operations orchestrated by Yahoo! executives. They teased the event with
a series of e-mails sent out to users worldwide, whetting their appetite for a cyber celebration - and a scoop of ice cream, of course. The buzz built up to all-out raucous when
the media got wind of the promotion and the Netrospective.
The event racked up media impressions and Netrospective page views by the millions. It also prompted Yahoo! employees worldwide to consume a combined total of 1,000 pounds of
ice cream cake - and reasserted itself as a leader online for many more birthdays to come.
Honorable Mentions
Allstate Celebrates 75 Years: Allstate Insurance Company For its diamond anniversary, Allstate Insurance Company wanted to communicate the longevity of its corporate identity,
which was born over a game of cards on a Chicago commuter train in 1931. To keep the momentum going, its corporate relations department capitalized on all aspects of
communications - employee relations, brand building, media outreach - to reassert its mission and commitment to shareholders. From an anniversary countdown clock on its intranet
to a special anniversary logo, to free parking all day in Chicago's downtown "Loop" paid for by the company, Allstate aced the initiative, reaching an estimated 3.2 million
people.
Shedd Celebrates 75: Public Communications Inc. The Chicago-based aquarium managed to wrap up its 75th year with a 12-month celebration, which included an event with guest
appearances by Batman, Dick Tracy and other 1930s characters (to celebrate the Aquarium's opening in1930). From January through December of 2005, the Shedd facility was the most
attended aquarium in the nation and most attended cultural institution in Chicago. The campaign secured more than 500 media placements, reaching an estimated audience of more than
100 million.