2009 Platinum PR Awards: Rebranding/Repositioning—Underwriters Laboratories and MS&L

Just Look for UL

In late 2008, Underwriters Laboratories (UL)—the world’s leading independent test lab for electronic appliance safety certifications—partnered with MS&L to shift its market leadership position from a B2B player to a ubiquitous consumer brand. The approach: A six-week consumer engagement campaign timed to coincide with the holiday season that encouraged moms to “Just Look for UL.”

The campaign’s cornerstones included a dedicated Web site that facilitated dialogues with moms about UL’s safety messages, as well as celebrity spokeswoman Keri Russell, who filmed a PSA to help the brand’s position resonate with moms. She also participated in national tree-lighting events and a satellite media tour to reinforce the key message. Russell’s support, coupled with a holiday sweepstakes, UL sponsorships and advertorial spreads, resulted in outcomes that far surpassed expectations: 540+ million impressions and direct interaction with 12+ million consumers. ■

Honorable Mentions:

TD Bank: TD Bank Rebranding Campaign 2008-2009—When Commerce Bank was acquired by TD Bank in March 2008, it rebranded using tactics such as “Decision 2008: Pick Your Pop,”which allowed customers to vote on what color the new lollipops should be.

Pulse Communications: Launching the First Museum of Australian Democracy —Old Parliament House was rebranded as the Museum of Australian Democracy in May 2009, the Pulse-led campaign resulted in a crowd of 5,000 visitors during opening weekend.

Computer Systems Center Inc.: CSCI Rebranding Campaign—When CSCI rebranded its signature products to increase exposure, it also redesigned its Web site to highlight CSCI’s experience within the federal sector, resulting in a 270% increase in page views over a two-month period thanks to SEO.

Golfweek & Garcia Media: [Re] Branding Golfweek— Partnering with Garcia Media, Golfweek broke away from its trade pub image and became more consumer friendly with a sleek logo, compact size and new tagline, “For Serious Golfers Only.”

Ogilvy PR & Slim-Fast/Unilever: Find Your Slim—To help Slim Fast become more relevant, the team launched the Find Your Slim campaign to discover “real” models from around the country, who then participated in a January 2008 fashion show.

October 26, 2009