Winner: French/West/Vaughan and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association: 2005 CIAA Tournament
The CIAA Tournament is the marquee event for The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, America's oldest historically black college athletic conference. Its goal is to raise money for the General Scholarship Fund, which benefits the 12 member institutions, and anyone who has a financial need on their campuses.
The 2005 Annual Men's and Women's Tournament was the conference's 60th anniversary, and the sixth straight tournament to be held in Raleigh, NC. Every three years, the CIAA put the location of the tournament up for bid, and 2005 was such a year. French/West/Vaughan (FWV) was charged with continuing the growth of the tournament attendance, assisting the conference in entertaining and evaluating bids from other cities. FWV set objectives, with the top priorities being to position the conference and tournament as the premier African-American cultural event in the country, and to leverage the past successes and new elements to increase the amount of the bid packages each bid city would submit. FWV also had to plan for the public fallout of awarding the tournament for 2006-2008 to Charlotte, NC, in order to continue the success in Raleigh for the 2005 year.
FWV positioned the decision to move to Charlotte as a business decision, based on the premise that if the tournament was held in Raleigh for nine consecutive years, no other city would ever bid again. The agency conducted surveys to gauge the fans' loyalty to the event if it were to move to a new city, and if they would follow. The answer was a resounding yes, with 92% agreeing that they would.
A press conference was held on November 9, 2004 at ESPN Zone in New York to increase the amount of money to be included in potential host city bids. A VNR was utilized to increase the perceived value of the Southeast US markets. On-campus and in-market mobile promotions increased the tournament and collateral event awareness, which resulted in increased ticket sales.
Attendance among non-CIAA graduates rose from 18% in 2001 to 44% in 2005, and media impressions were estimated as over 20 million. But most importantly, CIAA Scholarship Fund contributions increased from $480,000 in 2000 to $1 million in 2005. Ticket sales rose from $958,465 in 2000 to $1.9 million in 2005.
One judge considered the campaign a slam dunk. "They used a great variety of tools to manage a variety of issues."
Honorable Mentions: Visiting International Faculty Program: Transforming Lives Through International Education.
The Visiting International Faculty Program (VIF) places qualified teachers from around the world in US schools for up to three years as full-time teachers and cultural ambassadors. The PR challenge was twofold: internationally increase the number of teachers applying to VIF; and domestically encourage schools to host those teachers. To pitch the VIF story, teachers in the US and alumni abroad were called upon to share their interesting stories with both domestic and international media outlets. VIF's International Experts Bureau strategy put teachers out for interviews on issues including politics, terrorism, sports, and natural disasters. VIF exceeded its goals for the campaign with 89 US news stories, including placements in Newsweek and Education Week, and 40 international news stories. Most important, the campaign helped enlist 700 teachers, resulting in a banner year in VIF's recruiting history.
GCI Group and Forest Laboratories: Hispanic Mental Health Awareness Campaign: Knowing Your Audience, Speaking Their Language
When Forest Laboratories launched a Spanish-language version of its Lexapro product website, which features the first and only Spanish-language self-screening tools for depression and anxiety, GCI Group knew this was an opportunity to raise awareness of mental illness within the Hispanic community, while introducing the drug as an effective treatment option. GCI established partnerships with two trusted websites offering information on depression and anxiety, which added their depression and anxiety screening tools, and links to click through to Lexapro's website. A national media outreach campaign was conducted in the top 10 Hispanic markets, including an SMT coordinated by Telenoticias, and an ANR released on Univision radio. More than 60 top-tier Hispanic outlets reported on incidence of anxiety and depression in the Hispanic community, with 100% including information abouth the new online resource.
Finalists:
Fleishman-Hillard and New Jersey Dept. of Health & Senior Services
The 20 Minute Test That Could Save Your (Love) Life
French/West/Vaughan and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
2005 CIAA Tournament
GCI Group and Forest Laboratories
Hispanic Mental Health Awareness Campaign: Knowing Your Audience, Speaking Their Language
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and National Kidney Disease Education Program
NKDEP African-American Family Reunion Initiative
Visiting International Faculty Program
VIF: Transforming Lives Through International Exchange
Sponsor:
Medical Marketing & Media (MM&M) is a monthly magazine providing authoritative, in-depth reporting on all aspects of marketing and communications that are critical to healthcare marketers and decision-makers. We are proud to be a sponsor of the Business-to-Business Campaign of the Year, and wish to congratulate all of the finalists.