Winner
Cone LLC and the American Heart  Association: American Heart Association's Start! Movement

About 65% of American adults are obese or overweight, and the American Heart Association (AHA) wanted to target "adult inactivity" as a serious health risk. But with numerous groups already trying to address the issue, the association needed to stand out from the pack.

The AHA joined with Cone in January 2007 to create an awareness campaign that would both raise funds and engage people in healthy behaviors. They launched Start!, a focused initiative, specifically targeting Baby Boomers, and promoting walking as a "call-to-action" for living a healthier life. Armed with research claiming sedentary jobs, long working hours, and technological innovations all contribute to the obesity epidemic, Start! began to target adults where they spend most of their time: in the workplace.

The campaign's major objective was  to inspire Americans to incorporate walking into their daily routines. Start! also encourages employers to create a culture of physical activity for employees and to increase sponsorship to help raise funds for consumer research.

The movement launched with Start! America, located in Manhattan's Financial District. The event emphasized the campaign's focus on employees and businesses. To emphasize this, the CEOs of AHA, Subway, ConAgra, and AstraZeneca rang the NYSE opening bell. In addition to appearances from actress Jane Seymour, former Pittsburgh Steelers' star Jerome Bettis, and Subway's Jared Fogle, attendees participated at activity stations. These facilities included a treadmill challenge, sneaker detailing, cooking demonstrations, and health screenings.

The AHA/Cone team also launched  a "year-round integrated communications campaign," using marketing, media relations, events, advertising, celebrity appearances, and promotions to generate awareness. The two also created a large-scale PSA campaign to build awareness of and interest in Start!, leading up to the launch. National and local efforts were focused on the holidays, the pre-summer fitness season, and September, which is the Start! Heart Walk Season, to capitalize on those looking to make lifestyle changes.

Sponsors activated their partnership, infusing Start! into their existing advertising and marketing outreach efforts.

With an initial investment of $75,000, the movement has generated more than $15 million from local and national sponsorships alone, in addition to millions of dollars in ad-value for corporate sponsors.

The campaign so far has garnered  4.8 billion media impressions, has attracted Forbes 500 companies as sponsors, and inspired more than 50,000 people to walk more than 5.6 million minutes and more than 350,000 miles to date.

"Many efforts are underway in the fitness category - with mixed results," said one judge. "This is the gold standard."

Honorable Mention
Racepoint Group and One Laptop per Child: Bridging the Digital Divide - A Dream Begins to Come True



MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte created One Laptop per Child (OLPC) in 2005 to manufacture and distribute a laptop to every child throughout the world. Negroponte needed to influence government leaders in targeted countries. So, Racepoint Group focused on both developed and developing nations, as well as potential partners and international media. The initiative highlighted the need for impoverished children to have access to modern education. As it became apparent that the OLPC effort would succeed, Intel and Microsoft worked to shut the nonprofit down. In response, OLPC said the industry giants saw the children as a market, not a mission. Racepoint launched Give 1 Get 1, where consumers purchased two laptops for $399 and donated the second to a child. Soon after, the Web site's weekly page views went from 30,000 to 350,000. The campaign yielded more than 5,000 articles in print and broadcast. In addition, several countries not initially targeted began negotiations with OLPC. "The story had all the ingredients for a smashing success," said one judge. "The campaign execution lived up to expectations."

Finalists 2008
Cone LLC and the American Heart Association American Heart Association's Start! Movement
Cone LLC and the Make-A-Wish Foundation Make-A-Wish Destination Joy Presented by Lay's
Imre Communications and the American Institute of Architects "Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future"
M Booth & Associates and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Extinguishing Big Tobacco's Ventilation Claims
Racepoint Group and One Laptop per Child Bridging the Digital Divide - A Dream Begins to Come True

Sponsor: TV Access was created to increase the well-being of the general public through effective public service communications.