Promotional Event of the Year 2006

In an event that one judge said "defined promotional stunt," Chrysler caused a Jeep Grand Cherokee to seemingly defy gravity in scaling the side of a New York building. In planning the stunt, Jeep sought to provide a must-have visual for the news media, convey its leadership position, and create awareness and tie in to its national dealer event, Jeep Premier Night 2004.

Jeep hoped the stunt would go "beyond the proverbial 1,000 words" in attracting Jeep enthusiasts, casual observers, and the media alike. It eventually came up with the Jeep Climb, where a Grand Cherokee would scale the side of a building to a "Jeep-Only Parking" space in New York City. The location, Two Penn Plaza, was chosen based on the heavy foot traffic and media accessibility. The company tied in its brand messaging combination of trail-ready capabilities and in-town comfort, rather than doing a stunt just for the fun of it.

Needless to say, such a stunt involved a number of permits, insurance, and approvals from the Mayor's office and the fire department. The event also involved extensive engineering work, where Clear!Blue planned for every conceivable variable. The company began pitching far in advance, in order to get as many boots on the ground as possible come event day. But the pitch was vague, in order to retain the surprise. On the day before the event, a more informative media alert was sent out explaining the nature of the stunt, but declining to discuss how such a thing could – and would – be done.

The company appreciated the online viewing potential for such a stunt, so it also created a website, jeep.com/climb, with live video and a link to the main site. The company quickly provided footage of the event to dealerships, which they looped during the Premier Night. It also provided press releases with pictures after the event, and put b-roll up on a satellite feed four times.

The results: 178 television news stories, 92 print articles, 1,104 radio mentions, and 12 online articles reaching 59 million consumers in 42 of the top 50 markets. Chrysler determined that all media coverage was favorable. Those covering the event included InTouchWeekly, New York Post, Detroit Free Press, and Denver Post. The microsite received 35,000 hits on that day. And the company reported that Jeep Cherokee sales increased 22% from the same time last year.

Honorable Mention: Weber Shandwick and MasterFoods USA: Dark Chocolate M&Ms Launch

Sensing the obvious tie-in potential in partnering with the Star Wars franchise, MasterFoods released a dark chocolate limited edition of its M&Ms candy based on the popular George Lucas film series. The kickoff took place in New York's Times Square, featuring an X-Wing fighter and movie robot C-3PO. But the event depended heavily on cumbersome logistics. For instance, the X-Wing fighter weighed 3,000 pounds, the integrity of C-3PO's costume had to be ensured, and MasterFoods had to work with Lucasfilm to retain the look and feel of the movie's characters and props. The work paid off, as the limited edition M&Ms sold double what its Shrek 2 candy tie-in sold, the M&Ms promotional website experienced a 160% increase in views within 24 hours, and the event earned nearly 184 million impressions.

Finalists:

Axiom Marketing Communications and Musicland Group
The Sam Goody "Bad-Gift Boycott"

Carmichael Lynch Spong and PETCO Animal Supplies
Who Let The Dogs Out?

Clear! Blue and DaimlerChrysler
Jeep Climb

MS&L and Procter & Gamble: Mr. Clean
Take Back Your Saturday Morning

Weber Shandwick and Masterfoods USA Dark Chocolate
M&Ms Launch

Sponsor: