Winner
Fleishman-Hillard and Papa John's Intl.: Papa, What's Next? Text!

Pizza delivery has been a reality since the late 1960s, but Papa John's has long believed in evolving this service with technology. In 2001, the company started online ordering. In November 2007, it led the industry in introducing text-message ordering. The innovation, however, was faced with questions, the most pressing being: Is text messaging as quick and effective as phone ordering?
 
Fleishman-Hillard stepped in with a three-part strategy to answer such doubts. The firm enlisted the Guinness Book of World Records' fastest talker and fastest texter and pitted them against each other in a pizza-ordering challenge at the Mall of America in Minneapolis.
 
“Clever use of fast talker linked to fast texter,” noted one judge. “Great use of the mall [added] fun to the campaign.”

The third-largest pizza chain catapulted to a spot as the industry's tech leader when it introduced a four-step process for text-message delivery. Customers registered on www.papajohns.com to save their favorite orders, payment, and delivery information. Then they could text FAV1, FAV2, or others to 4PAPA. Then Papa John's confirms the order and processes it.
 
Fleishman wanted to convey the ease of the transaction to consumers. Working with Papa John's, it nabbed an exclusive with The Wall Street Journal to unveil the story. The piece was followed by stories in the AP and picked up by many other print outlets.
 
Fleishman also conducted extensive online editorial outreach to the US' most popular and influential bloggers. In addition, it also identified savvy “early adopters” of such technology to unveil a flash demo on Papa John's Web site that offered a step-by-step tutorial on how to text-message order.
 
“Highly creative campaign and well-planned strategy,” noted another judge. “Great sequencing and communications mix. Overall outstanding campaign.”
 
The effort yielded 629 media placements and 53 million impressions, in addition to making a mark on TV and radio. Following the campaign, the event's YouTube video collected more than 75,000 views and its online buzz gave the campaign a second wave of coverage weeks after the initial launch. More than 114,000 registered their mobile numbers with Papa John's following the effort and more than 6,100 watched the demo. This was more than a 2000% increase from the 300 people who viewed the written tutorial.

“The campaign bridged old and new media,” a judge noted. “It demonstrated a clear link among research, strategy, and tactics. Excellent result.”

Honorable Mention
Raytheon Company: The Raytheon You Don't Know: Channeling ‘Iron Man'

The aerospace and defense industry is facing a recruiting challenge. To solve this, Raytheon developed a PR solution to reach three targets: the mainstream media, potential recruits, and recent hires. The company started with a general “Raytheon You Don't Know” campaign, but honed the effort by tying it to the release of Paramount Pictures' Iron Man last spring. The team knew the focal point of its robotics story would be Raytheon's exoskeleton robotic suit, but it recognized that its suit bore an uncanny resemblance to the film character's alter ego. So, Raytheon then decided to tie any mainstream media outreach to the film's release. The company also eschewed the typical corporate executive speech and dispatched the company's robotic inventor and team to the media. Even Robert Downey Jr. got into the act. The star of Iron Man talked about Raytheon in interviews promoting the film. Ultimately, it added up to 20 million-plus media impressions, Web traffic, and an increased number of potential recruits. “Clever, memorable campaign,” said one judge.

Finalists

• CRT/tanaka and Martin Aircraft: It's a Bird, It's a Plane... No, It's the Martin Jetpack
• Fleishman-Hillard and Papa John's International: Papa, What's Next? Text!
• GolinHarris and Nintendo of America: Wii Fit Gets America Moving
• Raytheon Company: The Raytheon You Don't Know: Channeling Iron Man
• Red Consultancy and Eye-Fi Inc.: Picture Perfect: From Start-up to Stand-out

Sponsor: Deloitte LLP is the US member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Its subsidiaries provide audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services through nearly 45,000 people in the US. Known as an employer of choice for innovative human resources programs, it is dedicated to helping its clients and people excel.