American Diabetes Association
Diabetes is a cunning and deadly disease. There are 16 million people in the United States who have diabetes. Unfortunately, 5 million of those don't even know it. Asked to inform millions of Americans on the dangers of untreated diabetes and convince them to call for a free screening, we responded with a visually striking campaign that makes drives home a life-or-death point without being visceral.
By grabbing attention quickly and bluntly, the message is never missed, unlike the symptoms and consequences of diabetes themselves. The campaign illustrates the many and varied dangers of untreated diabetes, such as blindness, kidney disease, heart disease and stroke, and nerve disease that can lead to amputation.
As a result of the pro-bono campaign, the ADA reported a marked increase in phone traffic leading to precisely the results they were hoping for: a greater volume of requests for appointments and free screening for diabetes. As an added bonus, the campaign also brought home an ADDY Award, and was a finalist in the New York Festivals.
Roberto's Taco Shop
All Mexican food is pretty much the same. And it all requires pretty much the same medication afterward. But we were getting paid by Roberto’s restaurant, not the Pepto Bismol people. Besides, what do we look like, the Surgeon General? Our job was getting butts in seats. What happened to them afterward was none of our concern.
The Mexican food biz is a competitive game, perhaps nowhere more-so than in Southern California. Convincing jaded Los Angelenos that Roberto’s merited consideration when one had one’s people call another’s to arrange the "doing" of lunch depended on standing out from the crowd. In this case, the Roberto’s proprietorship prided itself most on the authenticity of its cuisine.
But a little research turned up an interesting fact: the employees of Roberto's never seemed to be around for long. Every week there were always new people. At first, we thought they were all enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America. As it turned out, the problem wasn’t the CIA at all. It was the INS. So we were struck with a novel idea for the creative strategy: tell the truth.
The results were dramatic, and we were at last wholly convinced by that old saying about honesty, and the best policy, or whatever. Word-of-mouth about the posters generated a feature story in a local surfing magazine, and sent restaurant traffic through the roof. We even had to run a second printing of the posters when patrons began requesting copies, or otherwise appropriating them for home display.
Mississippi Dept. of Economic and Community Development
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So you’re a Fortune 500 exec, looking to get your company in on the ground floor in the next great business boom. Hearkening back to that old real estate saw, you’re seeking your competitive advantage in "location, location, location." And then it hits you: Mississippi.
Thankfully for the Mississippi DECD, we love a challenge. We were asked to convince the corporate jet set that Ole Miss was the place for the company that needs it all – communications and transportation infrastructure, relaxed regulatory requirements, affordable labor, low operating costs and cooperative public officers. Could they be sold on the notion that Mississippi was not only a cost-effective place to be, but that the DECD would do whatever it takes to make them happy?
Frankly, selling Mississippi to America’s corporate elite was a tall order. And the only way to live up to it was to stare it straight in the face. So for inspiration, we looked to the very tallest orders our American vernacular could provide. The result was an unabashed "can do" image that netted the state a 23% increase in jobs created by new businesses and a 15% increase in new business startups, at a time when new business creation experienced a seven percent drop-off nationally.
Our efforts also netted us: six of the 20 awards given by the AECD at their national show for Economic Development Advertising; won four "Best of Class" and one "Superior" Awards at the Southern Economic Development Council annual conference (more awards than any of 16 other states competing); and won "Best Read Ad" in the December 1998, year-end, double-issue investment guide of Fortune Magazine (Fortune’s biggest and best seller of the year), in which it was reported that 52% of those surveyed said they noticed the ad and 39% had read it in its entirety.
