I frequently post what my University of Maryland University College Students think are some of the better PR campaigns out there. Here are some nominees from my Fall 2006 class.
Cecelia McRobie likes the GE Ecomagination Challenge. She writes, “I do feel that is it a best practice based on its message, audience and purpose. The Ecomagination Challenge is a contest for college students. General Electric is asking students to submit ideas that would make their schools more environmentally responsible. The winner receives a $25,000 grant to complete the project, plus MTV will perform a concert at the winner’s school. Visit:http://www.ecocollegechallenge.com/
She continued: “I believe this is a best practice because it helps the environment while getting young people involved in making our world better. This is an attractive contest because it involves MTV and a monetary award. The title, ‘Ecomagination Challenge’ plays off of the GE slogan, ‘Imagination at Work.’”
Don’t you just love those Imagination at Work television commercials?!!
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has come up before. This time, student Mona Ferrell selected it as her favorite best practice. She wrote: “The Unilever-Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, launched by Edelman Public Relations Worldwide, was a rather extensive PR campaign focusing on body image. What made this campaign so successful and deserving of ‘benchmark’ status for me is that the company did not push its product with the typical statement of ‘if you use our product you will look more youthful.’ Instead, using multiple PR tactics, the campaign promoted ‘their products with a message of real beauty by encouraging women and girls to celebrate themselves as they are — while using the products, of course.” (Howard, T. USA Today, http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.co.nz/in-the-news/ad-campaign.asp)
“The television ads pushing the ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ theme used ‘real’ women, not models. Questionnaires were also devised asking women to write in and share their views on what makes them feel beautiful. Live discussion boards with this same theme were also set up so that ‘real’ women could talk to each other about beauty and self-acceptance. PRSA awarded Unilever-Dove and Edelman Public Relations Worldwide with the ‘Best of” Silver Anvil Award for 2006 for the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. http://www.prsa.org/_Awards /silver/winners2006.asp”
Now, here’s a campaign that will wipe that smile off your face. It came from student Jaime Foisy and it’s about Charmin’ at the Fair. She wrote: “In my opinion the best way to advertise a product is to make it complement an event where it will get a lot of use, and is unexpected. Charmin’ did this at the San Diego Fair last summer. There we were at the fair and I kept seeing all these posters for Charmin’ toilet paper, but really thought nothing of it…until I had to use the restroom. So, there I was standing in front of the facility, dreading having to go in…As I walked in I was shocked! Sponsored by Charmin, these restrooms were immaculate! I could not believe it! … it got tons of publicity and goodwill among people of all ages and types.”
Natasha Lim highlighted Ultragrain Win: Proving Kids Love Whole Grains a Whole Lot
http://investor.conagrafoods.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=97518&p=irol-newsArticlebra &ID=731145&highlight=
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/prnewswire/2006/06/09/prnewswire200606091145PR_NEWS_ B_MAT_NY_NYF057.html
She wrote: “ConAgra Foods and their PR firm, Ketchum Public Relations, launched a Silver Anvil Award-winning PR campaign aimed at promoting whole grain foods in school cafeterias. ConAgra Foods is pushing products that boast ultragrain flour which offers more whole-grain nutrition with the white flour taste that a majority of kids prefer. According to a ConAgra Foods news release, ‘the new flour bakes and tastes like white flour, but has nine grams per serving of whole grains.’ The new U.S. Dietary Guidelines and the MyPyramid food guide recommend that Americans raise their whole grain intake from one serving to three servings daily. Currently only one out of 10 people get the recommended serving amount.
The two main food items that are being pushed in school cafeterias are: new wholegrain pizza products under a brand called “The Max” and wholegrain burrito products under the name “El eXtremo”. To ensure that schools sign the products on as part of their lunch menu, a PR campaign was launched that was geared toward school directors focusing on the School Nutrition Association Annual Conference that would help create a positive buzz, promote sales, and prove that kids would eat them.
“I think ConAgra Foods and Ketchum PR executed a good campaign. They made a smart decision to aim their ultragrain products toward the school systems’ cafeteria food. They knew that they could win their products over with school directors by promoting healthier food for kids. In recent years there has been push for kids to stop eating unhealthy junk food and to start eating things that are better for them, such as more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. This campaign supports this push for healthy eating by doing something about – putting healthy food products that kids will like on the school lunch menu. Their positive action is why this campaign works.”
Student Michelle Jones likes Energy Star. She wrote: “The ENERGY STAR public relations campaign is a great example of persuasive public relations. In fact, this particular campaign has several characteristics of an outstanding campaign. As background, the ENERGY STAR campaign (program) started in 1992 as a joint program between the Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy and was specifically designed to encourage everyone to “save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.” From this statement, it is apparent that this U.S. Environmental campaign had a very clear objective, which is essential when considering what makes an effective
campaign.
“In addition, this particular campaign had several creative components connected to it. The infamous logo that we have all seen on several products is an example of this creativity. In order for a product to be eligible for ‘the star’ the business or the company had to prove that their products would use less energy, save money, and help protect the environment. Throughout this ongoing campaign, several partners and relationships were also established. As a result of this approach, several reputable sources joined forces with ENERGY STAR.
“On top of having a clear objective and being very creative, ENERGY STAR does an excellent job with measuring its results. In fact, the ENERGY STAR web site reports that ‘Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy in 2005 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 23
million cars — all while saving $12 billion on their utility bills.’” References: http://www.energystar.gov/
