• by September 26, 2005

These finalists used their "ecoimagination," "iconic" status, and even encouraged consumers to "strike & retrieve," to serve up unusual, integrated communications channel plans.

WINNER

Agency: OMD, BBDO, Atmosphere BBDO

Client: GE

This spring, GE and its agency partners created a new word, "ecoimagination." The strategy to promote the green concept extended beyond advertising, crossed media channels, and addressed multiple audiences in various contexts. It involved TV ads, newspaper and magazine inserts, Web ad roadblocks, radio, and a public relations blitz. Ads were customized to the look of specific publications. An online game invited players to visit a fictitious island where inhabitants need help with transportation, water reclamation, and wind power. A kids' Web site complemented a magazine designed to help teachers and parents educate kids about environmental issues. "Ecomagination" was promoted across 30 business and consumer properties with animated ads that have delivered more than 250 million impressions since the May 9 launch.

Agency: Campbell-Ewald Advertising

Client: U.S. Navy

This campaign wove public relations, promotion, online and offline media, guerilla marketing, and content integration into a cohesive plan. The U.S. Navy targeted men 18 to 24 by creating a downloadable video game, "Navy Training Exer-cise (NTE): Strike & Retrieve." The agency built viral buzz two weeks prior to launching the game's site by having e-teams blitz video game message boards with rumors about a Navy effort to recruit elite candidates in "Last Star-fighter" style. Guerilla marketing street teams used rave cards and gobo lights, covertly branding the game under the pseudonym gorgon-box.com. Ads appeared in alternative newspapers, movie theaters, shopping malls, and gaming sites.

Agency: MediaVest

Client: MasterFoods

M&M's upped its iconic status with a fully integrated partnership with the Academy Awards. The program involved public relations, direct marketing, product placement, offline and online media initiatives without tapping a big budget. The brand's "Ladies Night In" sought to give women a night on the red carpet even if it was only a viewing party held in the living room. The brand tied in with E!, AMC, TV Guide Channel, and the Style Network for party tip interstitials that drove viewers to tune in to M&M's-sponsored red carpet coverage. M&M's also created a special Red & Gold "Oscar Mix" color candy. More than 400,000 interactive Oscar bingo cards were downloaded; online ads delivered more than 1.8 million impressions. Sales spiked 3.3 percent versus the same period a year ago.