• by Staff Writers , August 24, 2006

This area requires extra authenticity; successful campaigns combine novel creative with satisfying engagement.

Alloy Media + Marketing

USA Network

Chris Carroll, Account Director Sara Shelsy, Account Supervisor Deena Stern, NBC Universal USA

ShowUsYourCharacter.com--USA Network's social networking/online community, where viewers can chat, e-mail videos to friends, vote for favorite characters, and share videos--was the cable network's first foray into digital social networking. The launch coincided with a national contest to find America's oddest character.

A six-week grass-roots program in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Boston coincided with the launch, which included a Mobile Tour, Characters on Parade, and national on-air spots featuring a host of characters.

Once registered on the site, users were invited into a community of characters and encouraged to upload their videos, pictures, and profiles while interacting with peers and voting for their favorite character. The results: 458,287 total visits of new site users, 288 contest videos, and 7,420 votes cast.

Click here to view Alloy's brief.

Organic, Inc.

20th Century Fox - Theatrical/"X-Men: The Last Stand"

Contacts Media: Kim Spiegelberg, Peter Koo; Contacts Engagement Managers: Lori Dicker, Chris Chavkin

Organic's plan to create buzz about "X-Men: The Last Stand" and increase ticket sales enlisted everyone's favorite mutant outcast, one who appeals equally to "X-Men" fanatics and casual moviegoers. Wolverine won the role because he resonates with all audiences. On MySpace, the promotion bolstered the movie's theme, allowing users the "super power" of doubling their front-page "top friends" section from the usual eight to 16. The effort helped to increase mean click-through rates 49 percent, and full-play rates were 40 percent over the average.

Click here to view Organic's brief.

Whyville.net

Scion and Toyota Financial Services

Whyville.net (Numedeon, Inc.): Jay Goss, Chief Operating Officer; Jennifer Sun Ph.D, President; Anne Pickard, Senior Art Director; Mark Dinan, Chief Technology Officer

Scion: Adrian Si, Interactive Marketing Manager

Toyota Financial Services: Maria Tirado, Interactive Marketing Manager

Scion and Toyota Financial Services' interactive advergame campaign was clearly a hit with Whyville.net's 8- to 15-year-old demographic. Ten days into the campaign, Whyville-ans had used the word "Scion" in online chats more than 78,000 times, "Club Scion" was visited 34,000 times, and hundreds of virtual Scions were purchased using clams, Whyville's virtual currency. The campaign is a great example of targeting a potential demo before it has buying power but while it's establishing its tastes.

Inside Whyville's "Club Scion," users can can calculate the price of their dream virtual Scion; design their own bumper stickers and/or purchase other user-designed stickers to customize their Scion; and even learn how to finance their Scion if they don't have enough clams to pay outright.

Click here to view Whyville.net's brief.