PPB May 2021

GOLD WINNER Brand Fuel Morrisville, North Carolina Entry Name: Let’s Get Phygital Campaign Primary Objective: The campaign was designed to thank clients in a new way using the power of promotional products, custom art, charitable giving options and the receipt of optional feedback on its ShineBig digital platform through comments, photos and video. To connect both physically (with great branded merch) and digitally (video, charitable impact selection, a digital art reveal and feedback) equals “phygital.” The program had five goals: thank customers, let them choose a nonprofit the distributor would support on their behalf, surprise and delight them, allow for engagement and show how promo products can enhance digital marketing. Strategy And Execution: Brand Fuel mailed every customer an original-painted art block with a specific code and URL on the back. Customers also received a custom journal that looked like a cassette tape. Clients went to the website listed on the back of the art block, watched a thank-you video from the Brand Fuel team, entered their special code, selected a charity and then a digital version of their physical art block blinking within the entire jukebox painting on the site was revealed. Clients were then given an opportunity to share comments, photos or video as feedback. The distributor followed up by mailing t-shirts with the jukebox design from the original painting, that was also on the website, to top clients and those who provided engagement. Results: Forty-eight percent of customers responded by selecting a charity through the digital interface and 11.4 percent responded with their own holiday/appreciation photo/video on the digital platform. The unintended ROI was 467 percent with eight customers showing immediate interest in the platform for their companies, and Brand Fuel also closed a $78,000 programwith a client. SILVER WINNER Red Tomato Baulkham Hills, Australia Entry Name: Tomato Air Primary Objective: The ultimate goal of this digital self-promotion was to help drive sales leading into the financial year-end and to boost Christmas sales through a creative campaign. Strategy And Execution: Red Tomato created a memorable campaign based on a fictional airline, Tomato Air, that emphasized delivering the ultimate VIP experience. Slogans were used in conjunction with this promotion with the tagline “Going the extra mile— literally!” on products. The slogan/call-to-action, “Ready to take off?” was used in marketing collateral. The graphic design team created a stylized Tomato Air logo for all self- promo collateral that was used with an image of a Tomato Air plane with the New York skyline in the background. Products were selected based on their relevance to the concept of travel and air flight including a custom boarding pass, toiletry bag, eye mask, travel toothbrush, aviator sunglasses in a custom pouch, socks and an airline-style lapel pin—a lasting token of joining the Tomato Air crew. The strategy included a news release launching Tomato Air, staggered product mailings, an email campaign, phone calls, a call-to-action on the Tomatoair.com website to claim the amenities kit and the launch of an in-flight magazine, The Flying Tomato . Results: The campaign drove a sales increase of more than 18 percent over the previous period and led to more than 60 conversions on the website in the first two months. Orders over $5,000 also increased by 10 percent over the previous period, and social media engagement increased by 15 percent on video views, post likes and followers. Pyramids In Marketing | FEATURE | MAY 2021 | 17