DA: What's an example of a campaign you think was implemented well (it can be one you worked on or not). Why? What made it work?

Sutherland
We recently helped our client MobiTV tie together a multi-layered campaign that involved one of its channel partners, Discovery Channel. MobiTV and Discovery Channel wanted to leverage the 20th anniversary celebration of Shark Week to create awareness of the partnership, as well as the ability to watch television on a mobile device.

The campaign revolved around a unique mobile reverse auction bidding site featuring an "Ultimate Shark Week" vacation promotion, provided by Discovery Channel. Mobile links, customer email and newsletters, radio, social media including blogs, search and PR encouraged people to participate in the auction via their mobile phones. At the end of the campaign we had 16,000 users respond to the promotion.

This campaign worked because the three elements necessary for a good, integrated campaign -- target, message and media -- came together. The mobile enthusiast profile responded to the Shark Week message and the mobile auction platform. The channels used to promote the offering aligned with the segment profile.

Walmsley
The launch campaign for Halo 3 is an excellent example of a well-integrated campaign that "sets the story free."

The key creative idea, of looking back at battle through the eyes of those who fought it, was addressed very differently in each medium.

The print focused on the commemoration of Master Chief.

The TV campaign, set in a museum, focused on the recollections of a soldier who fought alongside Master Chief while looking at a diorama of the battle.

Online, the diorama itself became the center piece of the experience, with users able to travel around this extensive 3D model of the battle, drill into detail about the combatants, and get a visceral and detailed experience of the product narrative.

In all cases, the different media had completely different perspectives on the core idea, and each presented these perspectives in the manner most appropriate to the medium.

Nonetheless, because all of these different executions were centered around the core concept, each provided depth to the story and built toward the larger product narrative in a way that was clear, consistent and compelling.

Each medium fed the other, each gave part of the story, each led the user to look for more and engage more deeply -- in short, each gave the user something to talk and think about -- more than enough reason to actively choose to engage with the brand.

Neisser
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is a great example of a big idea. Panasonic also has such an idea with its youth-targeted "Share the Air" promotional campaign. Both of these ideas came directly out of a target insight. In the case of the Dove campaign, it was the realization that most women don't think they are pretty and most beauty products advertising features unrealistic ideals that adversely impact self-esteem.

In the case of the Share the Air campaign, the insight stems from the fact that action sports enthusiasts routinely capture their airborne tricks on camera (still and video) and share theses shots with their buddies. This act of sharing gave Panasonic a legitimate reason for being at the AST Dew Tour because its products help action sports enthusiasts literally and figuratively "share the air."

For both of these campaigns, an integrated team created a contact strategy that capitalizes on the optimal points of contact while aligning with the overall campaign goals. In the case of the Campaign for Real Beauty, all offline communications (mainly PR and outdoor) were designed to drive the target online to participate in the campaign. For Share the Air, the contact strategy was built from the "core" enthusiasts out, focusing on their physical experience at the Dew Tour, which, like the TV ads, drove to the virtual experience online at ShareTheAir.net. Once online, action sports enthusiasts were encouraged to share their photos and videos, blog with action sports pros and check out the gear that would help them capture more air.

Santello
The Philips' "Sense and Simplicity" campaign for the 2006 holiday season is a great example of a well-integrated, cross-media campaign. Philips wanted to position its products as solutions to consumer's overly complicated lives. The unique thing about this campaign is that we used the media channels in a unique way to support the proposition, which was already well delivered by a strong set of products being featured for holiday gift giving (such as X, Y and Z). For example:

Television: We ran seamless editions of "NBC Nightly News" and the "Today Show," allowing for fewer interruptions and more actual news stories. Philips also sponsored college football games without TV time-outs, reducing the run-length of games by half an hour. 

Print: In several publications, Philips sponsored the removal of those pesky blow-in business reply cards (BRCs) that always fall out of the magazine. They also moved the Table of Contents (TOC) to Page 1 for simplicity.

Cinema: Philips removed all local ads/promotions from the screen prior to trailers.

Print/Online: Philips sponsored several days of free access to NYTimes.com. This was advertised in the printed publication.

Guerrilla: Uniformed agents were present throughout key cities helping people relax in street-side lounges and helping people out of taxis with their packages, luggage and other belongings

The campaign goals were impressive: 25 percent unaided awareness of simplicity initiatives; 50 percent higher brand recall versus Philips' norm for new efforts; Philips' aided brand awareness was plus-95 percent in key markets; and there were dozens of PR pick-ups, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Today.

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Dawn Anfuso is senior editor, iMedia Connection. Read full bio.