2010 IABC/Toronto People's Choice Survey

1. 2010 IABC/Toronto People's Choice Survey

The People’s Choice OVATION Award allows IABC/Toronto members to vote for the communications program that appeared the most successful.

All categories are entered into the People’s Choice Award category, however only OVATION Awards of Excellence winners have been included. Review each summary, then vote for only ONE program, which you feel is most deserving of the 2010 People’s Choice OVATION Award.

Votes must be placed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday April 28, 2010. The winner will be announced at the OVATION Awards gala, May 6, 2010.

In order to ensure only IABC members vote (and only once), you must enter your IABC membership ID in order to vote. Your vote will be kept strictly confidential.

Question Title

* 1. Please enter your IABC Membership ID number (Mandatory).
 If you are unsure of what your member ID number is, please contact the IABC World Headquarters at service_centre@iabc.com.

Question Title

* 2. PEOPLE’S CHOICE  

Please choose one of the following entries:

Division, Title and Description: Social Responsibility including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development – Purex Natural Elements Little Drops, Big Ripples; The Little Drops, Big Ripples program generated awareness of Purex Natural Elements biodegradable laundry detergent by inviting consumers and teachers and their classes to think about what they are putting down their drains, and then enter a contest sharing tips for things we can do at home to keep our water systems clean and pure. Teachers were also invited to use free online resources for their classes. The program generated 485,970,272 impressions, more than $53 million in editorial coverage, 381 positive stories, 81,702 entries including 273 sent in by teachers, and a sales increase of 30 per cent.

Division, Title and Description: Publications – 2010 Rate Book & Services Overview; The Rate Book & Services Overview is published annually by the City of Hamilton’s Water and Wastewater Group providing politicians and residents a high level view of water and wastewater services and the budget requirements. We take our legislated requirement of providing financial information and turn it into an opportunity to enhance political and public understanding of the professional standard and proactive strategic planning that is undertaken to ensure strategic infrastructure investments for continuous improvements to water and wastewater services. Hamilton is an industry leader; through the book we heighten awareness and showcase our level of professionalism.

Division, Title and Description: Photography – 2009 eBay Canada Entrepreneur of the Year; The eBay Canada Entrepreneur of the Year awards program celebrates entrepreneurship in Canada and raises awareness about the potential to run a successful business on eBay. The 2009 program was the most successful ever by refining a formula that used winning strategies to achieve maximum results on a small budget. Winner photos not only depicted the entrepreneur and their business, but also clearly highlighted the eBay brand Media relations resulted in 89 media stories and more than 28-million media impressions. The execution of the campaign positively shaped media’s understanding of eBay as an enabler of small business.

Division, Title and Description: Writing – Welcome to the New Toronto; Though highly esteemed among colleges in Ontario, George Brown College (GBC) needed to shed the archaic stigma that students from community college programs have an inferior education to those who graduated from university. APEX Public Relations helped GBC position itself not just as an institute of learning, but a critical partner to the future socioeconomic vibrancy of Toronto and its citizens. To showcase this new position, APEX drafted an op-ed on behalf of GBC President Anne Sado that highlighted the College’s key messages and secured coverage for it in the school’s most important target media outlet — the Toronto Sun.

Division, Title and Description: Media Relations up to 50K – A Dare to Remember 2009; The 2009 A Dare to Remember public relations campaign was a multi-tiered communications program developed to support a new Canadian fundraising initiative, co-developed by DDB PR and DDB Canada, on behalf of the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF). DDB PR was tasked with developing and executing a national media launch strategy for A Dare to Remember, which included celebrity and media engagement. DDB PR far exceeded pre-set objectives for the program, resulting in the generation of over 100 articles and broadcast segments, an overall reach of more than 31,000,000 and a cost per contact of less than $0.001.

Division, Title and Description: Employee, Member or HR Communication – A Proactive Genuine Partner; Meridian Credit Union successfully launched a revitalized brand strategy that defined how it will reinvent neighbourhood banking, and outlined the critical role all employees play in being a ‘proactive genuine partner’ to its Members. Through leader-led communications and the strategic use of internal vehicles, including the creation of a new online forum where employees can discuss ideas and provide feedback, Meridian was able to effectively reach all employees and engage them in two-way dialogue about the strategy. This well-integrated internal campaign resulted in high employee awareness and understanding of the brand strategy, making it an overall success.

Division, Title and Description: Media Relations up to 50K – TD’s Break the (Piggy) Bank Campaign for Children’s Miracle Network; To launch TD Bank’s Children’s Miracle Network’s Holiday Drive, Environics created a campaign to encourage families to embrace the spirit of giving during the holiday season, rethink overspending on gifts and teach children the value of giving. The goal of the campaign was to raise awareness and drive sign-ups of automatic monthly donations, through TD bank accounts, to support Children’s Miracle Network. By conducting simultaneous media relations around cross-Canada events where children broke piggy banks for charity and the national story of monthly donations, quality coverage of the 2009 campaign resulted in a record number of automatic monthly donation sign-ups.

Division, Title and Description: Marketing Communications 100K and up – Get Smart Toronto; Toronto Hydro knew it was faced with a challenging issue when the provincial government mandated smart meters and Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing. This unprecedented undertaking would require effective communications to help customers adjust to smart meters and TOU. After proactively commissioning consumer research, Toronto Hydro developed Get Smart Toronto, a multi-year, integrated marketing and communications strategy to prepare customers for the transition to TOU billing. Ongoing research shows Get Smart Toronto is achieving success. Customers have a good understanding of TOU rates, with more than 98% awareness and call centre volume was limited to just 5% - a key operational success!

Division, Title and Description: Media Relations 100K and up – The pSoriasis Knowledge IN Canada (SKIN) Survey; The pSoriasis Knowledge IN Canada (SKIN) survey was initiated to address the absence of published Canadian data on the impact of psoriasis on quality of life and burden of illness of the disease. The results of SKIN were published in the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery and were used in a national media relations campaign to raise awareness of psoriasis among Canadian public, healthcare professionals and media. SKIN findings contribute to a growing body of data regarding the burden of psoriasis in countries around the world. Before SKIN, such published evidence was lacking in Canada.

Division, Title and Description: Other Graphic Design/3D – Leon’s 100TH Anniversary – The Leon’s Living Room; A year of celebrations, the PR program to support the 100th Anniversary of Leon’s Furniture honoured founder Ablan Leon with “The Leon’s Living Room” – a life-sized, original bronze statue. The first-ever tribute to a retail icon, the permanent statue resides in the company’s birthplace of Welland, Ontario and is a lifelong tribute to a retail pioneer. Conceived by Strategic Objectives, the sculpture proved to be a creative, successful solution in meeting the business need; connecting with the community and associates; and increasing Leon’s media profile. The unveiling secured outstanding, on-brand media coverage and generated public awareness for Leon’s milestone celebration.

Division, Title and Description: Government Relations – Fairness for Girls’ Hockey in Toronto; In November 2009, after more than four years of work to obtain an equitable share of ice time for female hockey players in Toronto’s city-owned, board-managed arenas, the Toronto Leaside Girls Hockey Association (TLGHA) launched an aggressive campaign to drive Toronto City Council to enforce its existing ice allocation policy and help girls get ice time in their own communities. Using media relations, social media, grassroots communications, and meetings with municipal decision-makers, the TLGHA successfully put the issue on the public agenda. On December 4, 2009, Toronto City Council voted to enforce its policy and oversee all ice allocation in Toronto.

Division, Title and Description: Other Graphic Design/3D – “Straight From the Fridge” – A Toronto Hydro Art Collective; Toronto Hydro held a pop up gallery entitled “Straight From the Fridge” to re-energize awareness and increase participation in its fridge recycling program, which was nearing a plateau. Derived from the 1950s expression "straight from the fridge, dad" meaning "ain't it the truth", the exhibit aimed to reveal the truth about inefficient appliances while educating Torontonians on responsibly retiring their old fridges. The gallery concept provided a unique platform to promote conservation through the use of art. The event generated media coverage with a reach of 1,087,426, an MRP score of 78% and increased participation by 31%.

Division, Title and Description: Employee, Member or HR Communication – “Just Clean Them” – Hand Hygiene Campaign; The “Just Clean Them” hand hygiene campaign was conceived to educate hospital staff, physicians and volunteers about the importance of proper hand hygiene in a healthcare setting, and to improve The Scarborough Hospital’s rate of compliance in anticipation of the provincial government’s first-ever public reporting requirement. The campaign was a response to poor historical publicly reportable data, which was having a negative impact on recruitment/retention and hospital reputation. The success of the campaign in changing hand hygiene culture and improving compliance resulted in The Scarborough Hospital being ranked number one in Ontario.

Division, Title and Description: Employee, Member or HR Communication – RSA’s Making Partner Program Canada’s insurance brokerages are set to lose 42 per cent of their senior management to early retirement by 2017 and, therefore, need help to ensure they have the manpower and knowledge to remain competitive. In response, RSA Canada has provided brokers with an education program at Queen’s University to arm them with the skills they need to ensure the long-term sustainability of their businesses. The Making Partner program was a huge success because it tackled an industry-wide problem and it established RSA as the insurance company that believed in the education and development of its broker force.

Division, Title and Description: Marketing Communications 100K and up – RSA’s 50 Unique Campaign; Competition within the financial services sector to capitalize on Baby Boomers’ overwhelming need for wealth and asset management is fierce. To remain competitive, RSA Canada re-launched its Boomer-focused product 50 Unique as a broker-marketed brand. RSA developed a thought-leadership marketing communications campaign that positioned its brokers as experts in the needs of those 50 and older; communicated the value of the broker-client relationship; and, positioned 50 Unique as the insurance solution for the Boomer demographic. The campaign included street level events, direct-to-consumer online programming and public relations tactics, resulting in a significant sales increase for participating brokers’ Personal insurance portfolios.

Division, Title and Description: Marketing Communications up to 50K – Smart, not Cheap; BlueSky Communications was engaged by Flyerland.ca to raise brand awareness in order to drive traffic to the site, with the goal of reaching 1 million unique visitors by December 2009. BlueSky implemented a multi-faceted campaign that included media relations, brand communications/message development, customer communications and writing services. Since working with BlueSky, Flyerland.ca’s revenues doubled, unique visitors increased 132 percent - surpassing the 1 million unique visitor objective a full month earlier - and resulted in a partnership with Sympatico.ca, who contacted Flyerland.ca in response to a press release.

Division, Title and Description: Media Relations up to 50K – Save the economy, Show some leg; How do you create interest in a razor? Through a mid-recession, tongue-in-cheek media relations campaign encouraging women to improve the economy by “showing some leg”. Paradigm Public Relations created a campaign on behalf of Schick Quattro for Women that played on the “hemline theory”, which suggests that women’s skirt lengths rise and fall with the stock market. Through media relations and the creation of the Schick Index, a timeline graphic depicting the hemline theory, the campaign offered a call-to-action for women to raise their hemlines to boost the economy and generated media coverage across Canada and around the world.

Division, Title and Description: Special Events 51K to 100K – Panasonic: Sharing the Passion Sponsorship Event; To announce Panasonic’s official worldwide Olympic sponsorship of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games in the Canadian market, Environics and Panasonic invited top-tier Toronto media, corporate partners and internal executives to an event featuring a sneak-peek of the high definition (HD) technology that would be on display at the Winter Games in February. Included in this VIP event was the chance to experience, for the first time in Canada, the ultimate advancement in HD technology: 3D television.

Division, Title and Description: Employee, Member or HR Communication – Women@Enbridge Employee Engagement Initiative; Women@Enbridge is a successful employee engagement initiative that provides career development opportunities to engage, develop and retain female employees. The initiative addresses the business need of developing female talent from within to enhance their career at Enbridge and to maintain the company’s high level of employee engagement. Within the initiative’s first two years, it has doubled both the number of networking opportunities and participation level, it has been a factor in increasing women’s overall employee engagement scores and has helped to develop an external network of women within the energy industry.

Division, Title and Description: Social Media – Rogers Wireless Android Smartphone Launch; On behalf of Rogers Wireless, MS&L developed and executed a strategic digital communications campaign for the launch of the first Google Android-powered smartphones in Canada – the HTC Dream and HTC Magic – its biggest consumer mobile device announcement of 2009. Leveraging Rogers Wireless’ leadership position and history of innovation in the wireless industry, MS&L implemented a targeted multi-phase program to increase awareness for the arrival of Google Mobile devices at Rogers, educate consumers on their benefits, and generate positive online coverage specifically for the HTC Dream and HTC Magic, in connection to Rogers Wireless.

Division, Title and Description: Marketing Communications 51K to 100K – Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) Age Expansion Network; A communications campaign to raise awareness that financial assistance is available to the growing number of lower-income youth who need urgent dental care, because no one should be too embarrassed to smile.

Division, Title and Description: Electronic, Digital and Interactive Communications – Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Holiday recipes with Trish Magwood; With social media use on the rise and websites continually updating information, Canadians are turning to the Internet more for their news and communication. Because of this, Kellogg’s challenged APEX with the task of broadening the reach of its Rice Krispies holiday recipe program to online viewers. APEX recommended creating a video recipe demonstration that would be distributed to portals and used by moms looking for festive, holiday recipes. The video featured celebrity chef Trish Magwood, demonstrating her favourite Rice Krispies recipes. The video reached over 7 million online viewers and exceeded all the program objectives.

Division, Title and Description: Social Responsibility including Economic, Societal and Environmental Development – The Bicycle Factory™; The national, social responsibility PR campaign successfully launched The Bicycle Factory — a first-ever Cadbury total confectionery UPC online promotion, which converted Cadbury product purchases into bicycle parts to help build bicycles for children in communities in Ghana, Africa. Strategic Objectives conducted a campaign that exceeded objectives; delivered strong brand-building awareness; and achieved an MR2P™ Rating of 98.52% ($.004 cost per contact). The campaign helped increase sales by 42% and contributed to achieving the goal to send 5,000 bicycles to Africa with more than 500 bicycles being built within the first 24 hours of the media relations program launch.

Division, Title and Description: Special Events 100K and up – Charitable Fun Day; In light of a revitalized focus on corporate social responsibility, LoyaltyOne’s staple employee event, Fun Day, was modified in 2009 to include a charitable component. The event was subsequently rebranded as Charitable Fun Day and on June 23, 2009, 1,300 LoyaltyOne associates spent their mornings volunteering at charities in their local communities. In total, LoyaltyOne associates volunteered approximately 5,500 hours of their time to over 40 different charities. Despite fears that associates would be unhappy with the new format, post-event feedback was positive and the event objectives were exceeded.

Question Title

* 1. Please enter your IABC Membership ID number (Mandatory). If you are unsure of what your member ID number is, please contact the IABC World Headquarters at service_centre@iabc.com.

Question Title

* 2. PEOPLE’S CHOICE Please choose one of the following entries:

Question Title

* 3. Do you have any comments about your choice?

* 1. Please enter your IABC Membership ID number (Mandatory).
 If you are unsure of what your member ID number is, please contact the IABC World Headquarters at service_centre@iabc.com.

* 2. PEOPLE’S CHOICE  

Please choose one of the following entries: