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Cone Leads the U.S. Sustainability Communications Market
Cone is pleased to be recognized as a leader in sustainability communications in the just released “Green Quadrant: Sustainability Communications Agencies (US),” conducted by independent research firm Verdantix.
This is the second commendation for Cone’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) discipline this year, as it was earlier named a top five corporate responsibility agency by CR Magazine.
Tags: Leadership sharedresponsibility corporateresponsibility cone awards
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Nonprofit Taglines Enhance Brand Power
Last week, 13 winners of the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards were announced, giving due credit to this often-overlooked but powerful marketing element.
Over 4,800 nonprofit professionals voted for taglines that best delivered the vision and mission of the organization, putting power in the hands of practitioners who live and breathe nonprofit branding. Winners spanned a range of issues and represented organizations that focus on local, national and international causes, indicating that any nonprofit can benefit from a clearly communicated brand.
A theme among the winners is a clear connection to the organization’s mission. Essentially, the winners followed the simple yet often disregarded best practice of “say what you do.” In fact, Cone’s research showed nonprofits who clearly state their issue focus in their brand names reaped the benefit of stronger consumer relevance – a key component to strong reputation. For more tips on how to foster a strong nonprofit brand, check out the "10 Essentials for Enhancing Brand Power," part of The 2009 Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 report.
For the full list of tagline winners, check out the Getting Attention blog.
Tags: nonprofitcausebranding nonprofitpowerbrand100 research cone nonprofit awards
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Best Nonprofit Taglines - Has Your Voice Been Heard?
Voting for the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards is now under way, and you can help determine the best of the best. According to founder Nancy Schwartz, voting will:
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Sharpen your understanding of what does and doesn’t work in nonprofit communications.
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Inform and inspire your organization’s messaging.
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Give you the chance to register for the free 2009 Nonprofit Tagline Report, with 2,500 tagline examples.
What are you waiting for? Be heard by casting your vote for 13 different categories, and then register to receive the free report, including the 2009 winners. Polls close on Wednesday, September 30 at midnight, so don’t delay!
Tags: nonprofitcausebranding marketing nonprofit awards
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Brand Power Essential: Say What You Do
Want to build a brand relevant to your supporters? Then say what you do in a crisp and clear way.
The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 found that organizations who clearly state their issue focus in their brand names are perceived by consumers as more familiar and personally relevant. For example, the National Cancer Coalition captured higher consumer relevancy ratings than organizations whose names were more ambiguous. Clever or creative branding is good, but clarity makes communication easy - donors, volunteers, clients and potential advocates can easily understand who you are and what you stand for.
Another brand element to consider: your organization or program tagline. Does it support the mission of your organization? Does it say what you do? To explore this topic, nonprofits and foundations of all sizes can enter their taglines in the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards. Visit Nancy Schwartz’s blog for more details about the friendly competition and to submit an entry.
Tags: nonprofitcausebranding nonprofit awards nonprofitpowerbrand100
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Judging the PR Lions at Cannes: Reflections
In a career one gets few once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Being a judge for the 1st PR Lions is certainly one of them.
While I looked forward to Cannes, my vision was an over-the-top glam week of parties, parties and more parties ending with awards, the global advertising businesses gushing self congratulations – think unrelenting double-cheek kissing (its France naturally), fist pumping in the air Gold Lion in hand, and all night carousing. (One of the agency winners even brought his dog on stage…4 times! Talented agency. Lucky dog?)
Perhaps that is true. Yet with digital media and a shattered world economy, things have really changed for the communications business. And in my experience, and that of my fellow judges, the new PR Lions and the content of winning campaigns mirror the emerging new “world” order.
First I feel the advertising industry has moved beyond just ads with spectacular creative – to a world of amazing ideas executed in multiple mediums. So many times the presidents of the various juries said “The lines have blurred between disciplines.” Great ideas, born from considered insight, executed in surprising ways that engage and deeply inspire audiences win the day.
Questions asked during the judging at the three concurrent juries – PR, Direct and Promo – revolved around their very definitions. Throughout our reviews we kept asking; “What is PR?” Besides shining a spotlight on great, breakthrough work, what message were we, as well as the other juries, trying to send to our communications colleagues around the globe?
At the awards ceremony Monday night, it was fascinating to see campaigns winning across disciplines. The Best Job in the World, winner of the PR and Direct Grand Prix, was such a simple idea that became a “shot heard ‘round the world”. The client, Tourism Queensland, sought to inspire visitors to visit. With a limited budget was born the idea: offer "The best Job in the World” – become the guardian of a magnificent island, with simple responsibilities – feed the fish, clean the pool, take in the mail (delivered via sea plane) and blog daily. All this for about $8800 per month, at a fabulous three bedroom villa overlooking breathtaking green and blue sparkling lagoons. Small space ads around the world announced the job; sent in a short video telling us why you should be selected: 35,000 responses, narrowed to 50, then 16 finalists flown to the island for a hands-on interview, then selection. Mountains of publicity, online submissions so clever providing non-stop entertainment, followed by mountains of publicity. The buzz throughout the judging, even before Cannes, this campaign was THE ONE TO BEAT! Just “brilliant.” CumminsNitro, Brisbane.
Another campaign winning multiple categories included Yubari Resort, The Store of Hope, The Great Schlep and Khede Kasra, among others.
Yubari Resort
Yubari was a small Japanese town, fallen on very hard times, $300 million in debt, with an aging population – what was the city to do? Beacon Communications, Tokyo, on a small budget, started with the right move: through research of the city’s history and personality, they found it to have the lowest divorce rate in Japan. Thus was born the idea of focusing Yubari as the city of happy couples. Their line, “No money, but love.” (Surely in Japanese that was more eloquent, but you get the idea.) A mascot was created to draw attention to the new positioning. Over 3,000 couples came to renew their marriage vows. The mascot soon took off with organic uses around the city, from the obvious T-shirt, to packaging of foods and other items.
Massive press covered the repositioning. Over 100 articles and tons of TV. The City gained much-needed word of mouth, exciting energy, more than $30 million in new revenues, 10% year-over-year increases in tourism and most of all – restored pride.
I just loved this campaign for its core insight, its highly cultural execution and deep results. I was so please my other judges agreed and gave it a PR Lion. When it won the Promo Grand Prix, I jumped out of my seat with joy, pumped my fist and cheered. It wasn’t slick. It wasn’t fancy, though the mascot was right on, not too Hello Kitty, just correct to represent a happy couple. The campaign reflected the inner spirit of Yubari in its better times, gave it hope and a new future. What a great PR result!!!!
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Tags: conferences cannes campaigns cone awards publicrelations
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Judging the PR Lions at Cannes: Day 4
Today we finally got down to the best part of the competition. We combined with all judges and Jury President Lord Tim Bell, to view the better entries from our previous voting. In all, we had 49 to discuss and debate. And debate we did! No shouting nor object throwing -- but certainly lots of laughs.
By now, we knew the basic positions of each jury member. To name a few: Jimmy Tay (CEO of Southeast Asia, H&K, Singapore) talks softly, but with deep insights; Penny Furniss (Founder and Creative Director of Sputnik, London) is snappy, funny and very direct; Bjorn Mellstrand (Managing Director from JMW Kommunikation, Sweden) sharp, in your face, vacillating from “boring” to “brilliant” as he swiftly assessed campaigns; and myself (always looking for the authentic insight related to a social issue). Then of course, there was “The Lord,” “Oh Lord,” “Praise the Lord” or “M’Lord,” as we kidded, Jury President Lord Tim Bell.
Debate. Debate. Debate. Often we had to ask for clarification regarding special cultural nuances for campaigns. The Japanese entries were especially different – I liked them a lot – but they have a very different flavor, some parts very campy, others poignant. At times we were extremely split as to their merit.
Today, as a group, we were exposed to many hometown phrases: “Looks bonkers to me,” “They managed to market themselves without looking like a tosspot,” “The link is so f…ing obvious. It’s solid,” and “Goes beyond the superficial to my heart.”
We had a few ad campaigns that sought PR, meaning publicity, for the efforts. One effort must have been created by “a group of advertising lads sitting around a table.” It was criticized strongly as Fake. Fake. Fake.
At the end of a very long day, we agreed on the shortlist. Each campaign will win either a PR Lion or a certificate. We will make those decisions tomorrow.
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Tags: conferences cannes campaigns cone awards publicrelations
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Judging the PR Lions at Cannes: Day 3
Today we finished the second round of the overall judging. Our team of five, again a new mix of judges, hail from Singapore, India, Germany, Argentina and USA. Lively debate continued, although overall, we were disappointed by most of the submissions in the following categories: internal, integrated programs and travel/tourism and leisure.
While I can’t divulge those I liked today, countries capturing my highest votes included: Japan and Australia.
To aid our deliberations, and to add more context to our numerical scores, we gave brief descriptions to each number. So, our “unofficial” characterizations follow below (Remember, 1–3 means drop from further review; 4–6 may make the final review; 7–9 absolutely in the finals.):
1 = No comment. Just silence. We were surprised these passed from the first round of judging we did at home
2= Nix it. (In many cases a stunt – that really turned us off)
3 = BORING!!! (In many cases a stunt plus something else. Very unoriginal)
4 = Barely ok
5 = Cute
6 = Solid (There were a good many solids awarded. Strategic, ok creative, thorough execution, ok results – just not great)
7 = Very good. Just one or two of the four criteria weren’t superior
8 = Close to Brilliant. A hair off of all criteria being fulfilled and then some
9 = Brilliant. Lively “ahs.” Gave some of us chills. May also be considered for the Grand Prix!
Insights to future entrants: success comes from really original ideas developed from keen insights and ideally some research, with stunning creative, thoughtful execution and results described qualitatively and quantitatively. Again, make sure the goals are crisply defined, ideally quantitatively, and as specific as possible, AND the results round back to address the goals.
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Tags: conferences cannes campaigns cone awards publicrelations
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Judging the PR Lions at Cannes: Day 2
Up bright and early today. Walked and ran three miles along the promenade with barely a soul in sight. Though there were lots of men planting flowers, cleaning the streets, keeping Cannes tres beau!
Today I teamed up with four new judges from the U.S., Brazil, Australia and France. Our categories were consumer marketing and social media. In all, there were 40 entries to individually view and discuss.
What is it really like to judge? It’s quite fun, actually.As I have great curiosity about programs around the world, this experience provides a bird’s-eye view into so many varieties and approaches to programs.We analyze one entry at a time, quietly reading, then view a storyboard and usually a 2-3 minute video.
Then it’s not so quiet anymore. We critique, debate, question “where did the idea come from?” and then bounce back and forth regarding its power, originality and results.After a while, each judge seems to have a recurring comment – “solid” said one, (meaning ok, but not great); “boring” said another (meaning really not original and not up to short-list caliber). Other comments included: “Is this all there is?” “Where’s the insight?” “Measurement tells us what?” and “How is it sustained?”
If we need clarity regarding the power of the campaign in a specific country, we seek out that judge and get excellent context. It’s very helpful to separate fact from hyperbole.
Candidly, a lot of the work was “solid” as the best descriptor.Ok, but not good enough and really not great enough to win a PR Lions. Interestingly there is a feeling among all the judges that, as this is the FIRST PR Lions, we have to set a standard for the future for great PR work.Brilliant strategy, fresh creative, thorough execution and real results, not just clips. How did the program increase reputation or sales, change a law, influence behavior?So many of the programs we wanted to like, but they fell down in the results section.
“Really amazing” and “wow” were few and far between.
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Tags: conferences cannes campaigns cone awards publicrelations
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Judging the 1st PR Lions at Cannes
When USA Today asked me to be part of the judging panel for the first PR Lions at Cannes , I was deeply honored to join this preeminent global competition with 14 other seasoned public relations professionals from around the globe; from the U.K. to Singapore, Argentina to India, Sweden to Spain and beyond. Interestingly, it took 56 years for the Cannes Lions Festival to acknowledge the critical role of PR as part of the communications and marketing mix. Ah, good things come to those who wait.
Jury President, Lord Tim Bell warmly welcomed us Tuesday evening for a kickoff dinner at the Carlton Hotel. Joining Cannes Lions CEO Philip Thomas, we all toasted to the next era of the awards and to setting a new standard for public relations excellence in strategy and creativity.
Early kudos to the Cannes organizers for selecting a great PR jury. Today, during our first deliberations, all fell easily into our significant duty of short- listing the best campaigns. Unlike the other categories, the PR division was prejudged due to the more complex nature of the work. The initial 431 entries from 48 countries in 20 categories were narrowed to 322. Today, we divided ourselves into three groups, each given approximately 40 entries to judge against four criteria: strategy, execution, creative and results -- with strategy and results having a slightly greater weight across the four. Animated debate characterized all three groups, with Lord Bell occasionally overseeing the conversation with a sometimes quizzical look. He promised not to weigh-in until the final stage of the short listed entries, approximately 12% of the total.
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Tags: conferences cannes campaigns cone awards publicrelations
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Cone Enjoys a Successful Awards Season
We’ve always set the highest standards for our performance and take pride in delivering exceptional work. The greatest honor we can receive is when our clients are satisfied with a job well done. But, we can’t help but be flattered when our peers recognize our hard work, too. Cone has enjoyed many successful awards seasons, and this year is no different. Whether for inspiring cause branding work or attention-grabbing marketing and PR, our work, and ultimately that of our clients, has brought us much recognition.
The season started off on a high note at the PR News CSR Awards, where Western Union was honored for its work in stakeholder engagement with its Our World, Our Family program, which it partnered with Cone to create. Western Union continues to garner a lot of praise for its work with migrants across the world, including an award from the Center Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, who presented it with its Excellence Award in Corporate Philanthropy, a very prestigious honor in international corporate philanthropy.
Cone had an even bigger showing at the Cause Marketing Forum Awards with Timberland receiving the evening’s highest honor, a Cause Marketing Golden Halo, for its commitment to making a difference in its communities. Cone then swept the Best Health Campaign category with The American Heart Association’s (AHA) Start! program winning the Golden Halo and Jiffy Lube International taking a Silver Halo for its Maintenance Partners for Life.
The awards kept coming during the Publicity Club of New England Bell Ringer Awards ceremony as Western Union won the Bell Ringer for best community relations campaign, the AHA won for its Start! Heart Walk special event and Jockey International grabbed a Bell Ringer for best television news placement. Not to be outdone, ALPO, Ben & Jerry’s and T-Mobile USA each earned Merits.
A much-deserved congratulations goes out to all!
Tags: causebranding cone awards
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