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Scottish IPA Effectiveness Awards Gold Award Case Studies

By The Drum, Administrator

June 5, 2003 | 8 min read

One of family's Scottish Leader ads

Four gold awards and a raft of special prizes were handed out at last night’s Scottish IPA Effectiveness Awards dinner to papers considered to be exceptional by the judging panel. Here we look at summaries of some of the winning papers authored by Scotland’s winning agencies. The Grand Prix will be printed in full in the next edition of Ad Drum out later this summer.

The Grand Prix & Best Media Thinking:

Client: Scottish Mutual

Agency: 1576

Campaign Title: Bleeding edge without the blood

Author: Mark Gorman

Background

1576 Advertising’s case study outlines a unique approach by Scottish Mutual towards branding in a highly saturated and rather cynical marketplace.

It demonstrates how, over a 12-month period, Scottish Mutual ripped up the rulebook and pioneered the use of new technology to not only improve its perceptions as an organisation but also deliver tangibly deeper relationships, both within and beyond its existing client base.

Solution

Using a combination of extremely high quality “TV commercial” type films presented on CD-ROM and on the internet, along with traditional direct mailing techniques, response rates (and conversion) dramatically exceeded the industry norm.

Results

The campaign succeeded in positioning Scottish Mutual as a highly innovative and technologically proficient provider in the IFA/intermediary financial services marketplace.

The whole exercise paid back its £585,000 investment in only 17 months through the resultant cost savings, and it opened the door to a potential £282m of new business.

Research identified significant additional corporate image benefits from the campaign. These were delivered effectively at zero cost.

The Chairman’s Special Award

Client: Age Concern Scotland

Agencies: Citigate Smarts & JT Media

Campaign Title: Breaking the silence on elder abuse

Authors: Petra Cuthbert & Ann Ferguson

Background

If someone had told us when we set out how much we were going to achieve with the Elder Abuse campaign we would not have believed them.

Faced with a very modest marketing budget of less than £18,000, not to mention a highly sensitive subject matter, this project was a challenge to the agency in more ways than one.

Solution

Given the tight budget, it was clear that every last penny had to count.

So we decided to turn the emotive issue of elder abuse to our advantage. Using shock advertising to drive and generate PR coverage, and to maximise the overall impact of the campaign, proved to be an immensely successful approach.

Results

A fantastic return on the original investment was achieved:

ï £44,000 worth of media coverage

ï Calls to the helpline increasing by 400 per cent

ï £193,000 of funding received

The advertising campaign has now brought the plight of older people into the open. The silence on elder abuse has been broken.

Best Insight & Innovation

Client: Scottish Leader

Agencies: family & The Media Shop

Campaign Title: There’s only one Scottish leader

Author: Simon Kitchman, Ian Wright & Ralph Ainsworth

Background

Consumption of blended Scotch whisky in the UK is in long-term decline. Distribution is dominated by multiple grocers, who view Scotch as a key weapon in their price wars. And over-production in the past has led to excessive stocks, with the inevitable pressure on margins. This is the tough market in which Scottish Leader, distilled by Burn Stewart, competes with major brands such as Famous Grouse and Bell’s.

Solution

This case study shows how the brand was able to differentiate itself through advertising and achieve some remarkable results – despite being dwarfed in spend terms by the competition.

The campaign talked to consumers on their own terms, breaking whisky category conventions by not taking itself too seriously.

It showed famous leaders, such as Churchill and Gandhi, donning tartan bonnet and flowing ginger wig in a desperate attempt to be a Scottish leader, but firmly told, “There’s only one Scottish Leader.”

Results

The case study demonstrates that the campaign helped to increase sales by 23 per cent and win distribution in key outlets such as Asda and Safeway.

It also added value by signalling Burn Stewart’s commitment to brand building to employees, trade and investors.

Best E-commerce/internet

Client: s1jobs.com

Agencies: The Union & Feather Brooksbank

Campaign Title: A Job Well Done

Author: Lisa Howlett

Background

At a time when the dot.com bubble was bursting, s1jobs launched into a fiercely competitive marketplace.

The campaign used a local communication strategy, with a “local content” proposition and a very Scottish tone of voice to target potential job seekers when they were most predisposed to re-evaluate their careers. Specifically selected media was used to communicate the core creative idea: “In the wrong job?”

Solution

s1jobs managed to supersede all traffic targets set, gaining unprecedented brand awareness in a short space of time.

Within just six weeks s1jobs was generating more than one million page impressions per month, almost double the equivalent traffic monster.co.uk – the UK’s no.1 job board at the time – received from Scottish job seekers. And it offered an unrivalled number of live Scottish vacancies.

Results

Despite being a purely Scottish site, s1jobs is now the only Scottish job board in the UK’s top 10, attracting a record five million page impressions from 200,000 user sessions in January 2003. This is a rare dot.com success story about how an integrated advertising and trade marketing campaign launched a local brand into a tough regional market, enabling it to significantly outperform established national competition.

Gold Award

Client: Modern Apprenticeships for Scottish Enterprise

Agencies: The Bridge & The Media Shop

Author: Margaret Byrnes & Mark Newlands

Background

Modern Apprenticeships is a work-based training programme run jointly by Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Executive.

The problem

Scottish Enterprise approached The Bridge with a successful product with an awareness problem. Perceptions amongst people with experience of Modern Apprenticeships was very positive, but amongst those unaware of the brand, scepticism existed. The objectives were not just to raise awareness but to give credibility to the brand.

The results

Research showed that awareness of the brand soared to 85 per cent amongst the core target audience, the number agreeing that Modern Apprenticeships are a good option for young people increased by 300 per cent and the number rose by 335 per cent of those agreeing that they are available in a wide range of industries. The campaign achieved 235 per cent more new apprentices than trend.

Was it the advertising?

The product wasn’t new. Marketing activity had taken place in previous years. It wasn’t market growth – numbers of school leavers actually increased. The new factor was the advertising. The cost of advertising was £300,000, which generated over £45m of private sector investment.

Best New Client: Silver

Client: Auto TraderAgency: Faulds

Author: David McGlone

This campaign helped Auto Trader realise a 5 per cent growth in circulation levels, up from a 9 per cent decline. Web traffic increased by six per cent and advertising revenue from private advertisers increased from 100,000 to 250,000. Penetration of the dealer marketplace increased from 39 per cent to 55 per cent over the same period. These successes enabled Trader Media Group’s profitability to increase by 28 per cent, 38 per cent and 40 per cent respectively for the three years during which the campaign ran.

Best Rejuvenation of a Brand: Silver

Client: Grolsch Agencies: The Leith Agency & BBJ

Authors: David Amers & Thea Tetley

This case shows how advertising helped take Grolsch off the endangered list. Now Grolsch is a top-ten lager brand, again experiencing record growth, and has a brand-building advertising campaign going from strength to strength. Sales and share have exceeded the ambitious targets set, as rate of sale, the true measure of demand, increased dramatically.

Best Integration: Silver

Client: see meAgencies: Citigate Smarts & FB

Authors: Andy McArthur & Petra Cuthbert

This case shows how the “see me” campaign has effectively started tackling the stigma associated with mental illness. This high-profile, integrated campaign has made a great start, raising awareness, delivering a simple but important message, countering the myths surrounding mental illness, pushing people towards the website and energising local groups.

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