The Ad Club of Connecticut awarded its annual Best in Show Award last month to Keiler & Co., a Farmington agency that created a “viral” marketing campaign for Deloitte Inc. titled “Born 2 Consult.”
Deloitte has some 700 employees in Wilton and Stamford.
The campaign featured a series of online videos featuring a 12-year-old guiding MBA graduates through the Deloitte hiring process, including a video in which he conducts interviews of MBA graduates applying for consulting positions (“How many ping-pong balls do you think you can fit in a 747?”). In an introductory Web site, viewers can scroll to the MBA program they attended, at which point the child actor knowingly makes a comment on the school only an insider would know. The campaign can be viewed on Deloitte”™s Web site, and has made the rounds on You Tube.
In accompanying comments, Ad Club judges wrote that the Keiler & Co. campaign was extraordinary for its art direction, copy writing and casting.
 “The industry standard for this category is dryer than a copywriter”™s martini,” the judges wrote. “While it may be true that creating something like this requires a willing client, it also requires unparalleled teamwork and the internal ability to trust those with vision. (Keiler) has the guts to dare to be different, especially when most other corporate stiffs are playing it safe in a down economy.”
The Ad Club handed out some 80 awards in 50 categories overall, with Darien-based Colangelo taking home three Gold Awards. Colangelo was recognized for the TrimFlixx campaign it designed for the Schick Quattro, in which visitors to a Web site could “star” in their own video. Colangelo was also recognized for the Evolve One Evolve All integrated marketing program it created for Church & Dwight Co.”™s Trojan brand condoms addressing teen sexuality; and a “brand ambassador” program it conceived for Smithwick”™s Irish Ale.
The Ad Club awards were one of only several programs throughout the Northeast in the first half of 2009 recognizing outstanding advertising and marketing campaigns. Westport-based Catapult Marketing received Best in Show at the 2009 Promo Interactive Marketing Awards for its Pedigree Million Dog Mosaic campaign, a Web site in which people could upload a photo of their dog to help form a mosaic image of a puppy. For each image uploaded, Pedigree donated $1 to help dogs find homes.
Two agencies received Mercury Awards from the southern Connecticut chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Stamford-based Creative Partners received a Gold Award in the community relations category for the “Health Net Cup” bowling tournament it created using the Wii video game system made by Nintendo. And VMW Public Relations, which itself bases part of its practice helping companies secure awards from trade groups, was recognized for promoting the credibility and transparency of the secondary ticket market among mainstream audiences.
Norwalk-based Envision TFI Inc. was the lone local Mark of Excellence Award winner in an annual competition sponsored by the Connecticut chapter of the American Marketing Association. Envision TFI was recognized for a new branding campaign it created for Lee”™s Art Shop in New York City, featuring the catchphrase “Can you find the item we don”™t carry?”
