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Home > Award of Excellence
Each year new business ideas are featured in this “command performance” session. Ideas are submitted by more than 200 subscribing stations and are selected for the telecast based on: Originality, Revenue Generated vs. Market Size and ease of Replication in any size market. This year 25 total ideas were featured: 10 Top Ideas, 10 Honorable Mentions and 5 Advancement ideas. Unlike past Award of Excellence shows which were campaign and large promotion features, this year features everything from the traditional promotions to a simple suggestion on how to make initial calls and advance the sale.
This page is dedicated to these ideas. If you need more information on the ideas you saw on the December 9th telecast, this is the place. You can get an overview of the idea and watch the videos created for each idea. If you need more information on any of the ideas featured below, please contact our office 415.888.8461.
The movie's below are WMV (windows media files) unless otherwise noted. You will need the Windows Media Player to view them. Click here to Download the Player.
For the Quicktime Movie files, please click here to download the Quicktime Player.
El Paso Orthopaedic Surgery Group
By Leesa Ordaz, KVIA, El Paso
A specialty center and surgical hospital, The El Paso Orthopaedic Surgery Group was not doing any television advertising in the market. Comprised of 27 highly training doctors with four locations, they are the only specialists with a 24 emergency clinic for immediate orthopedic needs. To get their message out, multiple spots were created to be shown during KVIA news and other programming. Additionally a comprehensive section “Ask the Expert” was created on KVIA.com. The website provided detailed information on the hospital and surgery group and highlighted their services, their staff. It also featured the spots that were shown on air. A very successful campaign for what is considered a non-traditional advertiser.
Milwaukee Police Department
By Clarissa Mankus, WCGV, Milwaukee
Law enforcement agencies are facing new recruiting challenges. They are no longer dealing with hundreds of quality applicants when job announcements are posted. Those in the new generation no longer aspire to become a police offer. Now faced with this challenge new strategy was needed. Knowing that Generation Y is the most diverse population segment, tech-savvy and watch a lot of television, a PSA was created that informed young adults about a career in the police force. Announcements featured diverse, young police officers explaining why they joined the force, why they loved their job and what the MPD is all about. Announcements were edgy, highly intense and created high excitement. The PSA’s were placed in programs with the highest teen and young adult viewers. A web banner and cube ads on the television website further boosted traffic directly to the recruitment site.
Metropolis/Cirque Du Soleil
By Lisa Babirad, Global Television, Vancouver
Global BC had two very different prospective clients. On one side they had Cirque Du Soleil wanting to promote their show “Corteo” with lots of free airtime; on the other side they had Metropolis at Metrotown, the largest mall in BC that was only interested in doing a campaign that was outside the box. The station decided to combine the two clients. A Sneak Peak Cirque performance at the mall would bring many families who could not afford to see the Cirque show as well as people who would be encouraged to buy tickets after seeing the unique performance. Both groups would drive traffic into the Metropolis Mall and Cirque was able to promote their show to a large audience. The promotion was in three parts: first driving viewers to Metropolis at Metrotown to enter to win 4 Tapis Rouge V.I.P tickets to the show, the second encouraged viewers to visit Metropolis to see a mini performance of Corte and the third encouraged viewers to look for the Angel’s to win instant tickets.
Partners Financial Minute
By Eric Soderholm, WRLH, Richmond
With the challenges we’re all facing with the economy today, WRLH saw an opportunity for a credit union to step up, help people and grow their market share. The concept was designed to include a one-minute feature in their 10pm News in a fixed position every Thursday night. In the segment, the credit union would cover a financial topic and viewers would be directed to them and to the station website for more information. In addition, WRLH would promote this feature Monday through Thursday in prime time to gain recognition for that night as the Financial Minute night. Segments also streamed online on the station website. One Credit Union "Partners Financial Credit Union" loved the idea and picked it up right away and the Financial Minute then became the "Partners Financial Minute." Due to the success of the idea, Partners Financial signed on for 13 weeks to run for the remainder of 2008.
St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway
By Bob Butterfield, WCHS, Charleston
A simple concept for a good cause is the idea for the St. Jude House Raffle. A house worth $500,000, which is donated by local builders, is offered in a raffle for viewers and customers. Multiple sponsors participated in the WCHS/WVAH promotion. Some sponsors were retailers that offered to furnish the home. Other retail sponsors had the opportunity to sell the raffle tickets which brought in significant foot traffic to their stores. Sponsors also received exclusive name and logo inclusion on the promotion, news mentions (at a minimum of 3 times a week) "You can buy your tickets at…" Name and logo inclusion in all St. Jude Direct mail was also included in the sponsor buy.
(Below is a 15 minute promo , which might take a while to download depending on your connection)
Nurses: Making a Difference
By Jenet Mullins, WRGT, Dayton
Taking advantage of one of the largest projected job growth industries in America, “Nurses: Making a Difference” program gave due recognition to these ever hard working/caring individuals. Utilizing their morning news program and online elements, sponsoring companies were invited to nominate their local nurse who would be featured on both. The company logo would also be a prominent fixture on both the website and be invited on Fox45 in the Morning to showcase the fantastic nursing staff. Finally a :15 second promotional would run during the annual May Nurses Week.
Have a Gas
By Andy Dole, Citytv, Calgary
A successful promotion for Citytv’s Breakfast Television (BT) found a simple way to combine product placement and interactive. Once a week for six weeks a BT station team would arrive at a secret location, in a logo branded South Deerfoot Suzuki, which would be revealed at the beginning of the show and hand out free coupons. A :30 second co-branded campaign would continue to air after the Gas Street Team stunt and would continue after the promotion. Viewers were also invited to enter a $1500 free gas sweepstakes by visiting South Deerfoot Suzuki and test driving a vehicle.
Cell that House
By Ericka Villegas, KVIA, El Paso
In a mobile partnership with KVIA, Realtors were able to target information hungry homebuyers via TV, cell phone and web. The television schedule featured three different homes per week. Each commercial would promote a text to code for viewers to get pictures, square feet information, cost and location information. KIVA.com provided the realtor with one online virtual tour per month plus a web banner with “text-to” information. This promotion provided local realtors not only a new way to reach potential clients but allowed them to create a home hunter database and increase sales.
Great Rock N Roll Harley Giveaway
By Terra Musurichan, Citytv, Edmonton
Teaming up with the Harley Davidson dealership in Edmonton, Citytv created a great promotion and giveaway. Viewers were asked to send in their most creative entries, explain why they deserved the Rock n Roll Road trip featuring 25 bands and new Harley Davidson. “The more creative the better” is what was asked of viewers. Call for entries were featured numerous promotional spots, the morning show Breakfast Television and on the station website. Three finalists were selected and the winner was chosen at a finale event at a local bar. Printed tickets with the finalist’s picture were given to each finalist. The more they were able to hand out and convince people to show up and vote with their ticket the great chance they had to win. Tickets were counted up at the finale event and the winner announced.
Career Makeover Magic
By Kim Burgardt, Newcap Television, Lloydminster
The Career Makeover was designed to target the female audience 18+ and generate business in the city of career, fashion and an all sense of well being. The top prize was a $10,000 scholarship to Academy of Learning with a complete Makeover including: hair, make-up, nails, new wardrobe, accessories, skin treatment and teeth cleaning and whitening. Viewers were asked to send in a picture of them and a letter explaining why they deserved to be the Career Makeover Magic Winner. After the entries were received Newcap Television and the Sponsors of the promotion chose three finalists. Promos then ran that asked viewers to vote for whom they though should win Career Makeover by texting to the number of their chosen finalist. After the winner was chosen, they went through the transformation with the selection sponsors of the promotion and then revealed to the viewing audience.
Movie Mania
By Donna Maria, WLFL, Raleigh
A unique promotion opportunity designed for retail, Movie Mania places the sponsor product in front of clients, builds traffic for your business, offers additional on air promotions and rewards the retailer’s clients with a chance to see first run movies at their local theater. Each retail client sponsors a 4-pack of weekend movies with client choice of titles. A :30 commercial schedule will run Thursday through Sunday and include time in each of their four movies. This idea drove viewers to the client retail locations to register for a chance to win a 4-pack of movies tickets for two, a register to win information on both station and Movies Mania webpage, a sponsor banner on Movie Mania webpage with link to the client’s website and direct e-blasts sent to thousands of stations’ subscribers.
Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?
By Tara Brennan and Mary Beth Marble, WUTV, Buffalo
Combining the success of the show “Are you smarter than a 5th grader” and a station client “Darien Lake,” the largest amusement park in the state, WUTV created an exciting promotion that viewers could get involved in and have fun. A theater at the amusement park set the stage for a local version of the show “5th grader.” Letters then went out to all elementary/middle school principals in Western New York and asked their 5th grade teachers to submit a student that deserves to be a student this local version of the show. Over 150 entries were received and six students were selected (each winning a savings bond from a local bank co-sponsor and season passes to Darien Lake for their entire family). The contest ran on air and online where viewers could answer five elementary level questions online and get entered to be a contestant at the Darien Lake show. Four online winners were randomly chosen to compete. All online winners also received prizes from some of the local co-sponsors. All contestants participated one at a time (like the show) with the help of the selected 5th graders. Since Mark Burdette Productions gave full approval to use the show concepts and loved the idea the offered the winning contestant a trip to LA to see a live taping of the show. After the successful event, another promo spot was made thanking Western New York for supporting the show and showing the winner and the students on air. All the co-sponsors as well as Darien Lake and Mark Burnett productions were very happy with the results.
Television Recruitment Advertising
By Luanne Blair, WUTV, Buffalo
The Television Recruitment Advertising idea is a way to approach job searching in a different way; creating top of mind awareness. Both newspapers and online employment advertising are only viewed by those currently looking for employment. Television has a broader audience of those both currently looking for employment and those that aren’t. To reach qualified candidates, clients would create compelling ads with WUTV and show them during particular programs that are heavily viewed by their prospects.
Southwest Career Institute
By Ericka Villegas, KVIA, El Paso
Texting is a proven way to reach the new generation. According to a Scarborough Research Study, over 57% of adults over the age of 18 in El Paso use text messaging and over 48% nationally use the feature. The CW El Paso partnered with “Southwest Career Institute” to capture young audiences that are beginning their careers/career training. Southwest Career Institute will have a :15 commercial on the CW pushing viewers to TEXT a key work to receive more information on various careers. A brief list of facts would then be sent to those that sent a test inquiry. Shortly followed by a call from Southwest Career Institute to relay more information and make an appointment to plan the student’s future.
Legal Minds
By Dave Cardwell, KABB, San Antonio
Legal Minds provides an opportunity to showcase The Law Offices of Local Attorney as the legal leader and educator in the San Antonio community. Client’s have the opportunity to showcase their firm’s legal expertise in a nontraditional, long form message format that resonates with viewers. Legal Minds is a thirty minute program that focuses on educating the public on important legal issues, and has been drawing audiences of approximately 20,000 households that have tuned in for legal advice. Some topics on Legal Minds include: Auto Accidents, Divorce, Criminal Defense, Immigration, Workers Comp and many more. With their investment clients also receive 48 airing commercials and 20 shared promotional announcements that will include the attorney logo with audio mention.
Marlin Travel Cruises
By Kendall Gibson, Global, Lethbridge
Global Lethbridge was receiving little to no money from local travel agents. Knowing that TV would work for them, they created a unique campaign. Global agreed to host or sponsor a tour and be paid per person only for those that booked on the tour. $2000 was asked of the client to cover production expenses of the commercial. A large campaign was scheduled at ZERO dollars and ran it ONLY in unsold FRINGE inventory time. The campaign was such a success they stopped running the campaign, because the Agency couldn't handle any more persons. The client, Marlin Travel was ecstatic. Not only did this generate over $200,000 in sales for this specific trip, they also booked other trips with customers.
Quail Creek Investment on 'Money Saving Mondays'
By Jarie Lively, KOCB, Oklahoma City
Every Monday, the Fox25 Morning News has a “Money Saving Monday” segment that provides viewers with money saving tips. Quail Creek Investment Center, a local investment bank, sponsored the segment and received a billboard that would be featured every Monday morning with the segment as well as 6 :30 spots throughout the week on Fox25 programming.
Winning in Realty
By Terra Musurichan, Citytv, Edmonton
A realtor in Edmonton approached Citytv to work on an advertising campaign that would raise his profile and make him the Real Estate expert in Edmonton. The Winning in Realty segment was created and shown as helpful segments during the Rachael Ray program. These spots featured helpful real estate tips for viewers. Everyday would offer a new tip. Pop-ups also ran during the show as reminders to keep watching for a new tip. In addition viewers were also asked to go to a website created for the campaign were they could enter for a chance to win a $1000 gift certificate. This is a proven success for it client went from buying just spots to spending more money for a campaign.
Diamond Certified
By Tracey Bennett and Sharon Fanto, KICU, San Francisco/San Jose
This campaign provided Diamond Certified and its membership with a comprehensive and affordable Broadcast Television campaign including Spot, Local News, Sports and Strategic On-line elements. The campaign would increase Diamond Certified awareness and drive traffic to their website. :15 spot were created and shown on KICU that would direct viewers to KICU.com where they could have direct access to Diamond Certified to review company profiles and survey results.
Reverse Mortgages
By Rod Fischer, WICS, Champaign
In our economic market today, reverse Mortgages can really help people that are on a fixed income or lost some of their investment income is a big hit. WICS contacted the only mortgage company in the area that offers reverse mortgages and worked on a getting their message on air.
Start at the Bottom and Work Backwards
By Leesa Ordaz, KIVA, El Paso
Start calling the names at the bottom of your list or the back of the phone book or at the end of whatever “list” or prospect means you are using. Many times the businesses at the end of a list never get prospected because salespeople never make it through the entire list! Give it a try…The "Z’s" are probably lonely.
Many times, while working on my prospect list, (especially with doctors and lawyers) I have to call each organization for a contact name or to find out who the decision maker is, and usually an assistant has to schedule the appointment. I’ve noticed that making these calls during the week between Christmas and New Years is very effective. No one feels like working, so receptionists, personal assistants, secretaries etc., are more likely to have time to speak with you. (You may even reach your contact immediately) This is also a great time to make appointments. They may not be scheduled until after the holidays, but at least you’ll be first on the appointment calendar, come January!
Getting Contact Information
By Melanie Poland, KLTV, Tyler
Melanie offers a simple idea in obtaining and contacting decision makers. She would visit the local Economic Development Council website and obtain the basic information on the top employers in the area. When calling on these companies, she would tell them she was planning an HR breakfast and wanted to be sure to invite the right person from the company: the person in charge of recruiting and their boss. She would get contacts this way every single time!
The Facts of Home Improvement One-Sheet
By Kristin Bayer, WCGV & WVTV, Milwaukee
Kristin put together this ONE SHEET to hand out at a local home remodeling expo. She immediately secured 6 appointments and then has continued to use it in WARM LETTERS to generate interest in the stations from the home improvement category. After sharing with our local sales team, other sellers have successfully used this piece to help secure additional new business appointments in this category.
Greeting Cards
By Wayne Dwornick, Global, Lethbridge
Grabbing a potential client’s attention is key these days. Wayne found a cleaver way to set his message apart from a traditional letter. By visiting a website that prints your created message into an attractive greeting card. The cards can be created to look any way you wish. When Wayne would follow up with a call, more often times than not, the potential client remembered his letter because of its uniqueness.
Mission Possible
By Lisa Bybee, KTUD, Las Vegas
Using the Mission Impossible theme, Lisa used a creative way to contact potential clients in a five step process. One, send a tease letter in a brown envelope stamped with Mission Possible on the outside. Two, send the client a copy of the Mission Possible spot using the same branding envelope and the previous letter. Three, Follow up with a call. Four, have a meeting. Five, close the sale!
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