There were over 1,000 entries from around the world, but there were just 16 golds awarded at the US Direct Marketing Association’s Echo awards and two of them went to New Zealand agencies, with .99 continuing its Midas touch with Air New Zealand’s ‘Nothing to Hide’ in the Consumer-Travel & Hospitality/Transportation section and RAPP Tribal winning for its ‘Thank You Notes’ campaign for Heinz Wattie’s Gourmet Dog in the Production Manufacturing and Distribution category.
DraftFCB was the only other Kiwi agency to make an appearance, taking home two bronzes, one for APN’s ‘Hour Long Letter’ and the other for World Vision’s ‘Raising the stakes for the 40 Hour Famine’. Check out the full results here.
RAPP Tribal’s ‘Thank You Notes’ campaign provided a space for small dog owners at www.alotoflove.co.nz to write a public thank you note to their dogs for their unconditional love and affection. In return, they could win a pet portrait (and then presumably be ridiculed by anyone who saw it). From the initial mailing to 10,000 people, there were over 7,750 visits to the site and over 2,871 notes were written.
RAPP Tribal creative team Pat Murphy and Susan Young were behind the campaign (they also won silver at the 2009 ECHO Awards for ANZ Getting U Thru). And managing director Robert Limb says the achievement demonstrates how a simple insight can drive a hugely successful campaign deserving of international recognition.
“The number of small dog owners is increasing in New Zealand. We created something meaningful which really resonated with them and generated terrific results.”
