Martin|Williams Advertising Honored With Bronze Effie Award
Winning campaign for FINNEGANS Irish Amber increased sales 46%
MINNEAPOLIS, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Martin|Williams Advertising received the Bronze Effie Award in the "Goodworks – Non-Profit" category during last night's 43rd Annual Effie Awards in New York. The agency was honored for its work with FINNEGANS Irish Amber, a locally brewed beer that donates 100 percent of its profits to charities. The Effie Award is known by advertisers and agencies globally as the pre-eminent award in the industry, due to its emphasis on creativity in execution and strategy, as well as hard results.
Martin|Williams and FINNEGANS teamed up in 2010 for a rebranding campaign that included a redesign of the bottle and case packaging along with updated slogans for the new promotional materials. Recognizing that consumer demand would be the only catalyst for increased distribution, Martin|Williams aimed to tap into consumers' do-good spirits and redefined drinking FINNEGANS as an act of volunteerism unto itself.
The Effie Award nominated campaign was promoted using a zero dollar media budget and increased sales of the charity beer by 32 percent in March 2010 and 46 percent year-to-date. Additionally, Martin|Williams helped FINNEGANS garner more than 63 new bar accounts in Minneapolis alone and raised a significant amount of money for local charities.
"This work not only increased sales for FINNEGANS, but helped them increase their donations to local charities," said Tom Moudry, CEO and Chief Creative Officer at Martin|Williams. "Our message was that every FINNEGANS drinker should be proud of their contribution, and we are proud of this work as well."
Martin|Williams started by redesigning the beer's logo and packaging to help it stand out on crowded store shelves and better promote its charitable mission. The agency also redesigned the FINNEGANS website to serve as a hub to its new community of followers. An online pledge drive was organized for the month of March, and St. Patrick's Day in particular, to capitalize on the brand's Irish heritage. Dubbed the Pint-a-thon, the pledge drive asked beer drinkers to replace their beer of choice with FINNEGANS for the month. Interactive features on the website made it easy for visitors to share their pledges and invite friends to participate with social media tools.
Martin|Williams also designed t-shirts, posters, banners and coasters to engage beer drinkers with the brand's humorous and charitable message offline. Many of these items were stolen from bars—which the agency considers a sign of true and passionate activism by consumers.
For more information, visit http://pressroom.martinwilliams.com/effie/
About Martin|Williams
Martin|Williams, Inc. is a Minneapolis-based full-service communications agency that is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (www.omnicomgroup.com). Operating units of Martin|Williams, Inc. include Martin|Williams Advertising; TripleInk (international and cross-cultural communications); and Karwoski & Courage Public Relations.
SOURCE Martin|Williams Advertising
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