We are incredibly passionate about the campaigns we are involved in and our hard work and dedication, going hand in hand with our innovative and dynamic clients, has resulted in a fruitful 2009. In no particular order, here are the top client campaigns that have excited us, inspired us, and achieved fantastic results:
Barbie’s 50th birthday broadcast project (Mattel)
2009 marked the 50th birthday of the world’s favourite doll and Mattel asked Ogilvy PR London to help kick off the party in Europe with a big bang at the International Toy Fair, Nuremberg in February this year. We combined visually compelling broadcast content with innovative digital tools, including a social media press release, to provide the media around the world with an engaging story package of Barbie’s birthday.
Future Focus digital campaign (IBM)
Ogilvy PR supported the series of ‘IBM Future Focus’ events for mid-market businesses through a social media campaign. This campaign was a first for IBM in the UK, bringing together social media interaction, video content creation and live publishing across multiple platforms. Through a programme of harnessing key influencers to contribute to the content, and integrating social media in to the onsite activities, through video, live blogging and micro blogging, IBM was able to bring an audience with relatively low social media engagement into the heart of a social campaign.
Corporate digital survey project (LexisNexis)
In order to raise the profile of information service provider LexisNexis as a corporate sponsor of the Online Information 2009 event, a survey was conducted examining people’s perceptions of the importance and influence of online information in determining their purchasing decisions. The survey results served to establish LexisNexis as a thought leader in the online social media space. We achieved positive coverage across multiple outlets, such as Brand Republic.
Rightmove iPhone app launch (2Ergo)
This trade campaign for mobile technology provider 2ergo involved working with a select number of key online influencers, technology press and mobile analysts to give them a preview of the product before it went live at an exclusive event. We also created a YouTube channel to host video content. As a result of the coverage generated about and the app, the Rightmove iPhone app shot up to first place on the UK downloads chart within days of its release. You can view some selected trade press articles on the Mobile Choice and IT Pro websites.
The Brazilian food journey campaign (Brazilian tourist board Embratur)
The campaign aimed to endorse Brazil as a tourist destination via one of its most unique cultural offerings; its food. We invited a restaurant reviewer to experience the Brazilian restaurant scene at first hand by setting up a trip to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro with an itinerary that took in a mixture of top-end restaurants, markets, juice bars and bakeries in order to show the full spectrum of Brazilian eating. As a result of the press trip to Brazil, coverage was generated in the Financial Times, Guardian online and Evening Standard twice.
The examples above provide a small insight into the type of work we have been involved in during 2009. Here’s to what promises to be a fantastic 2010!
In early Autumn 2008, the future for long-haul travel in 2009 looked bleak. It’s still not fantastic. But, despite stories that Brits were only going to have holidays at home - forever - a different picture is emerging. A couple of bank collapses, plunging oil prices and a shy, nervous pound later and the prospect of a Summer break in Rhyl can be balanced with somewhere slightly more exotic and tropical. Now long-haul destinations look good value for the holidaymaker; a prospect to lift the gloom. If South East Asia or Africa don’t appeal, perhaps Brazil or Chile could be an interesting option? All we need now is the removal of the ridiculous 100ml rule and a softening on airline surcharges. Can these be far away?
by Rosie ‘Robinho’ Robbins The OPR London EMBRATUR team (that’s Viviane Borges, Imogen Lovell-Smith and me) held an event recently to launch the latest advertising campaign to promote Brazil as a tourist destination, in the private cinema at London’s Courthouse Hotel. The highlight of the girls’ night was meeting Luiz Felipe Scolari, a.k.a. Chelsea FC’s coach, now fondly known by English football fans as “Big Phil”, who came along to lend his support to the new campaign. The team all agreed that he was the nicest celebrity we’ve ever had the chance to work with - posing for photos with every single one of the event’s 131 attendees, including the Guardian’s deputy travel editor Gavin.The broadcast team was also represented shooting for Embratur’s internal archive. Here’s Adam’s ‘mental’ video contribution for this post…
So a month or so ago, you’ll see from Tim’s post below, the consumer team here at OPR, have been working on Embratur. As a teenager, I used to leaf through the NME and dream about one day becoming a music journalist, and a decade later, our recent work for the aforementioned Embratur (Brazilian Tourist Board) enabled me to fulfil my long-forgotten ambition. Fifty years ago this year, the bohemian beach scene in Rio de Janeiro threw up its most enduring musical form – bossa nova– so to celebrate, we helped to put on a festival on the South Bank in London. The idea behind the exercise was to bring Brazilian culture to a new audience, so the bands hired to play at the show weren’t necessarily of Brazilian origin. We wanted to show that Brazil is a cultural superpower, and its bossa nova music – just like jazz in the USA - should be recognised as a timeless international genre, rather than dismissed as little more than elevator music. No one demonstrated this better than our headline act, Nouvelle Vague – the French band who are popular for their breathy covers of classic British punk songs, though few would identify the bossa nova inspiration. By ghostwriting a piece by them for The Guardian (in amongst the copious amounts of other coverage the event received), we helped bring a little taste of Rio’s Zona Sul to the urban English music fan (and I rekindled a passion that really, had never gone away).
Good news- here at Ogilvy PR in London, we’ve been selected as Agency of Record for Embratur, the Brazilian Tourism Board.
We’ve been chosen to showcase the diversity and affordability of Brazil as a holiday destination to Blighty holiday makers. The team will support Embratur’s consumer marketing and trade activities at key industry events including World Travel Market in November.
Chris Fuzinatto, Director of the Brazilian Tourist Office in London said, “Ogilvy PR London was a natural choice to implement and coordinate our UK activities because of their understanding of and passion for the travel sector as well as their proven experience in delivering results. We look forward to sharing our story so that people can discover the many hidden wonders of Brazil.”
Rosie, (for those of you who aren’t travel and tourism journos!) is our travel and tourism specialist here in the Wharf and claims to be able to speak fluent Spanish and Portugese. She qualifies this having had “a bit of banter” during an earlier campaign for Embratur, with none other than Brazilian World Cup winning legend Carlos Alberto, listening to him talk through his 1970 ‘wonder goal‘! It’s a terrible existence hey Rosie; all that South American travel and fire-side chats with living football legends?!
The aforementioned Bossa Nova festival will celebrate fifty years of the chilled-out Bossa Nova sound this year and will play host to acclaimed international musicians bringing a little bit of Rio to the South Bank. Well, nearly.
Our MD Kerrin said; “Adding such an important and beautiful country to our growing travel portfolio strengthens our reputation for providing journalists with creative and interesting ideas for travel and lifestyle stories. Furthermore, our broadcast and digital specialists will bring the sights and sounds of Brazil directly to holidaymakers surfing the ‘net looking for exciting and adventurous new destinations.”
