Toronto, ON – April 29, 2010 – Faye Clack Communications (FCC) won the Best Creative PR Campaign of the Year award, plus three gold and three silver awards at the annual Canadian Public Relations Society’s ACE Awards (Achieving Communications Excellence) yesterday.
The agency took top creative honours for its Avocados from Mexico campaign. The multi-faceted campaign, which unraveled the mystery of the avocado with the skillful assistance of an animated character, Miss Ava Cado, was conducted for the association of growers and exporters of avocados from Mexico (APEAM). The campaign resulted in an avocado sales increase of 157 per cent in Ontario.
The campaign, which included an extensive social media component, kicked off with an exhilarating Mexican Independence Day event held in September 2009 at Toronto’s Union Station, complete with a 20,000 Mexican avocado giveaway, a live Mariachi band and festive Mexican dancers. Miss Ava Cado, the brand ambassador for Avocados from Mexico, came to life at the launch event and was featured in all communications materials, including telenovelas (mini soap opera-like webisodes). Overall, the APEAM campaign succeeded in engaging and educating Ontario media and consumers about the selection, ripening, storage and usage of avocados.
The crescendo of activities that successfully introduced avocados from Mexico to consumers, media and trade across Ontario also included a microsite, a consumer contest, in-store sampling and educational point-of sale material.
Emiliano Escobedo, marketing director for APEAM, acknowledged the significance of the campaign. “We are pleased with the results of the outstanding communications program that FCC created and delivered for Avocados from Mexico,” says Escobedo. “We are especially pleased with the audience reach of this campaign, over 28 million impressions, its creativity and most importantly, the tangible results – the substantial increase in Mexican avocado sales – which surpassed our expectations.”
In addition to winning the Best Creative PR Campaign of the Year award, FCC also received six awards from a selection of individual categories.
For the Avocados from Mexico campaign, FCC was presented with the following awards:
• Gold Award for Best Use of Communication Tools
• Gold Award for Best Digital Communications Campaign of the Year
• Silver Award for Brand Development Campaign of the Year
• Silver Award for Best Use of Special Events
• Silver Award for Best Use of Media Relations – Budget under $50,000
In addition to the awards presented to FCC for the Avocados from Mexico campaign, FCC also won gold for Best Use of Media Relations – Budget (under 50K), for its Applescopes campaign for The Ontario Apple Growers.
“We tasked FCC to launch a campaign that would raise consumer awareness of apples during the winter months at a time when many varieties of Ontario apples are at their very best. Their idea to utilize the popularity of horoscopes as the foundation for the Applescopes campaign was effective and relevant,” says Kelly Ciceran, general manager, Ontario Apple Growers. “The Ontario campaign, which reached 3.6 million impressions, successfully forged a connection with local growers, while educating the media and consumers about the health benefits, winter availability and varieties of Ontario apples.”
Virginia Zimm, president of FCC, was delighted with the multiple ACE award wins presented to FCC. “It was a stellar year for creative, results-driven campaigns delivered by our team,” says Zimm. “We are very fortunate to be working with great clients who trust our counsel and expertise and we’re extremely honoured to be recognized by our industry peers.”
The annual ACE Awards recognize creativity and excellence in public relations campaigns or projects in a number of categories representing a broad scope of public relations activities. Each application is judged by a panel of respected senior public relations professionals and professors from the corporate, agency, not-for-profit and government sectors.
Source: Faye Clack Communications Inc.
