Target took home the best-of-show Grand Prix at the 2012 CASSIES for the Find Yourself Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism campaign.
On top of the night’s biggest win, Target and Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism also won the Gold award for Sustained Success. Not only is Target the only ad shop East of Quebec to ever win CASSIES Gold but now the only East Cost agency to ever win the Grand Prix.
The CASSIES is one the country’s toughest advertising competitions. It’s Canada’s only results-driven award show based on advertising effectiveness. To win, in addition to stand out creative, advertisers must prove there was a direct correlation between the advertising and the measurable business results.
“Our mantra since day one has been that creativity is a powerful business tool,” says Noel O’Dea, Target’s President and Director of Strategic and Creative Planning. “And last night’s win and the campaign’s ongoing success helps prove this mantra. It just doesn’t get bigger than the CASSIES.”
The Find Yourself campaign has been recognized as Canada’s most successful brand positioning and creative advertising campaigns. Since 2006, Find Yourself has earned over 130 awards. And, in 2010, the province welcomed 518,500 non-resident visitors to Newfoundland and Labrador – the very first time that the number of visitors surpassed the province’s population. Last night, however, was the ultimate testament to its success. Competing against huge budgets and multi-national agencies and clients, the campaign came out on top.
“Of course, we do have an advantage living in Newfoundland and Labrador, which is the most creative and inspiring place on the planet,” says O’Dea.
St. John’s, NL – Target took home a coveted Gold award at last night’s Canadian Advertising Success Stories (CASSIES) Awards show in Toronto.
The CASSIES is one of the country’s toughest competitions, and is the only Canadian award to recognize proven advertising effectiveness. In order to win, advertisers must prove there was a direct correlation between the advertising and the quantified business results.
Target won Gold in the Best Integrated/Best Insight category for its Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism Fresh Air campaign, which brought fresh NL air and creativity to Toronto during the hot, smoggy months of summer.
“Our mantra since day one has been creativity is a powerful business tool,” says Noel O’Dea, President and Director of Strategic & Creative Planning. “We’re all really proud of the many Lions we’ve won for creative at Cannes. But to win a Gold CASSIES, that’s always the best – because it recognizes great creative and great business results. And we love to make the cash register ring for our clients.”
The 2008 Fresh Air campaign included a giant superboard situated on the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto. Over a three-week period, in the humid dog days of summer, the blank white board was hand-painted – by an artist suspended 60 feet above the ground – revealing day by day a little more of what became a 3-D open window through which hundreds of thousands of motorists could see a beautiful NL scene of ocean, meadows and a clothesline blowing in the fresh ocean breeze.
Following the campaign, travel inquiries to the province increased 30%, and non-resident air visits rose by 3.7%. The media buzz generated more than 18,000,000 PR impressions, resulting in publicity valued at more than $2,000,000.00.
2009 was a particularly competitive year for the CASSIES, with entries up by 34% to a new record level. This latest win is Target’s seventh CASSIES award, and the agency remains the only ad shop east of Quebec to ever win CASSIES Gold.
Target also recently won Gold at the Advertising Design Club of Canada show (ADCC), as well as five awards at the Applied Arts Design and Advertising Awards. In October, the agency received a record-breaking 29 wins, including Best in Show at the Innovation Creativity Enterprise (ICE) Awards.
Now in its 30th year, Target is an award-winning, full-service advertising and brand architecture firm based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. One of the country’s top creative shops, Target is one of only eight agencies in Canada to ever win a Gold Lion in the 55-year history of the Cannes International Advertising Festival, and the only East Coast agency to win Gold internationally. Target’s clients include Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, Air Canada Jazz, Irving Oil, Brock University, Scouts Canada, Fronteer, Marble Mountain, Aurora Energy, Ganong Chocolate, and Maple Leaf Foods.
Target Marketing & Communications Inc. of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Irving Oil of Saint John, New Brunswick, won two top creative awards in London recently at the 2003 London International Advertising Awards (LIAA). The agency took home two prestigious LIAA statues for Irving’s World of Taste Coffee radio advertising.
The London International Advertising Awards is one of the most demanding international creative shows in the world. This year’s competition drew more than 13,000 entries from 70 countries.
LIAA does not award gold, silver, and bronze medals – only winners and finalists. There can be only one winner per category, and not every category has a winner. Last year, less than 1% of the total entries were awarded LIAA Statues.
The award-winning radio, featuring humourous caffeine-fueled characters, took home two prized LIAA Statues in the categories of humour and non-alcoholic beverages for radio advertising.
“Winning at the London International Awards is like winning an Oscar. Winning the top award for radio humour in London, a place famous for its brilliant humour in advertising, is perhaps the biggest honour of all. But, hey, Newfoundland is pretty famous for its humour and storytelling,” said Noel O’Dea, President and Director of Strategic & Creative Planning at Target.
“We were elated to win these awards but what really gives us a buzz is when customers come into our stores for a fresh, steaming cup of our World of Taste Coffee,” says Terry Small, Manager of Marketing Communications & Advertising for Irving Oil. “Our World of Taste Coffee offering strengthens our position as the coffee destination of choice for our customers, and these ads gave our customers another reason to visit us.”
Along with two LIAA Statues for winning two categories, Target also received 6 LIAA Finalist awards for other radio and print advertising.
The London International Advertising Awards is one of the most prestigious international creative competitions in the advertising industry, using a panel of industry experts and rigorous judging standards. Further details can be found at www.liaawards.com.
From Creative Excellence to Advertising Effectiveness
Target’s advertising for Irving’s World of Taste Coffee was also honoured in Toronto recently. This time, it was the multi-media campaign for advertising effectiveness at the 2003 Canadian Advertising Success Stories Awards (CASSIES).
The campaign resulted in a significant sales increase for Irving’s World of Taste Coffee, and put Irving on the map as a coffee destination.
This is the second CASSIES Award for Target and Irving, winning a CASSIES Award last year for a Home Heat campaign.
The CASSIES is Canada’s most respected advertising effectiveness awards. CASSIES-winning advertising must prove real and measurable business results. More information on the CASSIES can be found at www.cassies.ca.
Target Marketing & Communications Inc. is an award-winning, full-service advertising and brand architecture firm, based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Target specializes in creating an integrated package of brand-building services including strategic planning, consumer research, advertising creative, media planning, graphic design, and 360° brand guardianship. Target’s staff of 40 creates brand-building advertising for blue-chip clients including Irving Oil, Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, Rogers Cable, Molson, and Unilever.
Founded in 1924, Irving Oil is the regional energy processing, transporting, and marketing company focusing on customer service and supply chain management. Irving Oil serves customers in Eastern Canada, Québec, and New England with a range of finished energy products, including gasoline, diesel, home heating fuel, jet fuel, and complementary products and services. The company’s network of Mainway convenience stores throughout Eastern Canada and New England offers customers a wide variety of products and services, including grocery and snack items, bakeries, and convenience items, in addition to fuel. In 2003, Irving Oil became the first oil company to win a USEPA Clean Air Excellence award, which it won for its low-sulphur gasoline.
