Myers Media Innovation and Creativity Awards: Bronze Agency Winners

Description of goals and strategies of program:

The Altoids brand, the original curiously strong mint, has always had something to say. Its unique buzz-building campaigns applied a mix of irreverent wit and adult sensibilities to the world of pop culture and social commentary. The stand-out mint-green creative drew rave reviews and established an iconic relationship with young urban trend-setters. In recent years, however, the once "underground brand" faced a variety of business challenges. For one, consumption of the mint was on the decline – it was no longer the only premium mint found in a tin. In addition, there had been no efforts to recruit younger consumers, so the brand was holding onto an aging consumer base. Once known as the "Curious, Strong and Original" label, the brand was drifting from underground to mainstream.

Our goal was to drive mint penetration by 1percent by introducing a new generation of key urban trend-setters (18-34) to "Curious, Strong and Original" and demonstrate that the brand is relevant to them today. To do this, communications had to contemporize Altoids for younger consumers via an engaging, innovative campaign.

The media strategy – embed "Curious, Strong and Original" into the social currencies of urban trend-setters – was based on the key insight that there are areas in the target's life where continuous, social conversations are happening. The world of urban trend-setters is defined by being in the know and being up with the social currencies – the latest happenings, opinions, trends, events, fashions, styles, discussions, etc. These tend to be rooted in several key topics including celebrity, music, pop culture, sports and current events. The strategy directly linked the advertising message with current, up-to-the-minute editorial environments, ones in which the "word on the street" originates, to position Altoids as THE cultural commentator. Altoids LIVE was born.

Description, including what aspects make it worthy of recognition, why it is innovative, how it was developed, presented, approved, and implemented, as well as obstacles confronted during the development, approval and implementation process:

The media-driven idea centered around the premise of purchasing online editorial content that didn't exist and changing it out on a weekly basis. This innovative concept placed banner ads in highly relevant editorial space and allowed media to interact with editorial way beyond positioning. Altoids would be commenting specifically on the content of the article the advertisement was placed near in order to grab the reader's attention. The execution would fit perfectly in a digital environment because of the constantly changing nature of the medium. Online properties featuring the latest in film/TV, celebrity, music, lifestyle and sports news proved the most relevant sites with which to partner, so MindShare sought out the top content verticals for the target that could deliver on timing. Sites like ESPN.com, The Onion.com, IMDB.com and Rolling Stone.com, among others, were able to offer us unparalleled flexibility, editorial access and control, and we purchased impressions as a hybrid - guaranteed impressions plus a guaranteed number of stories.

In addition to revolutionizing Internet banner advertising to show Altoids as the cool, relevant brand with something to say, MindShare sought to transform the media relationship with partners and creative agencies. For Altoids LIVE to work, a strong cross-agency partnership was imperative. There were the looming challenges of legal delays, trafficking, dependence on sites for fresh, regularly updated content, and keeping the creative fresh. The interagency team held weekly meetings with all sites to discuss upcoming hot topics, traffic patterns, and performance and delivery. Sticking to a tight five-day deadline each week for 20 weeks, MindShare worked in tandem with the creative team at Leo Burnett to create relevant headlines that could apply to dozens of stories crossing the wire at any given moment. Once approved by the creative agency, client and website's legal departments - a feat in itself - the ad copy was then submitted through the broadest-ever use of XML-fed banner.