How do you increase traffic at a theme park when unemployment rates hover around 10 percent and the national economy has flat-lined? That was the challenge facing communications company BETC Euro RSCG last year in its work for Disneyland Paris. The solution: create a crowdsourced social media campaign that reminds families of what Disneyland actually represents. Parents across Europe were asked to film the moment they told their children they would be going to Disneyland, with the footage then turned into a series of television spots on the theme, “The Magic Begins the Moment You Tell Them.”

Results: a new attendance record for the park in 2011—and the gold medal at Euro RSCG Worldwide’s 11th annual Creative Business Idea® Awards, a program that in years past has awarded such iconic advertising as Air France’s “Making the Sky the Best Place on Earth,” Charles Schwab’s “Talk to Chuck,” Evian’s “Live Young,” and Dos Equis’ “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”

With BETC’s campaign, ‘The Magic Begins the Moment You Tell Them,’ we found a very true and powerful insight. It goes beyond marketing—nothing is made up; it is the genuine response of children.
Federico Gonzalez, SVP, marketing and sales, Euro Disney and Disney Destinations EMEA

We tapped into families’ very personal experiences. Parents filmed their kids’ reactions to the announcement, and the reality was more amazing than anything we could have planned. The strategy proved to be effective on every communication channel.
Francois Banon, vice president, communication, Euro Disney

Stephanie Pitet, cofounder, Pitchville, and one of 20 international search consultants who made up the judging panel at this year’s CBI Awards, said: “The Disneyland Paris work is part of the growing trend of user-generated content, and it’s done here to perfection. The Disney brand embodies the values of family happiness and magical moments together—especially, for parents, those irrecoverable years when their children are young. By sharing the genuine and joyful reactions of real children upon learning of the family adventure to come, these spots are refreshingly real and honest—and create a sentimental association with the brand.”

Bringing in the silver at this year’s CBI Awards is Euro RSCG Dusseldorf’s “The Best Screenplays Are Written by Reality,” for n-tv. The campaign presents the current-events coverage of n-tv, Germany’s first 24-hour news channel, as action, romance, or fairy tale, with the tagline, “The best screenplays are written by reality.” Whether spotlighting the “political love affairs” of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy or labeling Vladimir Putin the “better Rambo,” the ads underscore the drama and excitement inherent in current events and in the real-life characters that populate them.

Television news broadcasts face extreme competition today, thanks to the explosion of entertainment options. With this campaign, n-tv skewers the notion that real people and events are somehow dull or dry, using actual news moments to remind viewers that real life produces moments of action and romance and intrigue thatHollywood could never hope to best.
Oliver Klein, founder, Cherrypicker

This year, two campaigns were jointly awarded bronze: the LVMH event “Journees Particulieres,” by Euro RSCG C&O and Havas Event, and “What a Person Can Miss a Machine Will Find,” created by Euro RSCG Warsaw for the Polish Federation of Cancer Survivors.

To further deepen the general public’s bond with French premium luxury company LVMH, Euro RSCG C&O orchestrated with Havas Event a series of special events, inviting the public into more than two dozen houses of LVMH in France, Italy, Spain,Scotland, and Poland. Participants were ushered through normally closed doors to get a firsthand glimpse of the brands at work, learning about their heritage, interacting with the highly skilled craftspeople, and taking part in workshops and demonstrations. Houses opening their ateliers, workshops, and cellars to the public included Belvedere, Berluti, Bulgari, Chaumet, Christian Dior, Dom Perignon, Emilio Pucci, Fendi, Givenchy, Glenmorangie, Guerlain, Hennessy, Krug, Le Bon Marche, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Moët & Chandon, Ruinart, and Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin.

LVMH understands that the very mystique that elevates brands such as Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon, and Hennessy can also represent a barrier for people. By inviting people inside to discover the secrets of these magnificent brand heritages—and by extending the experience to tens of thousands of others online—the company was able to bring the public much closer to its brands, creating a stronger and richer connection.
Peter Cowie, managing partner, Oystercatchers

Although the actual events took place over two days, Euro RSCG C&O created a digital ecosystem leading up to it that included a dedicated website, which saw half a million visitors over six months, six teaser videos, a heavily trafficked Facebook fan page, e-newsletters to keep people connected to the happenings, and an online registration process. The event presentations were live-streamed over the Internet, and participants took home a commemorative print magazine to extend the experience further.

Euro RSCG Warsaw’s campaign for The Polish Federation of Cancer Survivors had a simple yet essential goal: increase the number of women getting mammograms each year. The social good campaign used the element of surprise to highlight the benefits of regular mammograms over self-examination alone: Women were ambushed with the “Get a mammogram” message while shopping for bras. As they made their way out the door with their new purchases, a hidden security tag would sound an alarm—a tag that the salesperson missed, but the machine detected. The impact of the experience led 15 percent of these women to schedule an appointment for a mammogram scan.

Just over a decade ago when we put Creative Business Ideas® at the heart of everything we do, creativity and business effectiveness were seen as being at opposite ends of the spectrum. Now creativity is a boardroom topic, and, in a world in which you can no longer buy attention but instead have to earn it, those brilliant ideas that engage, entertain, cut through, and drive profitable growth have never been more sought after. The Creative Business Idea Awards celebrate those very ideas, and it’s great to see how digital and social are at the core of this year’s winners.
David Jones, global CEO of Havas and Euro RSCG Worldwide

Brilliant ideas executed well—and, critically, that have led to profitable growth for the client. That’s the brief we were given when asked to judge the dozens of entries to this year’s CBI Awards. We sifted through some amazing work from around the world, and these four campaigns stood out for all of the elements I’ve just listed. It was invigorating to be part of the entire process—to be reminded of the incredible power of what may seem at first a simple idea. This is what the communications industry is all about.
Herve de Clerck, founder, AdForum

Visit the “Creative Business Ideas” board on Euro RSCG Worldwide’s Pinterest page, http://pinterest.com/eurorscgww/ to view video case studies of the winners.

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