Smith Brothers Advertising Finalist for Prestigious Creative Media Award; MEDIA Magazine Recognizes Agency's Work for H.J. Heinz 'Top This!' TV Challenge

Smith Brothers Advertising's work for the H.J. Heinz "Top This!" TV Challenge has been honored as a finalist in the prestigious Creative Media Awards presented by Media Magazine.

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) October 19, 2007 -- Smith Brothers Advertising's work for the H.J. Heinz "Top This!" TV Challenge has been honored as a finalist in the prestigious Creative Media Awards presented by Media Magazine.

The unique campaign, a combination of shelf-to-consumer strategy and user-generated content, earned a finalist position in the Communications Channel Plan category.

The "Top This!" TV Challenge - the most comprehensive, integrated ketchup campaign in the brand's history - centered on a challenge to consumers to create and post their own Heinz Ketchup TV commercials online, where they would be viewed and voted on by fellow consumers to determine a winner. The winning commercial was then broadcast on national television.

Breaking from the traditional approach of running TV advertising to drive consumers to the store shelf, Smith Brothers designed the campaign to start at the shelf - driving content back to TV. They did this by using playful, prominent messaging on millions of ketchup bottle labels to invite consumers in on the fun (featuring phrases like Starving for the Spotlight? Hungry for Fame?). The integrated campaign included packaging, in-store promotions, advertising and online elements to fully engage participation.

With an unprecedented 8,000 consumer-generated videos submitted, 4,000 qualified entries and 10.1 million views, participation in the Heinz "Top This!" TV Challenge surpassed previous consumer-generated campaign leaders - including Doritos and DOVE combined - in number of submissions and qualified entries.

MEDIA Magazine is a publication of MediaPost, an integrated publishing and content provider that serves the media and interactive industries. The Creative Media Awards acknowledge creativity in media and pay tribute to advertisers and their agencies for the year's most creative and innovative campaigns.

The Communications Channel Plan category recognizes a campaign that creatively leverages one or more channels (advertising, direct response, promotion, PR, point-of-purchase, etc.) to deliver an innovative communications strategy.

"The 'Top This!' effort has enjoyed unprecedented success because we had four things - a big idea, a courageous client (Heinz) who was willing to turn their brand over to consumers, a passionate consumer base that truly loves the brand (Heinz ketchup), and best-of-class partners (Google and YouTube) who facilitated consumer awareness and participation," said Michael Bollinger, Director of Client Services at Smith Brothers.

Winners of the Creative Media Awards will be announced at an awards gala 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the Yale Club of New York City.

About Smith Brothers Advertising, LP
Smith Brothers Advertising is a full-service advertising agency based in Pittsburgh, Pa., founded by New York City advertising veterans, Bronson, Lindsey and Miles Smith. Smith Brothers creates game-changing ideas for courageous clients, including Heinz, Del Monte, PNC Bank, Dick's Sporting Goods, SUBWAY Restaurants, and more. To learn more about Smith Brothers Advertising, please visit their website at www.smithbrosadv.com.

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