Marketing Masters — October 2008 - (Page 6)

❚❙ top Integrated teams Meredith & Starcom Last year Meredith and Starcom teamed up to create the Fresh Start program, which set a new standard of excellence in integrated marketing. Recently, Meredith 360’s chief innovation officer Jack Bamberger spoke to min about why these two seemingly disparate entities make a winning pair. min: Can you describe what was so unique about the Fresh Start initiative? Bamberger: Meredith and Starcom worked together to execute the Fresh Start campaign that supported the launch of Pure Essentials Line Extension (Tide, Downy & Bounce). As Procter & Gamble’s print agency, Starcom had a deep understanding of the brands’ objectives and consumer insights; it knew that Meredith 360 corporate solutions group had eliminated many of the silos that exist at most media organizations and was uniquely structured to orchestrate connections across all of Meredith’s available touch points. Based on the insight that the smartest ideas are often the simplest, Meredith 360 found experts to create tips and tricks that every woman could easily incorporate into her daily routine of caring for the health and well-being of her family. Custom content was created in different forms of media like print, online, broadband and PR, and Jack Bamberger adapted to different audiences based on Meredith’s core brands—Parents, Family Circle, Ladies’ Home Journal and Better Homes and Gardens. The Fresh Start campaign seamlessly placed Pure Essentials in an environment every mom could relate to. min: What distinguishes your team from others and makes them deserving of the min honor? Bamberger: What continuously makes our team unique is the stellar collaboration, communication and flawless execution all parties bring to the table. Considering this team was made up of multiple agency partners, client and media partners, it was imperative that all stakeholders were in alignment at all times. min: How did you work with Starcom to achieve client goals? Bamberger: Again, everything we do with Starcom is collaborative in nature, rooted in aligning our assets and audiences Cont’d on page 17 From left to right from Meredith : Lisa Schwartz, Shelley Gingrich, Stacey Greenman, Barrie Connell, Dorene Bair, Not Pictured: Mary Drapp From left to right from Starcom: John Melone, Holly Miodek, Lindsay Fades Rodale Inc. For this year’s awards, Rodale’s integrated programs, such as the notable Saturn Detour initiative,were winners in three categories— including this one, which honors overall team excellence. Rodale is smaller than some other media companies, making this recognition a testimonial to the creativity of the company’s marketers. Recently, min spoke to the company’s executive vice president and group publisher, MaryAnn Bekkedahl, to find out what they’re doing right and how other companies can learn from them. min: What were the most notable initiatives your team executed last year? Bekkedahl: Our partnership with Nissan was a really classic example of a brilliant integrated marketing program solving the marketing challenges around the launch of the Nissan Rogue. We created high-impact units in several Rodale titles (i.e., Men’s Health, Women’s Health, etc.) that tied into the theme “Master the Shift,” which was the tagline of the program. We brought in masters from different sports and had them become advisers for the everyday person who wanted to excel at that sport. We created a custom Web site for the program and brought the Rogue to consumer events, including Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong. MaryAnn Bekkedahl The second most important thing we did last year was integrate our marketing team. They had been in separate universes where we had a dedicated online, sales and marketing team the year prior in 2006, and then we had this corporate marketing solutions team. In 2007, we brought them together so that the marketing and sales of all Rodale combined assets were top left to right: Mathew Mahon, Allison Home, Martin Michael; linked to ideas-based bottom left to right: Barrie Krefetz, Whitney Alford, Anita Aguilar solutions and marketing. min: Why do you think your marketing team is deserving of this honor? Bekkedahl: Even with a handful of magazines and Web sites, we can bring great scale to marketers through outreach to other means of touching consumers. min: What are your best practices for developing and executing successful integrated programs? Bekkedahl: Identify the best creative solution that will resonate with the right customer. ■ 6 min ❚ Marketing Masters Issue October 2008 ❚ minonline.com http://www.minonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Masters — October 2008

Marketing Masters - October 2008 Customized Web Site/Microsite Retail/Merchandising Tie-in Top Integrated Marketer Top Integrated Marketing Teams Custom Publishing Project Multiple Magazine Title Program Sweepstakes/Contest New Event Program Online Event Special Advertorial Section Print/Online Bundle Print Bundles: TV/Video/Mobile Total Integrated Program: B2B Total Integrated Program: Consumer Event

Marketing Masters — October 2008

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