Live with winners at the Effie awards in NYC

Summary

On Strategy Showcase: Live with Winners at the Effie Awards in NYC

Host: Fergus O’Carroll
Release Date: June 20, 2025
Location: Cipriani's, New York City
Grand Effie Winner: Leo Burnett for "Blood Apetit" – a campaign for the Field Museum, Chicago

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Introduction

In this vibrant episode of On Strategy Showcase, host Fergus O’Carroll takes listeners behind the scenes of the Effie Awards gala in New York City. As the official podcast partner of the Effies, Fergus offers exclusive access to interviews with selected award-winning marketers, providing deep insights into the strategies that fueled their successful campaigns. The episode features discussions with representatives from renowned agencies like Ogilvy, DDB Chicago, Wieden and Kennedy, Preacher, Mischief, FCB Chicago, Johannes Leonardo, and Leo Burnett.

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Ogilvy's Verizon "Network That Can't Be Broken" Campaign

Interviewees: Matt (Ogilvy Representative)

Ogilvy had an impressive evening, winning ten Effies, including seven golds, for campaigns such as Verizon’s Super Bowl ad featuring Beyoncé.

Key Discussion Points:

• Objective: Verizon aimed to connect with a younger, more diverse audience by redefining the concept of a network through the lens of cultural relevance and resilience.
• Strategy: Partnering with Beyoncé to create a cultural moment that emphasized Verizon’s robust network capabilities during the Super Bowl.
• Creative Insight: The campaign’s tagline, "You can break the Internet, but you can’t break the Verizon network," encapsulated the brand's reliability while leveraging Beyoncé’s star power.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt: “We took the idea of breaking the Internet and attached the brand to it, partnering with Beyoncé to amplify the message” ([03:23]).
• Matt: “Every scene was about trying to break the Verizon network, and you were seeing the network in every scene” ([07:00]).

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DDB Chicago's Miller Lite "Running of the Beers" Campaign

Interviewees: Jamie McGill (Head of Strategy, DDB Chicago) and Michelle Nagel (Senior Marketing Manager, Molson Gors)

DDB Chicago secured a gold and a bronze Effie for their innovative Miller Lite campaign, which creatively chose to bypass a traditional Super Bowl spot.

Key Discussion Points:

• Strategy: Instead of a single high-budget ad, Miller Lite ran 1,000 micro-ads featuring consumers, turning them into walking billboards.
• Execution: Distribution of jerseys with QR codes, encouraging consumer engagement and offering coupons, fostering a community-driven marketing approach.
• Engagement: High participation on social media, showcasing diverse and creative consumer-generated content.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt: “We ran a thousand ads instead of one, allowing consumers to become the face of Miller Lite” ([08:43]).
• Jamie: “The thousand ads were literally a thousand consumers who wanted to be part of the campaign” ([09:10]).

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Wieden and Kennedy's McDonald's "Unlock Campaign"

Interviewees: Tass Testopoulos (Global Executive Strategy Director, Wieden and Kennedy) and Anna Engel (Director of Brand Content and Culture, McDonald's)

Wieden and Kennedy, alongside McDonald’s, won two silver Effies for their ongoing "Unlock" campaign, which has been lauded for its global resonance and adaptability.

Key Discussion Points:

• Concept: Leveraging "fan truths" to engage consumers authentically, speaking directly to what fans love about McDonald’s.
• Global Adaptation: While rooted in local insights, the campaign maintains universal appeal, allowing for regional customization without losing the core message.
• Sustainability: Continuous discovery and application of new fan truths keep the campaign fresh and relevant across different markets.

Notable Quotes:

• Tass: “It's so explicitly not corporate. It speaks to what fans love about our brand in a fan-to-fan nature” ([12:30]).
• Anna: “The flexibility at the heart of fan truths means the campaign is far from running out of steam” ([13:42]).

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Preacher's Favor Delivery "Only in Texas" Campaign

Interviewees: Taylor and Sahair (Preacher, Austin, Texas)

Preacher earned a gold and a bronze Effie for their "Favor Delivery" campaign, which uniquely positioned the Texas-exclusive food delivery app against national giants.

Key Discussion Points:

• Challenge: Competing with established players like DoorDash and Uber in a saturated market with limited geographic reach.
• Strategy: Emphasizing Favor’s deep local knowledge and connection to Texas culture, creating a relatable and entertaining campaign.
• Execution: Highlighting Texas-specific insights and humor, targeting both new and long-time Texans to foster community engagement.

Notable Quotes:

• Taylor: “Favor knows the barbecue better and the Tex-Mex better, and most importantly, they know the people better” ([17:20]).
• Sahair: “Leaning into newcomers was a highlight, connecting with those who see Texas as a land of opportunity” ([19:02]).

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Mischief's Chili's "Three for Me" Campaign

Interviewees: Jeff McCrory (Chief Strategy Officer, Mischief) and Jesse Johnson (VP of Marketing, Chili's)

Mischief, alongside Chili's, won two gold Effies for their effective "Three for Me" campaign, which revitalized Chili's presence in the competitive restaurant industry.

Key Discussion Points:

• Objective: Reinvigorate Chili’s brand relevance post-COVID by highlighting value and enhancing customer experience.
• Strategy: Introduce the "Three for Me" meal deal, positioning Chili’s as an affordable yet quality alternative to fast food.
• Execution: Focus on operational excellence, ensuring delicious food, a fun atmosphere, and exceptional hospitality to drive repeat business.

Notable Quotes:

• Jeff: “We needed to remind people why they liked Chili's and enjoy going there in a contemporary way” ([24:44]).
• Jeff: “Our superpower is changing the restaurant experience to make it more delicious and fun” ([24:44]).

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FCB Chicago's Dramamine "The Last Barf Bag" Campaign

Interviewees: Tricia Russo (Group Strategy Director, FCB Chicago)

FCB Chicago garnered a gold and a bronze Effie for their inventive "Last Barf Bag" campaign for Dramamine, transforming a typically negative experience into a memorable narrative.

Key Discussion Points:

• Insight: Noticing the decline in barf bag usage as Dramamine became more effective.
• Strategy: Emphasize Dramamine’s efficacy by humorously addressing the near obsolescence of barf bags, positioning Dramamine as indispensable.
• Execution: Produced a heartfelt documentary-style film that engages viewers for an extended duration, fostering emotional connection and brand leadership.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt: “We created a 15-minute film that engaged people emotionally, celebrating the decline of barf bags in a respectful way” ([29:56]).
• Matt: “It’s the voice of a confident leader who can celebrate the demise of its competitor charmingly” ([29:56]).

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Johannes Leonardo's Volkswagen "American Love Story" Campaign

Interviewees: Mary Bakarich (Johannes Leonardo)

Johannes Leonardo received a gold Effie for Volkswagen’s "American Love Story," a campaign that beautifully intertwined brand heritage with American cultural narratives.

Key Discussion Points:

• Concept: Celebrating Volkswagen's 75th anniversary in America by telling a universal immigrant story through the beloved Beetle.
• Strategy: Utilize emotional storytelling to create a relatable hero's journey, culminating in the introduction of the innovative ID Buzz.
• Execution: Depict the Beetle’s transformation from an overlooked misfit to a cultural icon, symbolizing acceptance and innovation.

Notable Quotes:

• Mary: “We told a message of appreciation and love to the American people through the universal story of the Beetle’s journey” ([32:00]).
• Mary: “The ID Buzz represents the next chapter, inviting a new generation to see the world differently” ([32:00]).

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Leo Burnett's Blood Apetit for the Field Museum

Interviewees: Samantha Seskow (Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett)

Leo Burnett triumphed with the Grand Effie for "Blood Apetit," a creative campaign for the Field Museum in Chicago designed to boost winter attendance.

Key Discussion Points:

• Challenge: Combatting reduced museum attendance during Chicago's harsh winter months.
• Insight: Leveraging Chicago’s robust dining scene to attract visitors by creating a unique connection between culinary experiences and museum exhibits.
• Strategy: Partner with top local restaurants to offer dishes incorporating blood, creating a thematic bridge to the museum’s "Blood Suckers" exhibit.
• Execution: Launched during Chicago Restaurant Week, providing discounted museum tickets with restaurant visits and promoting the exhibit through digital and social media advertising.

Notable Quotes:

• Samantha: “We leveraged the power of Chicago’s dining scene to entice people into the museum during winter” ([35:36]).
• Samantha: “The 'Blood Appetite' concept perfectly connected food and culture, driving engagement and attendance” ([35:36]).

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Closing Discussion: The Importance of Marketing Effectiveness

Interviewees: Tracy Alford (CEO, Effies Worldwide) and Jay Goodman (Board Chair & CEO, Super Connector Studios)

In the final segment, Fergus engages with Effie executives to discuss the evolving landscape of marketing effectiveness.

Key Discussion Points:

• Evolution of Effectiveness: Tracy Alford emphasizes that marketing effectiveness has always been crucial, but the current global economic dynamics have heightened the focus on measurable outcomes.
• Diverse Perspectives: Jay Goodman notes the broad variety of successful campaigns without a single dominant theme, showcasing the industry's versatility.
• Fundamental Marketing Principles: Both executives highlight the importance of adhering to core marketing disciplines—strategy, creativity, and execution—regardless of campaign scale or budget.
• Global Influence: The incorporation of international marketing principles into U.S. strategies enriches the overall effectiveness and adaptability of campaigns.

Notable Quotes:

• Tracy: “Effectiveness is having a great moment. It has always mattered, but now there's more pressure to articulate and understand it” ([39:40]).
• Jay: “When you want to be truly effective, you need to excel at every part of what you do and be very thorough” ([43:09]).

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Conclusion

The episode of On Strategy Showcase offers an in-depth exploration of the strategies and creative genius behind some of the most effective marketing campaigns recognized at the Effie Awards. From leveraging celebrity power and local insights to transforming consumer experiences and embracing emotional storytelling, these campaigns exemplify the essence of marketing effectiveness. Fergus O’Carroll successfully captures the essence of each award-winning strategy, providing valuable lessons and inspiration for marketers seeking to create impactful and memorable campaigns.

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For more detailed case studies and full interviews, visit onstrategyshowcase.com or check out the On Strategy Showcase YouTube channel.

Transcript

[Ferguson]

Welcome to on Strategy Showcase night at the Effies. We are thrilled to be the official podcast partner of the Effies and as such we get access to the gala, awards nights and the chance to interview some of the people before they even know what they won. So we're going to be hearing tonight from what happened at the New York gala. We're going to take you inside Cipriani's. We had a setup our studio set up just off to the side of the main gala, so we had some people that came in throughout the evening. Now, we're not going to hear from every one of the award winners, but we're going to hear from a select number of them. And you're going to hear from the Grand Fe winner, which this year was Leo Burnett's Blood Apetit, which was a campaign that was for the Field Museum here in Chicago. You can see all of these interviews on our [e-mail] or on our YouTube channel. So let's get started. Ogilvy did have a great night. They won 10 trophies. Seven were golds and three were silvers for campaigns including Verizon, which you're about to hear. But also for Serif V, that was the Michael Cera campaign, which was brilliant. We've done an episode on that. Also Dove UK and Ikea. If you want to find out which trophies this Verizon campaign actually won, you can find find out at the end of this short interview. We'll share that information with you. This is the super bowl came super bowl game campaign for Verizon Network, the network that can't be broken, featuring Beyonce. Enjoy.

[Matt]

With a tough Q1 forecast ahead, Verizon needed to jumpstart acquisition by connecting with a younger and more diverse audience and redefining what network means to them. An audience that cares most about being tapped into culture as it happens. So to prove how Verizon keeps you connected to all that you care about, how it can handle anything and never be broken, we partnered with the biggest icon ever on the biggest stage there is to not just create a big super bowl ad, but to go way beyond creating an Internet breaking cultural moment. With Beyonce's rumored new record already generating hype, it was the perfect opportunity to show how we can break the Internet, but not the Verizon network.

[Ferguson]

This whole campaign was like phenomenal. So big in so many ways. It's almost like it's hard to get your head around how you conceptually structure the story of that kind of work. I'm not sure. Whether it happens in a moment or whether it just happens over time, where you develop it over time. But when you think about that work, Matt, what for you makes it such an effective campaign because it's done extraordinarily well.

[Matt]

Yeah. I mean, the, you know, the. The initial brief was, how do we do something around the network in a way that makes people care and really, really think about it and hold onto it, which is.

[Ferguson]

Which is enormously difficult to do such. It seems like such a generic thing. But this was the new 5G network, too, right?

[Matt]

That's right. And if you think about a network, you don't really think about a network until it's not working.

[Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Right. So how do we do something around the network's power that makes people really think about it and actually talk about it? Right. So that was the initial impetus for the.

[Ferguson]

For the.

[Matt]

For the project. And, you know, it was the super bowl, and we thought, okay, we got to do something that's really lands in culture in the biggest way. What could we do? And actually, the idea of you can break the Internet, but you can't break the network came to us early on. And we, you know, it was. It was a conversation with the teams, and we were working and jamming, and that came up, and we were like, well, this is. And we brought it to Ricardo and his team, and immediately everyone sort of gravitated to this idea that there was massive, and there was a lot we could do with it.

[Ferguson]

How did you react to it initially? And what was your. Was it different than your expectation?

[Matt]

Yeah, I think initially, obviously, we fell in love with the idea of breaking the network. I think the challenge was, more than anything is that when you think about the customer and the people out there, when they think about network, they think about coverage. Exclusive. Does it work here? Over here, over here, over here. And being the number one network in America, you really want to start to dimensionalize what actually means network performance. And for us, one of the things that we sort of obviously exceed is in capacity. But how do you really explain capacity to people? It's such a foreign type of instrument for so many. And we were like, well, this idea that it's out in pop culture of breaking the Internet, how do you take that and understand that the way the capacity work is actually the overload of things that go through the pipeline that is the network.

[Ferguson]

Right.

[Matt]

So when they came to me of, like, you can break the Internet of the network, I was like, I love this because this is not about coverage. This is actually about what the network can handle, right? And then we were like, this is the idea. Now we got to find the person that actually can break the Internet and maybe the network. Because at the end of the day, this was the ultimate test for the network. Right.

[Ferguson]

So when they came to you, did they come to you with an idea of how that could be personified? Because, you know, in and of itself, it feels like a dry proposition until you bring a character or a celebrity to it. Right? It's sort of like. It's like this. Did Beyonce come early, or how did it roll out for you?

[Matt]

Conceptually, yeah. I would say that as much as we felt in love with the idea, it was also the fact that this idea could be executed by just a couple of people in the world. It had to be somebody who broke the Internet with everything they did, and it had to be Beyonce. So that was early on. And then it became, okay, well, it's Beyonce or bus. We have to make this work.

[Ferguson]

Right?

[Matt]

And so going back to your initial question, why was it effective? We. We landed a massive idea in culture, right? We took this thing of breaking the Internet that everyone knows and is familiar with, and it's meme culture and it's viral and all of that, and we took that and we attached the brand.

[Ferguson]

To it, and then we were able.

[Matt]

To partner with Beyonce at a moment in time where she was also doing.

[Ferguson]

Something really big, right? She was breaking her country album.

[Matt]

She was coming out with a big.

[Ferguson]

New country around that time.

[Matt]

That was a big, huge moment for her. And to combine those two moments, a big moment for Verizon, for the brand and for the network, with big moment for Beyonce and putting out her first country album, that was pretty. Pretty effective, pretty explosive.

[Ferguson]

So, you know, what's interesting is because we're sitting here on Effie night, you're winning. We don't know exactly what yet, but we know you're winning, so we know it was effective. But what advice do you have for those who worry that celebrity can sometimes overwhelm brand recall? How did you guys ensure that it did it?

[Matt]

Well, I think the big thing with this project is it wasn't celebrity for celebrity's sake. The celebrity was absolutely baked into the idea, and it couldn't have been anyone else, and it couldn't have worked without Beyonce, you know, so it was a very much a very tight idea that worked together. So I think because she was. Had such a great partnership with Tony Hill, and it was. The idea was so much about the network and about Verizon, it was Just inherently kind of baked together. Like you couldn't. We didn't go for 60 seconds and have a lot of fun and be funny and then go, oh, by the way, this is about Verizon. Every single scene was about trying to break the Verizon network. And you were seeing the network in every scene. Right?

[Ferguson]

The Verizon was everywhere too. Right?

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Ferguson]

There was a clear goal they were trying to.

[Matt]

Trying to achieve.

[Ferguson]

So good luck tonight. Thanks for taking a few minutes to talk with us. Congratulations to Verizon and ogilvy. They won two gold and two silver effys. So we're talking now with Jamie McGill is head of strategy at DDB Chicago, and Michelle Nagel is senior marketing manager of imports at Molson Gors. DDB Chicago won a gold and a bronze on the night for running of the beer ads, which is a super fun initiative. It actually played around the Super Bowl. Miller Lite did not have a spot. They didn't run a spot in the Super Bowl. They ran a thousand spots elsewhere, as you'll hear about now. So here's a clip from their case study film. Miller Lite isn't running a big game ad this year.

[Matt]

They're running 1,000, literally.

[Ferguson]

Like him and.

[Matt]

Her and me, Rob Riggle.

[Ferguson]

So while most big game ads give you giant explosions and talking animals, Miller Lite's big game ads give you what you really want. Great tasting, less filling beer. What made this such an effective campaign for your brand?

[Matt]

Yeah, I mean, there's, there's a lot to love about running of the beer ads. I think it's one of those moments where you're sitting in the room and you're having the first creative review and you have this insight around how, like, you know, everyone's sitting at home and watching all the commercials and they're judging them. And we, when the, when the first slide came on, I was like, well, Miller Light's not going to run one. We're gonna run a thousand ads. And you give that, like, the little puppy head tilt and you're like, okay, like, let's keep digging into this one a bit. So it was like, it was one of those, like, really sticky, like, things that felt really fun and interesting. And so that got us really excited with what DDB brought in. We got to work with our lovely friend Rob Riggle, the comedic actor, and he was just perfect. The thousand ads were literally a thousand consumers, a thousand fans of Miller Lite, who put themselves out there and said, I'm going to be. I want to be a beer ad for Miller Light and use sort of their bodies to be a billboard for us and sort of go out on every commercial break and run, hit the streets running so that people could sort of scan a QR code on them on their physical body on a jersey that, that we gave away that were gone in two minutes flat. So you see there was a lot of competition to grab one of those jerseys so people could scan the QR code on the body and get a coupon. And then all the ads, of course, were also compensated for their time. We had a lot of really fun content that in our virtual war room we had over that Sunday was consistently, you know, looking across social media of like how people were participating. There were some that was just, you know, a picture of them, like watching the game with their friends. We had some that made like very epic with like soundtracks behind them for all of the things it was. It was really fun to watch everyone just really get engaged and be part of the moment with us.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations. It is Miller Light running of the beers. It's got two, we know it's got two awards, so we don't know what they are yet. But wonderful stuff. We appreciate both of you spending time with us today.

[Matt]

Thank you so much.

[Ferguson]

Good luck tonight.

[Matt]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations to Miller Lite and DDB Chicago. They won a gold and a bronze Effie. In this interview I talk with Tass Testopoulos. Tass is global executive strategy director at Wieden and Kennedy and also with Anna Engel who is director of brand content and culture at McDonald's. McDonald's won two two silver effies on the night. They were up for a long term effectiveness award and another one for their Wickdonald's campaign. So here is my interview with Tass and Anna before they knew exactly what they'd won. Anna, when you think about this sort of a campaign and how it's had so many levels, phases and continues to grow and is spreading globally like a contagion. I was in Sydney recently and they're all talking about it coming down there. It's in the UK through Leo Burnett. It's spreading. So why do you think it's so effective?

[Matt]

Yeah, I would say there's three key reasons. The first would be that it's so explicitly not corporate. It speaks to what fans love about our brand and we talk to them in a fan to fan nature. And the memories, the moments, the rituals, the behaviors that they have with our brand, everything is inspired by that. So I would say it kind of defies marketing in that it doesn't speak marketing to people, it speaks the fans language about what they love about the brand and it's able to flex in a way where if we need big and culture moments, we find the fan truths that speak to subcultures and can speak to a specific audience.

[Ferguson]

I want to just touch briefly on where this sort of, where this started with the unlock. It's. It's told like folklore these days and it's only four years old. It's becoming a legend about where that all happened. So it's got to be tough to continue to, to build on that. Are you looking for new unlocks every couple of months, every new campaign? And then how are you dealing with sort of the internationalization of everything?

[Matt]

Like Hannah said, you know, the flexibility at the heart of fan to fan and fan truths means that it's in my eyes far from running out of steam, right? It's. We haven't even used up some of the best fan truths, let alone, you can take fan truth, found them exactly, discovering them every day, let alone you can execute the same fan truth in a different way completely creatively. Right. You can take, we all know, famous orders, everyone has an order. We executed it with Travis Scott and BTS etc, you could find a different execution on that. And that's just the same fan truth. So you know, because there's so many fans, there's so many fan truths and so that's what keeps me excited. And I think none of us are anywhere close to being bored of it because again, if it was like Anna was saying, if it was just that, you know, we all try and position a brand with one big thing, right? What's that one thing. And we, and we tried that in the pitch 2019, but it just didn't feel right. It felt forced, it felt too big, too corporate. And the unlock was again that road trip, meeting the fans, seeing the brand through their eyes and putting that book of fan truths together. And I've never worked on a brand where, you know, a piece of paper on a pitch, we wrote the strategy on a napkin and it's time to talk fan to fan about the many small truths that make this brand unique in people's lives that's unchanged. That fan truth book is still the soul of the brand and we just add more and more pages and then when we go internationally, what's fascinating again, you know, and again as a planner, I love that Wieden is getting to have a crack at countries like Canada, Australia, China. You might think, okay, new country, new set of fan truths, right? Let's get those Australian fan truths, let's find those Canadian. And to an extent you do that right. And we do road trips in all of these countries. But what's also awesome is that most, I would say a majority of fan shoes we find in new markets are universal ones, are ones that are true here that we haven't seen here yet. And so purely by someone in another market looking at the brand, they unlock truths that we go might steal that one for the U.S. and that's again, that shouldn't be surprising because that's what a global brand is, right? Its experiences. There's a lot in common country to country, country, because that is McDonald's. And then there's that local nuance where you get those more local fan truths. And so again, each new country you get a palette of truths to play with.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations to both of you. I'm excited to hear what happens tonight is Tas Dystops, global executive strategy director at Wyden and Kennedy. Anna Engel, director of brand content and culture at McDonald's. Good luck. I'm excited about it. It's, it's great to see. The work is still working hard for the brand.

[Matt]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Ferguson]

Have a great night. Thank you.

[Matt]

Good to see you. Thank you.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations to McDonald's and Wieden and Kennedy, they won two silver FES. So we're going to be hearing from Taylor and Sahair. They both work at Preacher in Austin, Texas. They did a terrific campaign around a brand called Favor Favor Delivery. It's a food delivery app that focuses on the Texas market. It's only available in Texas, so their strategy was a twist on that fact. So they won two Effies on the night. So if you want to see which ones they were, at the very end of this brief interview, we'll share what they actually won. So let's kick off with a clip from their case study video. Preacher out of Austin, Texas for favor delivery. Over the past decade, food delivery in America has exploded with nearly half of.

[Matt]

All Americans using delivery apps. Major players with deep pockets have raced to dominate the 160 billion doll industry.

[Ferguson]

Offering promo after promo and rolling out star studded campaigns with massive media plans.

[Matt]

So how does Favor, a delivery app.

[Ferguson]

That'S only available in Texas, go up against global tech brands?

[Matt]

By owning the fact that Favor is.

[Ferguson]

Only available in Texas.

[Matt]

They know the barbecue better, they know the Tex Mex better, and most importantly.

[Ferguson]

They know the people better. We're thrilled to have you guys here. We're Talking about Favor Delivery, it's a super tough category. What do you guys think? Sort of made this an effective campaign.

[Matt]

We know that we won in David and Goliath, which is, you know, such an exciting category. And Favor is a local, regional delivery, food delivery brand. And so it's going up against these huge tech giants, and we really needed to create a breakthrough campaign to.

[Ferguson]

You're up against DoorDash, you're up against GrubHub, you're up against Uber.

[Matt]

Name them for me. Yeah, exactly. You know, so it was no small task. Definitely a David and Goliath story. We really succeeded with this campaign because we brought, first and foremost, entertainment value, and we differentiated on the basis of Texas, like being Texan. And so the other thing that I think we really want out in this campaign is the really hyper specific Texas insights that we brought that were showcased in the work that spoke to people, you know, like, we're in their own backyard, which we are.

[Ferguson]

You know, it's because Favor is only available in Texas.

[Matt]

Exactly.

[Ferguson]

The one thing that I loved about it was, even beyond the fact that you focus on Texas, is the reality that so many people are moving to Texas.

[Matt]

Exactly.

[Ferguson]

And I think you see that in the creative work. It's about new people coming into Texas culture is what makes the humor really work.

[Matt]

Yeah. Leaning into those Newcomers is definitely a highlight and just something that Sahar really uncovered. And our team, as we were going through the strategy process of figuring out how we can connect with all those new Texans and also the Texans that are there already and just kind of finding that link that, you know, it was a perfect marriage. Since moving to Texas, I've learned that.

[Ferguson]

Texans love ordering food with Favor, the.

[Matt]

Restaurant delivery app that's part of H E B. Thanks, Chris. And that if you're doing something in the yard, your neighbors will always offer to help.

[Ferguson]

Hey, need a hand?

[Matt]

I'll bring my tools. Yeah, I could probably just take care of it myself. Here, use mine.

[Ferguson]

Favor of Texas orders in the newcomers.

[Matt]

Was such, like, a pleasant way to speak to our audience in a way that we could speak to both kind of the new Texans who see Texas as a place of possibility with all the economic opportunity and. And, you know, it's more affordable, all these different things. And then you have kind of like the OG Texans who. Who just have pride, and the pride has varying flavors.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations. I'm excited to see what you guys end up winning a little bit later. Thanks so much and thrilled to have you here.

[Matt]

Thank you for having us.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations to Preacher and Their client favor, they won a gold and a bronze Effie. In this interview, I Talk with Jeff McCrory, who's chief strategy Officer of Mischief in New York City, an agency that's doing brilliant work for many, many clients. And he's joined by Jesse Johnson, who's VP of marketing for Chili's Bar and Grill, or Grill and Bar, I think it is, actually here in the U.S. now, as I mentioned, these were interviews conducted before the awards were handed out. We kind of stole people away from the cocktail reception. So thanks to many people who did that for us. A couple of things to point out. Number one, I gotta read some of this because there's so much to say about Mischief. Let's talk about Chili's first. Chili's won two Effies on the night. And you'll see at the end of the interview which Effie it was, which trophy, whether it was gold or silver or bronze. But I think it was important to note here about the specifics and with. Without talking about which awards were connected to which, which clients. Mischief's clients, including Chili's, Eos, Tinder, Blue Moon Beer, Coors Light, Pete's Coffee, and Cash app, won a combined five goals, five silvers and two bronzes on the night. So they really did kick ass. Brilliant work coming out of Mischief, and it made Mischief the. The agency with the most awards of the night. Super stuff. So here's a clip from one of the Chili spots that was part of their campaign. Enjoy.

[Matt]

How is this chili's three for me, only 10.99 when fast food is so expensive. It could be because we don't have to pay for any mascots.

[Ferguson]

Please.

[Matt]

I was born for this. Please. Never gonna happen. Wait, wait. I knew the song.

[Ferguson]

So we're joined by Jeff McCrory, Chief Strategy Officer for Mischief USA.

[Matt]

Hello. Hello.

[Ferguson]

The brillian of that whole group. We've had so many of your guys on the show. It's been a thrill every time.

[Matt]

Thank you so much.

[Ferguson]

You guys own an incredible independent space in strategy that we're huge fans of. So great to have you here. And we're joined also by Jesse Johnson from Chili's VP Marketing. We've had you guys on the show too, and love the work, Love what you guys are doing. And not only is it great work, but obviously the reason you're here, it's incredibly effective work. So thrilled for you guys. What makes and what made this such an effective campaign for you guys?

[Matt]

You know, so there's so much that we changed with the. With the Business. As we walked in, I would tell you, you know, it really was a fundamental change, and that came with the change in leadership. Our CEO Kevin Hawkman, has come around, and then George Felix, our cmo. And those two have been coined as the turnaround kings. And you certainly see it. You know, they've done it across many other brands, but we're loving what they're doing with Chili's and what they do for our teams to empower us to really bring our best selves. No matter what function you have at Chili's, the marketing team is certainly buying into the playbook that we've set out, and you're seeing the effectiveness of that. But what I would say, the real superpower behind everything from the effectiveness standpoint is really the change at the restaurant. And so it's always funny. It's like, what's the secret magic of Chili's, and how are you guys doing this? And it's really two parts. One part, get us back in the conversation, get us top of mind of a consideration to have a lunch or dinner. And then when you go, we can do that one time when you go, it's all on our operations team. And I'm so proud of what they've done in the restaurant to make our food and drinks more delicious, our atmosphere more fun to be at, and just have the hospitality from our team members. That's really what's changed.

[Ferguson]

And, Jeff, you guys never shied away from some of those sort of iconic interiors, some of the cultural iconography of Chili's. When you think back to the beginning of it all, was it. Was there an unlock moment for you? Not every campaign has one, but was there something that sort of triggered it for mischief, like, here's where you need to go.

[Matt]

Yeah. I mean, I think when we first started working on the business and we would talk to people about Chili's, like consumers, you would see them smile and tilt their head and say, like, oh, yeah, I remember going to Chili's. It was great. So the church. Two things there that were really important. One is people do have a soft spot for the brand. Like, they think well of it. They had just stopped going. Like, it had lost its relevance. So for us, it was very much a. Okay, if we can remind people of why they liked Chili's and why they enjoyed going there, but do it in a contemporary way. Like, nostalgia is great, but tricky. You don't want to go back in time. We want to take the things that you loved, and we want to modernize them. We want to present them for like 2024, 2025. So the second thing that was really powerful is like coming out of COVID when food prices went bananas, like, you couldn't turn on a TV or watch TikTok without people complaining or being shocked at how expensive food was. So it gave us this kind of perfect storm moment to present the value that Chili's provides in a way that was undeniable and completely relevant and powerful for this exact moment in time. In a weird way, it became this insane, like, trial mechanism. So the three or the 1099, three for me meal, us being able to foil that against fast food, it just became this insane, like, like shoe drop or mic drop moment where it's like, what, like, it seems almost impossible. And again, so we. That was one that was, I say, the second big turning point for the brand where it's just like, it gave us this enormous opportunity to really pour gas on the fire that we'd already started.

[Ferguson]

Thank you to both of you for doing this. Good luck tonight and good luck with so many of these brands that are with Mischief here tonight.

[Matt]

Fingers crossed.

[Ferguson]

Thanks, guys.

[Matt]

Thank you.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations to Chili's and Mischief. They won two gold Effies. We're going to be talking in this particular interview to Tricia Russo. She's group strategy director at FCB in Chicago. FCB won a gold and a bronze for the last barf bag. Yes, you heard that right. The last barf bag. It's an initiative, a brilliant initiative from Dramamine, the motion sickness medication. The creative twist is that apparently they've become a collector's item. This is the barf bags have become a collector's item. Now the Dramamine works so well. Here's a clip from the case study.

[Matt]

Dear Dramamine, I'm writing you on behalf.

[Ferguson]

Of the barf bag community. We've noticed for a while that quality.

[Matt]

Barf bags are getting harder to find. People rarely use them anymore and they certainly don't appreciate them. Your product works well, but we wonder.

[Ferguson]

If it maybe works a little too well.

[Matt]

Would you say that Dramamine is killing the barf bag? Man, Dramamine sucks.

[Ferguson]

If they died, they should die with dignity. Tell us about what makes it such an effective campaign. And it's an anti nausea medication.

[Matt]

Oh, yes, it's emotion sickness, anti nausea. So it's very specific. Small group of people who need it, need it and know it. But in the meantime, nausea's grown. Other brands have come in, and at the same time, consumers wonder, do I really have to pay a premium for a brand name? That I don't really know anything about, especially, especially younger generations. So we needed to find a way to be a leader, be the leader we were. So we're the category leader, but we're sort of being, you know, pushed and threatened and so we're feeling small and we need to be big again. But we're not going to be big because we don't have the budget and.

[Ferguson]

We know it's not going to be.

[Matt]

You know, effective to go out and try to out claim or tell people of our heritage. So we needed to do something that was different, attention getting and would establish the, the leadership of the brand yet again.

[Ferguson]

Was there an unlock here, an insight that sort of helped crack the code for creatives?

[Matt]

Yeah, I think the, the insight here, we did, we did digging, we did a lot of digging and we found, believe it or not, that as Dramamine grew, barf bags actually declined.

[Ferguson]

So, you know, how did that come to be? That's, I mean, it's wonderful. But how did it, where did come from strategy? It came from creative.

[Matt]

It came from strategy. Digging Barf was the unlock, to be honest. Like, can we do something with nausea and barf? Because in OTC you can't go to the end result. That's ugly. You know, we try to tiptoe around these are your symptoms, but it never gets so bad that like, you can't.

[Ferguson]

Show barf and you're not, at least not yet. Maybe somebody will.

[Matt]

Maybe we've opened the door to more barf.

[Ferguson]

There's almost a question at the center of this, which is, has Dramamine become too effective because it led to the decline of barf bags, which is at the center of the creative idea. It's like talking about sort of people who collect and you can describe it better than you.

[Matt]

Yeah, no, you just said one of the great lines in the film is, were we too effective? So effective that we made bar kind of obsolete.

[Ferguson]

Was there a favorite part of the way it rolled out for you? Was there a moment where everything clicked?

[Matt]

I would say that documentary, that 15 minutes, we got people to spend 15 minutes on a film instead of 15 seconds in an ad, and it engaged them and it warmed their heart. That documentary still gives me goosebumps. The creative team did such an outstanding job and our client was so brave to let us do it. It is a beautiful little story, but it is so strategically right because it is the voice of a leader, of a confident leader who can celebrate in a respectful, charming, enjoyable way the demise of its alternative or competitor.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations to Dramamine and FCB Chicago. They won a gold and a bronze Effie. So we're going to be talking with Mary Bakarich. She's a friend of the show, she's been on a couple of times, and we're going to be talking about vw, their campaign. American Love Story is a phenomenal piece of work. You've most likely seen it. If not, you'll play. We'll play some clips during this interview. But looking at Johannes Leonardo on the night, they were nominated for two awards. Now, I will tell you that you'll need to wait till the end of the interview to hear which those awards were. But terrific work and I hope you'll enjoy it. So this is VW with Mary Bakarich of your Johannes Leonardo, New York City. Congratulations to Johannes Leonardo. You guys are nominated for a couple of brands. Kraft Heinz, Velveeta.

[Matt]

That's right.

[Ferguson]

And Volkswagen, which you have personally worked on. It's American Love Story, which is fantastic work. Thank you.

[Matt]

Thank you.

[Ferguson]

Is there something at the heart of it that you think makes it a really effective campaign?

[Matt]

Yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the day, the emotional appeal is what led to its effectiveness. I mean, we obviously leveraged a big moment in super bowl to begin the campaign. We harnessed the brand's 75th anniversary in America. But we told it was a message of appreciation and love to the American people. Right. An American Love Story was the title of the effort. And it was just a way for people to see a little bit of themselves in the history of the Volkswagen brand. When we were in the process of looking at different concepts for what could be the right way to activate against the 75th anniversary of the brand, we saw this really beautiful, simple story of the immigrant arrival, the fish out of water. That is also a universal story. Story that so many Americans can connect with and relate to. Right. Big, broad human story. The hero's journey sort of unfold of this unassuming little beetle being then adopted and finding its home here. It was an unloved vehicle when it first arrived. They only sold two Beetles that very first year because it was this oddly shaped misfit thing. Small car in a big car culture. In fact, we had one scene where we have it driving by a billboard that's as bigger is better. And then you have that moment where this like, beatnik couple sees it in the window, falls in love with it as like the. The symbol of that. That group of people that see the world a little differently. And the car then becomes a reflection of. Of that outlook on life, that way of living and being. And then we conclude at the very end with the arrival of the ID buzz, which we were at the time teasing. It has now since launched as that next chapter, that invitation for a new generation of people who see the world a bit differently.

[Ferguson]

Congratulations to Johannes Leonardo and Volkswagen. They won a gold Effie. Leo Burnett won the Grand Effie for Blood Apetit, which was a campaign for the Field Museum here in Chicago. I'm going to be talking right now with Chief Strategy officer Samantha Seskow from Leo Burnett right after she came off the stage. So it was a raucous night and a reaction, as you can imagine. So we got to chat right after that. Blood Appetite won the Grand Effie. It also won a gold and it won a silver Effie on the night. A brilliant initiative and really thrilled that it came out of Chicago, where our show is based. So you didn't know what was happening, and I knew what was going to happen, but I couldn't obviously tell you what was going to happen. But you are. And Leo Burnett is. Leo is the grand effie winner for 2025. Congratulations. It's wild. We should dub in lots of applause because you just had all of that confetti fall from the ceiling.

[Matt]

I did. I did. It was a lot of confetti.

[Ferguson]

It was a lot of confetti. And it came in, like, awkward stages.

[Matt]

Yes.

[Ferguson]

And. But, hell, I mean, fantastic. Congratulations to everybody at Leo. So we are here to talk about this amazing campaign from the Field Museum in Chicago. There's a lot of layers to this, and so I thought we could sort of first start by talking about why you feel it was effective. It's obviously been an incredibly effective campaign. What was at the heart of that.

[Matt]

Winter is a really tricky time for the Field Museum. Right?

[Ferguson]

Yeah. Horrible Chicago winters.

[Matt]

You're Chicago and yourself, Fergus. You know, it's brutally cold. The tourists dry up, and the locals get really picky about what they'll leave their houses for. For. And so historically, the Field Museum had always seen attendance numbers plummet in that winter time frame. Now, they had this temporary exhibit that was on loan to the museum in that winter time frame, the challenge really became how do we get people to not just pick us over other things to do in Chicago, but to get them to leave their houses in the very first place. Right.

[Ferguson]

It was the Bloodsuckers exhibit.

[Matt]

Yes.

[Ferguson]

And for those who didn't know, and I didn't know, these are creatures that exist entirely on a diet of blood. And so this is. This in and of itself isn't too appetizing. Did you think there was sort of an unlock at the heart of it?

[Matt]

The insight that sits at the heart of it is that you can't get Chicagoans to leave their apartments and houses for very much in the wintertime.

[Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

But Chicago is at its heart of foodie town, and people will go out for the fabulous dining scene that we have.

[Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

And so here we birthed this crazy idea to leverage the power of the Chicago dining scene to entice people into the museum. And we partnered with top restaurants and chefs in the city to develop dishes that contained blood, in effect turning our restaurant goers into bloodsuckers themselves.

[Ferguson]

So it becomes a play on bon appetit. And so it's blood appetite. And how does it roll out?

[Matt]

Yeah. So again, there was a ton of work involved in obviously finding these partnerships. We activate it during Chicago Restaurant Week with several restaurants and chefs. You know, as I said, restaurant goers who participated in the activation received discounted museum admissions passes. But there was also obviously, you know, quite a bit of digital and social advertising that surrounded this effort not just to drive to the activation, but then continue to drive attention. For the Blood Suckers exhibit, when you.

[Ferguson]

Ordered one of these dishes in the restaurant, you were given a card that talked about the dish, talked about the exhibit, and had a QR code where you could go get a discount or go get tickets. So it looped back around.

[Matt]

It did.

[Ferguson]

And obviously, incredibly effective. People can see the case study on the website and there'll be some more background data on that. I love it. I think it's great. You guys deserved it. And well done to everybody and brilliant to have you back on the show.

[Matt]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Ferguson]

Thank you for your time. Congratulations to Leo Burnett and the Field Museum for Blood Apetit. It won the grand Effie. A gold Effie and a silver Effie. Tracy Alford is CEO of the Effie's Worldwide, and Jay Goodman is the board chair as well as the founder and CEO of Super Connector Studio. Connected. Right after the award show, when all the awards had been handed out and the comm had returned to the room, we pulled them both aside to talk about their impressions of the gala night and about the importance of marketing effectiveness. Enjoy. One thing that I'm sort of struck by is we're at an effectiveness awards in our world of marketing, and there's a lot of conversation going around about effectiveness. So I'm curious, maybe you start with uj. Is the work getting increasingly Better in terms from an effectiveness point of view?

[Matt]

Yes, I think it's safe to say, although you could check me on this, and I have raging confirmation bias. But effectiveness is having a great moment. Effectiveness has always mattered. This is Fes 56th year.

[Ferguson]

Wow.

[Matt]

We're in 125 countries. So the world is focused on marketing effectiveness and has been for a very long time. It does really seem it could be the very dynamic moment we're in as a global economy. It could be shifts in media. Everybody got very addicted to performance for a while. They watched their brand scores drop. Suddenly brand is a thing again. And when you need to measure your overall balanced marketing portfolio, there's really ultimately only one measure. Did it work? Did we sell more shoes? Did we sell more museum tickets? Did we sell more Puerto Rican rum? And ultimately that's effectiveness. And we have a really time tested, but also evolved over time, essentially algorithm and process to have the best marketers in the world judge the best marketing in the world. So yes, it's having a moment. It's always been important. But it does seem like we're being asked a lot more to help marketers understand if their work worked. Yeah.

[Ferguson]

So one of the things, Tracey, that we hear a lot on the show and you guys hear about it too, it's the, it's the idea that marketing principles that were really popular overseas were trying to be imported into the US Is beginning to happen a lot more now. I mean, there's been market mixed modeling for a long time, but, but the principles of, of Ehrenberg Bass, the principles that have come over for Bennett and Field and now work has brought some new thinking with a US based approach. All of that just seems to be sort of influencing this, this sense that we, although we've always known it, that we, we have tools to help us be increasingly confident in results.

[Matt]

I think, I think that's true. I think that's accurate. What's interesting though is if you look at the range of cases in the United States, there's far more references to return on investment to other parts of the world. So I think, I think we need to be careful when we talk about measurement and what does that really mean? So it means different things to different people. And so I think just having an awareness around, when you think about effectiveness, it actually comes down to what you need to achieve for the portfolio or the brand or the business or the behavior that you want to change. And I think, you know, the US is the biggest marketing community in the world, but what we are Seeing. Going back to your original question for Jay is that we are growing everywhere double digits. So it's not just an American thing. It's happening everywhere in the world. And I think you're right. I think it's probably a moment of time. I think it's probably been building over time. But I do think there is more pressure to articulate and understand what does the marketing community do and deliver. And effectiveness should be at the heart of that piece of what every marketeer does. Because if it's not effective, it's not marketing.

[Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah. So, Jay, when you look at the body of work that was judged this year, anything strike you in terms of themes?

[Matt]

If there's one thing I saw, it's that I didn't see one thing over and over again.

[Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

As our conversation for us, I think there was the broadest variety of type of brand. Sure. We have lots of different product categories and service categories, so in some ways were built for that. But there wasn't a consistent theme in what was winning. Marketers are using a really broad variety of aspects of marketing in order to land with really effective campaigns.

[Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Which I think is a great sign for the industry. What I do think is interesting. So if I look at the final gold that went in for the grand. What they all had was fundamental marketing discipline. So you had, you know, the blood appetite. Tiny, tiny budget in Chicago.

[Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Very focused. Something like Verizon. Both of them were exceptional cases. Beautifully written, but they were so tightly executed and they excelled at every single one of our pillars. And I think. I think that's, for me, is the. Is the real insight is that that when you want to be truly effective, you need to excel at every part of what you do and be very, very thorough. They were like, textbook. I mean, you know, and that was the discussion and the debate in the room was it's like this is just exactly as marketing should be.

[Ferguson]

Yeah. Because that could have been a really expensive campaign. I mean, it was just that the purity of the idea cut through whether or not it needed budget. I mean, it just worked really well. It was like the perfect execution of that idea.

[Matt]

It's grounded in the basics of marketing. And I think often as marketeers, we're a little guilty running out the next shiny thing. And it's not that we don't need to keep on top of all those things like technology, etc. Etc. But never, ever forget the basics. Never. Just following on your thought about just taking two of the 10 great finalists, but the two you mentioned. So Verizon is a billion, if not multibillion dollar advertiser. And then we had this. They said the number out loud, I think is $60,000 budget. So to be very clear, the FE evaluative criteria do not wait W e I g h t do not wait for size and scale. So it's not that the Field Museum fought above its media weight, to use the same word again, and therefore it deserved to be there. It's that that case study was as good, those fundamentals were as good, the breakthrough aspect of it were as good as a huge advertiser who also didn't get an advantage or a disadvantage based on how big they are. So money didn't matter. In fact, they had to prove that they used the money incredibly well. So to answer your question, to the biggest marketers in the world and the people who just got handed a brief with $0 attached to it, you could be standing here next year winning the grand defi.

[Ferguson]

Thank you. Tracy Alford is global CEO of Effies. And Jay Goodman is board chair and founder and CEO of Super Connector Studios. Thank you both for your time and thank you for everything you do. Thank you, Ferguson, for the Effies. We're thrilled to have been here. Thanks a lot and good night, everybody.

[Matt]

Good night. Good night.

[Ferguson]

So that's it for this year from the U.S. effie's gala inside Cipriani's in New York City. We had a great time. The EFFIE organization was brilliant in helping us pull this off. Thank you for all the people we interviewed and congratulations to all of the winners and in particular the grand Fe winner, Leo Burnett for Blood Apetit for the Field Museum in Chicago. We hope to see you in London at the EFFIE AW gala later this year and also in Dublin where we'll do the same thing again and produce a little show for everybody around the world to be able to see what happens inside these gala nights. We will see everyone on the next episode.