CHICAGO — The first Jay Gondelman Award, chosen by the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing's e-commerce special-interest group, went to Brann Chicago for Weekly Tips From The Associates, an e-mail advertising series created for a student credit card issued by The Associates. The award was presented last night at the 2001 Tempo awards presentation at the Chicago Hilton and Towers.
The series took first place in creative achievement and third place in marketing results in the competition's new e-mail advertising category.
Nearly 250 entries, representing work produced between January 1999 and June 2000, were judged by direct marketers who followed a numeric scale to choose first-, second- and third-place winners in 17 categories for creative achievement and marketing results.
Entries were not identified by agency, and judges were precluded from evaluating work created by their own organizations. Including six ties, 104 awards were presented for direct marketing work on behalf of clients ranging from giant international corporations to local entrepreneurs.
The chairman of the 2001 Tempo Awards committee was Sid Liebenson, executive vice president/director of marketing at DraftWorldwide.
The 2001 Jay Gondelman Award was presented to Brann Chicago by a representative of CADM's e-commerce special-interest group, which will choose the winner annually from among Tempo entries in various electronic media categories.
The overall objectives of the e-mail advertising series created by Brann Chicago for The Associates' student credit card were to build positive brand recognition; to position the card as the best credit card for students; to drive traffic to www.studentcreditcard.com; and to provide credit education for college students.
The opt-in e-mail messages provide college students age 18 to 24 with credit tips and offer money-saving promotions on popular products by leveraging a non-financial copy approach that resonates with the college student market. More than 21,700 e-mails are being sent to college students. From January 1999 to June 2000, site traffic increased by 360 percent.
