Posted on Thu, Jun 11, 2009
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - May 26, 2009 - Atlanta-based business-to-business marketing agency MLT Creative earned two awards from the Atlanta chapter of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). The South Star Awards of DMA-Atlanta recognize excellence in direct marketing strategy, creativity and results. These honors add to a mounting number of industry accolades MLT Creative has earned this year.
MLT Creative won the South Star for the best B-to-B Integrated Campaign in the category of Image Building for its work with Airgas, the country's largest distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases and related equipment. The agency designed a campaign around Airgas's reclamation efforts, which were prompted by the mandated phase-down of the common refrigerant R-22 and other HCFCs. Targeting HVAC technicians and supply wholesalers, the Airgas refrigerant reclamation program includes incentives like providing free gas reclamation tanks and paying wholesalers for returning their used refrigerant gas to Airgas.
To tout the environmental benefits of the program while playing on the color of printed currency, MLT modified it to read "Be Green and Turn Those Used Refrigerants Into Cash." While the direct mail pieces were central, the integrated marketing campaign was branded over multiple platforms, including print and banner ads, point-of-sale materials and collateral.
"This was a really green campaign to work on," said MLT Creative Account Executive Vann Morris, "because we knew that if we were successful, it also meant that we would be keeping ozone-depleting gas out of the atmosphere."
For that reason, she added, "we are so proud of the campaign's success. And the DMA South Star Award is like icing on the cake!"
The campaign's success speaks for itself: Initially, there were no ReKlaim collection center locations. Now there are 230.
MLT Creative's other South Star Award is especially dear to the agency, as it recognizes their ability to promote their most important client: themselves. The agency won in the B-to-B Integrated Campaign - Lead Generation category for its own integrated "'Need a Lift?' Eight-Straight Strategy" campaign.
After developing a new website, the agency capitalized on its launch by kicking off a new business development campaign. They combined the website with self-promotional efforts to attract, engage, convert and retain customers. Pushing for brand awareness and recall, the campaign's strategy included outreaches that were frequent and repetitive. MLT Creative shipped eight tactile, clutter-busting mailers to its target market of 300 Atlanta marketing professionals in a rapid-fire, 10-week schedule.
In order to convey the strengths in both creative and strategic areas, the agency developed a parallel component to the mailers, labeled an "experiment." This experiment invited each recipient to participate in the campaign under the promise of offering a totally transparent view of its goals, strategy, tracking and results. Creative direction shaped these goals as scientific hypotheses, and an interactive microsite dubbed "The Idea Launch Lab" (www.theidealaunchlab.com) served as an experiential environment for sharing the results. The creative team devised, designed and constructed a a series of foam and paper airplanes and rockets that backed up the campaign's "Need a Lift?" theme, designed to drive recipients to The Idea Launch Lab - as were incentives such as a travel voucher and other giveaways.
"Our Eight-Straight ‘Need a Lift?' campaign was a success by enabling us to target, connect and land work with new B2B marketing clients, even in the midst of a slowing economy," said Account Executive Kelly Pires. "To receive this peer recognition from the DMA-Atlanta makes our achievement that much sweeter."
The campaign was successful because it combined innovative ideas with industry best practices and a creative strategy that generated returns three times the investment.
The DMA South Star Awards are the latest in an exciting string of recent nods for MLT Creative. Additional honors this year include the American Marketing Association AMY Award for B2B Visual Branding, with an additional four finalist awards; recognition as a Georgia State University MAX Award finalist; and, most recently, a coveted spot on BtoB Magazine's Top BtoB Agencies List.
About MLT CreativeMLT Creative, based on the east side of Atlanta, GA, with a Northeast office in Rhode Island, was founded in 1984. Known as the idea launch pad
TM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions.
Contact:Chase Mitchell, Public Relations
MLT Creative, 404-292-4502,
chase.mitchell@mltcreative.com
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Posted on Tue, Feb 10, 2009
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 10, 2009 - Atlanta-based B-to-B marketing firm MLT Creative has been named one of nine finalists for the 2009 MAX Awards, which honor innovation in the field of marketing. The company earned its latest nod thanks to its work with Airgas, the country's largest distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases and related equipment.
MLT Creative designed a campaign supporting Airgas's reclamation efforts, which were prompted by the mandated phase-down of the common refrigerant R-22 and other HCFCs. Targeting HVAC technicians and supply wholesalers, the Airgas refrigerant reclamation program includes incentives such as providing free gas reclamation tanks and paying wholesalers (and indirectly technicians) for returning their used refrigerant gas to Airgas.
"They came to us with this reclamation program, and wanted us to brand the program and promote it to the target audiences," says MLT Creative account executive Vann Morris, "we created the brand identity ReKlaim - to play off the fact that it was reclamation - and came up with the logo and graphic standard ."
To highlight the recycling and environmental benefits of the program while playing on the green in printed currency, MLT Creative modified it to read "Be Green and Turn Those Used Refrigerants Into Cash".
MLT Creative's creative strategy and messaging were directed at the HVAC technician, since they were at the forefront of the reclamation process. The marketing strategy was that, by simply promoting a key benefit/incentive to the technicians, they would collect more used refrigerant gases and actively seek out participating ReKlaim wholesale locations. This in turn would motivate wholesalers to become ReKlaim locations and grow the program network.
"They wanted an integrated marketing campaign," Morris says, "so we took ReKlaim and branded it over multiple platforms, including direct mail, print ads, banner ads, point-of-sale materials and collateral."
The ReKlaim marketing campaign MLT Creative designed for Airgas was unique in that no one had previously branded or marketed a refrigerant gas reclamation program.
"Initially, Morris says, "there were no ReKlaim locations. Now there are 230 ReKlaim collection center locations. And on top of all that, we're a finalist in the MAX Awards. That's so exciting."
The MAX Awards, now in its 17th year, are presented by the Department of Marketing at Georgia State University's J. Mack Robinson College of Business, in conjunction with the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Honors go to "outstanding new products, new services or new ways to market" showcased by Georgia-based companies each year, according to the GSU Web site. Entries are also judged on the level of success with which they met upon implementation. Past winners include UPS, Jameson Inns Inc. and BellSouth.
Winners of the 17th annual MAX Awards will be announced at a special breakfast event 7:30 a.m. Feb. 27 at the Georgia Aquarium. All proceeds from entry fees and the event will go to support an Outstanding Minority Marketing Student Scholarship Fund.
About MLT Creative
MLT Creative, based on the east side of Atlanta, GA, with a Northeast office in Rhode Island, was founded in 1984. Known as the idea launch padTM for B-to-B marketers, MLT Creative's services include strategic planning, positioning, brand development, advertising and sales promotions.
Contact:
Chase Mitchell, Public Relations
MLT Creative, 404-292-4502, chase.mitchell@mltcreative.com