JCPenney Wins Award for Best Digital Retail Advertising Campaign

J. C. Penney Company, Inc.'s interactive viral marketing campaign, "Beware of the Doghouse," has won the 2009 World Retail Award for Best Digital Retail Advertising Campaign.

Recognizing outstanding innovation, the honor showcases digital advertising excellence of retailers across the globe, the company noted in a release. The award was presented to JCPenney at the World Retail Congress in Barcelona in May.

"We are very proud to be recognized by the World Retail Congress for our innovative marketing efforts," said Ruby Anik, senior vice president of brand marketing at JCPenney. "Beware of the Doghouse has proven to be a fun and engaging campaign, building on our success of developing new and innovative strategies that connect with younger consumers on their terms."

Voted by some of the world's most respected industry experts, the campaign received high ratings for its creativity and multi-channel integration. Calling it a "truly 360 degree" campaign based on a "witty and intelligent" idea, judges from the World Retail Congress noted that the Beware of the Doghouse campaign "bubbled out into the media, creating great value for the money."

Divided into four key media categories - traditional media, in-store advertising, direct marketing and new media - the retail advertising section of the World Retail Awards included a diverse and powerful selection of campaigns. Across each of the categories, the awards were designed to show the very best of retailing in all its key areas of operation, assisting retail businesses to secure a vital edge in winning business and gaining market share.

JCPenney first launched Beware of the Doghouse - a fun and interactive viral campaign that enabled women to comically reprimand their loved ones for bad gift choices - on November 21, 2008. Throughout the holiday season, the campaign logged more than 7 million visitors to BewareoftheDoghouse.com and more than 14 million total video views.

Created by Saatchi & Saatchi New York in collaboration with Razorfish, the campaign is centered on the site, bewareofthedoghouse.com, and includes a humorous video displaying other men's gift-giving failures. After watching the video, visitors to BewareoftheDoghouse.com can send an email warning or upload their loved ones into the "Doghouse." Leveraging non-traditional marketing elements, the campaign uses Facebook Connect where Facebook users visiting the site can select "Doghouse" candidates from their friends list or send warnings to other friends. Men can be released from the "Doghouse" by purchasing the diamond jewelry gift selected on the site by the woman in their lives - or at their mercy with the click of a button.

((Comments on this story may be sent to health@closeupmedia.com))

Related terms: advertising, business, congress, direct marketing, email, health, market share, marketing, media, men, new york, president, retail, video, women