The Comunique-se Award is the most important award-winning ceremony of Brazilian journalism, awarding the country’s best journalists, elected by the direct vote of over 80 thousand professionals in the field. The challenge was to confirm this event as the most highly prized ceremony of Brazilian journalism. And we could only do that by assuring the presence of finalist journalists to receive their trophies personally on the gala award-winning evening. The campaign was developed so that the professional would feel highly valued, would interact with the piece and would realize it was made exclusively for him. The communication tools used where 3D direct mail and Internet. The idea was to value him as one of the big heads in Brazilian journalism. This was executed by showing a physically large head. The campaign consisted of a videocassette sent to the journalist, inviting him to see the ultrasound his mother had done when she was pregnant. Watching the video, he not only saw the image of the exam but also heard the conversation between his mother and the doctor, discussing her baby’s oversized head. Of the total 96 journalists invited, 94 attended the ceremony, generating a 98% return rate.

There was a male and a female box version, with inner tabs, and a completely personalized videotape and hot site. The conversation between the doctor and the mother, during the ultrasound, were recorded for each journalist individually. He could watch the film on videotape or on a hot site. To build up the expectations for receiving the box, the campaign began by sending an email to all the professionals from the newsrooms where the journalist worked. This email showed the ultrasound that the mother of someone from the newsroom had done when she was pregnant. Everyone from the department had fun trying to find out whose mother it was. The box arrived on the next day, revealing the journalist who was going to be awarded. The highly personalized nature, creativity and humor of the piece attracted great attention.

The client liked the idea so much that he used all the campaign images to set the atmosphere for the award ceremony. The total campaign investment was USD 10,500.00 for a total of 96 impacts, that is, USD 109.38 per impact. Of the total journalists invited, 94 attended the ceremony, generating a 98% return rate and a cost of USD 111.70 per lead. An interesting detail of this campaign is that, since we are already into the 7th year of the award, the challenge of achieving its goals was even greater. Nonetheless, in addition to the high rate of return (98%), we managed to surpass the previous year’s campaign results, which were 92% attendance.