(NEW ORLEANS-June 18, 2008)- Peter A. Mayer Advertising Inc., Louisiana’s largest full-service advertising agency, recently won their third Effie Award. The bronze Effie was given in recognition of the Why You Teach (www.whyyouteach.org) campaign which aimed to recruit new teachers for the New Orleans Recovery School District (RSD) last year.
The goal of the campaign was to hire 500 new RSD teachers by August 2007, giving Peter A. Mayer less than three months to recruit enough qualified applicants for the RSD to meet their goal.
The agency’s strategy was to emotionally appeal to jobseekers. The primary target audience came from those who were already identified as educators – young, idealistic teachers, recent college graduates in education, and former/retired teachers.
“Winning our third Effie Award is a major accomplishment, and we are honored to have received such esteemed recognition from a jury of our peers” said Mark A. Mayer, agency president. “We are very proud of our work this year, and hope to continue making a difference for the New Orleans Recovery School District.”
With the insight that searching for jobs has moved predominantly online, the agency built a fully-integrated campaign around WhyYouTeach.org, developing it as a hub for compelling content, viral distribution, and information for prospective teachers – funneling prospective teachers to an application form.
The campaign launched the week of June 25 and concluded July 29. It was a quick and huge success. 26,101 unique people visited WhyYouTeach.org and the RSD received 1,100 applications – more than enough to fill their 500 positions, and so many that they passed applications on to other school districts in need.
The RSD was created in 2003 with the goal of converting underperforming schools into thriving learning environments for New Orleans’ youth.
The Effie Awards is an international competition for strategy and creativity that generate exceptional ideas and gain legitimate results. Effie awards are presented to the agency-client team who successfully convey their message to a challenging market through any type of media, including print, TV, digital, and packaging design. Only three Effies have been awarded to an agency in Louisiana and Peter A. Mayer has won all three, two gold and one bronze.
Effie submissions endure two rounds of evaluations before becoming a winner. The judging criteria include the strategic challenge, the idea itself, and bringing the idea to life, as well as the results generated from that specific idea. Gold, silver, and bronze trophies are established by the judges’ scores.
Peter A. Mayer Advertising Inc. was founded in 1967 with three employees and $200,000 in annual billings. Today it is one of the largest full-service advertising, public relations, and marketing agencies in the Gulf South, with a staff of more than 120 professionals and annual billings of more than $75 million. Peter A. Mayer Advertising specializes in all areas of advertising, marketing, direct response, interactive, public relations and promotions. Its client list includes local, regional and national accounts.