MWW Group
Company: MWW Group, East Rutherford, NJ
Company Description: MWW Group is one of the five largest independent public relations firms worldwide and is known for its results-driven approach to public relations and “Aim High. Deliver” commitment to client service. MWW Group is a different kind of agency. Passionate, driven, highly experienced professionals with an entrepreneurial attitude, strategic thinking and flawless execution.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Communications or PR Campaign of the Year - Multicultural
Nomination Title: Samsung Mobile's March to a Million In-School Education & Recycling Program
Tell the story about this nominated campaign since January 1 2010 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
In March of 2010, MWW Group worked with their client Samsung Telecommunications
America (Samsung Mobile) to kick off a nationwide in-school education and
recycling program as part of an overall corporate social responsibility campaign
called March to a Million. Samsung Mobile set a goal to collect one million
mobile phones for recycling. As part of this goal, MWW Group, Samsung Mobile and
Kaleidoscope, a youth marketing agency, worked together to develop an education
and recycling pilot program reaching middle and high school students across the
U.S. Samsung Mobile's in-school program educated students about the existence
and importance of cell phone recycling.
Research
Prior to the start of the program, MWW Group conducted an extensive research
project focusing on two key areas: (1) Motivation to recycle and (2) Engaging
educational materials.
Planning
MWW Group worked with Samsung Mobile to position the in-school education and
recycling program as part of its overall March to a Million program. MWW Group
commissioned youth marketing agency, Kaleidoscope, to conduct a direct outreach
program to middle and high schools.
Execution
• Developed educational leader kit to give school administrators the tools they
need to help educate students on cell phone recycling and green practices.
Components of the kits were printed on recycled paper with soy ink. Items
included in the kit were a leader guide, curriculum guide, promotional posters,
premiums and collection box. 5,000 schools reviewed the full leader kit and an
additional 4,500 schools received a mailer with curriculum, leader guide, poster
and a pre-paid label.
• Created incentives to encourage students to participate in the program and
recycle their old phones, including the opportunity to win one of 50 $1,000
grants and to receive a special back-to-school concert from a pop/rock band Hey
Monday. Hey Monday became the "spokesband" for the program.
• Created a micro site for teachers and administrators to act as a hub for the
program and included online PDF's of program materials. The micro site was
essential due to the fact that most school districts prohibit students and
educators from accessing social media sites on school computers.
• A Facebook page was created where fans could post status updates, videos or
photos of their recycling efforts and interact with other schools
Results
Through its in-school education and recycling program, Samsung Mobile reached
6,300 middle and high schools with an estimate of over 5 million students.
Samsung Mobile collected over 33,000 mobile phones for recycling from
participating schools. 416 schools (6.6 percent) submitted entries to the
sweepstakes - an average of 57.6 phones collected per participating school.
This was the most successful recycling program ever conducted by Samsung Mobile.
Through collaborated marketing efforts by Samsung Mobile, MWW Group and
Kaleidoscope, Samsung Mobile was able to build brand affinity among schools and
youth by leading the charge on mobile phone recycling. Due to the success of the
program, Samsung Mobile has tasked MWW Group with developing plans for a five
year in-school education program.
List hyperlinks to any online work samples, news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
Supporting materials for this entry were submitted offline and are available
upon request.
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this campaign:
MWW Group Team Leader Bio:
Eric Villines, Group Vice President
Eric Villines brings more fifteen years of corporate and consumer communications
experience to MWW Group. As Group Vice President in the agency's Dallas office,
he oversees and manages the Samsung Mobile account. Eric has a degree in
Business Administration and Marketing from Colorado Technical University and is
an executive board member and marketing consultant for Dallas Challenge, a
non-profit think tank that develops mentoring programs to better the lives of
at-risk children and their parents.