Cause Marketing Halo Awards Given to Top Campaigns

(3BL Media) Chicago, IL - May 31, 2012 - Campaigns that fought childhood cancer, moved kids to stand up against bullying and sought to preserve polar bear habitats, all while simultaneously supporting business objectives, were among the winners showcased at the tenth annual Cause Marketing Halo Awards.

Eighteen category-specific awards were presented by the Cause Marketing Forum to 2011 campaigns.  UNICEF and Procter & Gamble were singled out for Cause Marketing Golden Halo Awards for their body of achievement in the field of doing well by doing good during ceremonies at the J.W. Marriott in Chicago on May 31.

Write-ups of all the winners are online at http://www.CauseMarketingForum.com/halo2012

Coca-Cola’s ‘Arctic Home’, a partnership with World Wildlife Fund, was the most recognized campaign with three separate category awards.  Arctic Home was a full-scale, deeply integrated program that raised awareness for the plight of the polar bear and directed over $1.2MM in raised/matched donations to WWF while boosting volume and share for the beverage giant.

Digital campaigns also took center stage at this year’s awards.  Daily deal sites Groupon and Living Social both took home individual awards for cause-related deals in partnership with nonprofit organizations.  Social gaming giant Zynga received an award for their response to the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, which encouraged their massive player community to purchase virtual goods to support Save the Children’s on-the-ground response in Japan.

"Cause marketing, the creation of mutually beneficial partnerships between companies and causes, has grown tremendously over the past ten years." commented Cause Marketing Forum President David Hessekiel. Over one hundred programs were entered in this year’s Cause Marketing Halo Award competition.

“Nowadays the volume of cause-related campaigns in the marketplace makes it critical for companies and causes to create high quality programs if they want to engage consumers and generate financial and social returns on investment,” said Hessekiel.   The winning campaigns include:

Best Transactional Campaign

GOLD: Refer a Friend Program: Quidsi & American Red Cross

SILVER: G-Team Philanthropic Deal:  Groupon, DonorsChoose.org & JP Morgan Chase

Best Cause Marketing Video

GOLD: Shoes4SanDiego: Halogen TV & Soles4Souls

SILVER: Arctic Home:  The Coca-Cola Company & World Wildlife Fund

Best Cause Marketing Event

GOLD: Fight Childhood Cancer, One Cup at a Time:  Toys“R”Us, Inc. & Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

SILVER: Shop for a Cause:  Macy's & March of Dimes

Best Health-Related Campaign

GOLD: Giving Hope a Hand:  Kroger & Several Nonprofit Partners

SILVER: Be a Good Cookie:  Kellogg’s Keebler Division & American Red Cross

Best Social Service or Education Campaign

GOLD: Stop Bullying:  Cartoon Network, Facebook & Time Warner & several nonprofit organizations

SILVER: Teens for Jeans:  DoSomething.org & Aéropostale

Best Environmental or Animal Campaign

GOLD: Arctic Home:  The Coca-Cola Company & World Wildlife Fund

SILVER: Beach Rescue Project:  Barefoot Wine & Surfrider Foundation

Best Cause Marketing Print Creative

GOLD: Arctic Home: The Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund

SILVER: Women's Health/Breast Cancer Initiative:  Kohl's and The American Cancer Society, Midwest Division and SE Wisconsin affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Best Message-Focused Campaign

GOLD: Walk with Walgreens:  Walgreens & The American Heart Association, The Diabetes Research Institute and Susan G. Komen for the Cure

SILVER: NFL Play 60:  NFL & several nonprofit partners

Best Cause Marketing Digital Campaign

GOLD: Transforming the World Through Games:  Zynga & Save The Children

SILVER: LivingSocial's Newest Deal: Living Social & Marine Toys for Tots Foundation

Now in their tenth year, the Cause Marketing Halo Awards are North America's highest honor in the field of cause marketing, awarded by the Cause Marketing Forum, a company dedicated to providing business and nonprofit executives with the practical information and connections they need to succeed. All Halo winners can be seen online at http://www.CauseMarketingForum.com/halo2012.