Winner: Columbus Metropolitan Library
Client: Columbus Metropolitan Library
Title: CML’s 2011 Summer Reading Club
Category: 34c. Integrated Marketing Campaign

With dvd’s, computers, Internet, ipods, gaming, and cable television within easy grasp of most kids, reading would seem to be lost among the competition for attention.  When’s the last time anyone went to a public library, especially a child?  The Columbus Metropolitan Library faced a daunting task–get people reading again.  The Summer Reading Program built a fully integrated campaign around the theme, “Be a Hero. Read”.  The CMS reached out to the community using social and traditional media.  Logos, graphics, and celebrities also were brought into the marketing mix. The creative campaign resulted in a 20% increase in participants.  Almost 90,000 kids, teenagers, and adults signed on to be ‘heroes’.  Reading is alive and well in Columbus, Ohio. Community Heroes YouTube page