Winner – Best Marketing Campaign

Volvic - Danone Waters (UK & Ireland)

The lowdown: Filtered through volcanic rock, Volvic gives drinkers natural invigoration that Danone Waters UK and Ireland has nicknamed ‘Volcanicity’. The task for the new brand advertising was to communicate these properties and give Volvic a unique engaging personality. To do this, the company went back to the dawn of time to create two characters; Mr Volcano (George to his friends) and his sidekick, Tyrannosaurus Alan.

The company ran a quirky, distinctive series of ads for Volvic plain water and its sub-brands, Touch of Fruit and Revive, across media channels including television, outdoor and even Mr Volcano’s own blog on MSN spaces.

The judges loved the advertisements’ use of humour and thought the overall campaign created a huge impact. Less than two weeks after launch, Campaign magazine’s Adwatch indicated at least 55% of people remembered the ads. Advertising awareness has risen from 56% to 70% with spontaneous brand awareness for Volvic and its sub-brands growing from 43% to 55% and key image attributes.

In the digital era maybe a better indicator of popularity is cyberspace, where the campaign has already reached cult status. There are over 40 Mr Volcanco YouTube entries and 30 Facebook sites.

Danone Waters UK & Ireland Marketing Manager Patrick Kalotis commented: “The staggering consumer results speak for themselves and this award is the cherry on the top.”

Teamwork: Danone Waters chose Y&R Reiney-Kelly London as its advertising agency and Mediaedge CIA as its media agency to help on the campaign.

www.volvic.co.uk