Ogilvy's ECHO Awards call for entry campaign, a blatant play for an award

The 2011 International ECHO Awards Call for Entry campaign created by OgilvyOne in New York for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is not only a blatant play for an award itself, but a fully-fledged marketing campaign that delivers a tracking tool that lets those on the sideline judge the work as well.

Featuring two Creatives, shameless in their attempts to win an ECHO themselves, the headline to solicit agencies to submit work states: "You Enter. We Win. (And oh yeah you could win too)."

With a new mobile and web-based app, inspired by the real judging form, agencies can rate their own work ” and others ” to see if their work is good enough to potentially win. Every submission can get an ECHO number ' the cumulative rating of strategy, creativity and results that benchmarks business impact. Like the real judging form, 30 points are given for each category plus a new innovation ' an additional 10 points for sheer "mojo," rewarding bold, innovative work. You can rate and see the work here: https://echoindex.com.

"For the first time since its inception, we've updated the judging criteria for the ECHOS, creating the "mojo' factor to recognize fresh, dynamic, direct response ideas that deliver outstanding results. It's our hope that this new formula, combined with the novel tracking tools OgilvyOne has created for us, will attract new audiences and entries to the ECHO awards," said Barbara Parker, Awards Program Director, DMA.

The call for entries campaign will be promoted through YouTube videos, Facebook, direct response, email marketing and real world stunts. Additionally, a bookmarklet allows the user to be the judge, applying the ECHO number to advertising they see anywhere online from any agency. A gallery will collect the user-judged pieces ” highlighting the crowd's thoughts on the best the industry has to offer.

"The ECHOs is underestimated as an opportunity for modern Creatives. There is so much great work out there that could win if more of the cutting-edge agencies could see for themselves how they'd fare. The app encourages you that it's worthwhile," explained Mat Zucker, Chief Creative Officer at OgilvyOne in New York.

Introduced in 1929 as the "Best in Direct Mail" contest, the DMA International ECHO Awards honor excellence in creativity, marketing strategy, and response results in direct marketing campaigns. With over 1,000 entries submitted by direct response agencies worldwide, DMA's annual ECHO Awards recognize every type of media used in direct and digital marketing campaigns. Enter the ECHO awards here: https://dma-echo.org/enter.jsp