Manning Selvage & Lee Wins PRWeek’s Best Use of Internet/New Media Award for Second Consecutive Year

Manning Selvage & Lee (MS&L) took home two top awards at the 2007 PRWeek Awards ceremony on March 8th: Best Use of the Internet/New Media in a PR program and Cause Related Campaign of the Year. The awards were given for MS&L’s work with Philips Norelco on its Bodygroom product launch and the Sunkist “Take a Stand” campaign, respectively. The agency also received two honorable mentions, one in the Consumer Launch Campaign of the Year category, also for Philips Bodygroom, and the other for Large PR Agency of the Year.

It is the second year in a row that MS&L has won the top prize for best use of the Internet. Last year, the agency won for its industry-leading work on General Motors’ FastLane blog.

When Philips Norelco set out to launch its new “Bodygroom” shaver product in Q2 2006, it needed to promote “manscaping” at various levels of maturity. The launch of the male grooming tool was centered around the web site www.shaveeverywhere.com, which was designed to leverage humor and innuendo when talking about the taboo act of body grooming. Within the first month of the launch, sales projections for the year were exceeded and the web site generated over one million visitors.

Philips and MS&L took on the task of debunking stereotypes associated with male grooming below the belt and used creative methods to attract media attention and web traffic for Bodygroom. “In showing the product’s effectiveness in giving men that extra optical inch, MS&L exceeded its sales, online and media goals,” PRWeek noted in its summary of the program. “[It was an] excellent use of humor to pique interest,” said one judge. “Super-ingenious, across the board.”

The cause related campaign award for Sunkist “Take a Stand” is the result of a program that touched thousands of children across North America, strengthened the Sunkist brand, and raised significant funds for charity. MS&L was challenged to grow the “Take a Stand” program from previous years to help showcase how a cause-related marketing initiative could be beneficial to retail partners and solidify the emotional connection of the Sunkist brand with decision-making moms. The 100-year-old brand embarked on the “Take a Stand” campaign three years ago, encouraging children ages 7 to 12 to run a lemonade stand and donate the proceeds to charity. The company gave away 11,000 lemonade stands and raised about $800,000 for charity.

MS&L was also nominated for Large Agency of the Year for the third straight year by PRWeek. "For Manning Selvage & Lee, 2006 was the first full year under new CEO Mark Hass, and the agency’s energy was palpable in its award entry,” according to PRWeek. “The judges also felt that the scope of the firm’s work, and its global presence, felt more solid this year than ever.”

About Manning Selvage & Lee
MS&L is one of the world's leading global public relations firms. We achieve our mission - to be more important to our clients - by delivering world class media relations, acting as partners and advisors, powering clients' businesses with proven methods and tools for strategic planning, corporate and product branding, corporate reputation, crisis management, and stakeholder relations. MS&L is the winner of Best Use of Internet/New Media by PRWeek in 2006 and 2007.

MS&L is a member of the Publicis Groupe (Euronext Paris: 13057, NYSE: PUB), whose activities span 109 countries on six continents and include advertising, media counsel and buying, marketing services and specialized communications. For more information, visit www.publicisgroupe.com.

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