Disneyland Paris Takes Top Prize At Eleventh Annual Creative Business Idea Awards

NEW YORK, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- How do you increase traffic at a theme park when unemployment rates hover around 10 percent and the national economy has flat-lined? That was the challenge facing communications company BETC Euro RSCG last year in its work for Disneyland Paris. The solution: create a crowdsourced social media campaign that reminds families of what Disneyland actually represents. Parents across Europe were asked to film the moment they told their children they would be going to Disneyland, with the footage then turned into a series of television spots on the theme, "The Magic Begins the Moment You Tell Them."

Results: a new attendance record for the park in 2011—and the gold medal at Euro RSCG Worldwide's 11th annual Creative Business Idea® Awards, a program that in years past has awarded such iconic advertising as Air France's "Making the Sky the Best Place on Earth," Charles Schwab's "Talk to Chuck," Evian's "Live Young," and Dos Equis' "The Most Interesting Man in the World."

"With BETC's campaign, 'The Magic Begins the Moment You Tell Them,' we found a very true and powerful insight," said Federico Gonzalez, SVP, marketing and sales, Euro Disney and Disney Destinations EMEA. "It goes beyond marketing—nothing is made up; it is the genuine response of children."

"We tapped into families' very personal experiences," added Francois Banon, vice president, communication, Euro Disney. "Parents filmed their kids' reactions to the announcement, and the reality was more amazing than anything we could have planned. The strategy proved to be effective on every communication channel."

Stephanie Pitet, cofounder, Pitchville, and one of 20 international search consultants who made up the judging panel at this year's CBI Awards, said: "The Disneyland Paris work is part of the growing trend of user-generated content, and it's done here to perfection. The Disney brand embodies the values of family happiness and magical moments together—especially, for parents, those irrecoverable years when their children are young. By sharing the genuine and joyful reactions of real children upon learning of the family adventure to come, these spots are refreshingly real and honest—and create a sentimental association with the brand."

Bringing in the silver at this year's CBI Awards is Euro RSCG Dusseldorf's "The Best Screenplays Are Written by Reality," for n-tv. The campaign presents the current-events coverage of n-tv, Germany's first 24-hour news channel, as action, romance, or fairy tale, with the tagline, "The best screenplays are written by reality." Whether spotlighting the "political love affairs" of Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy or labeling Vladimir Putin the "better Rambo," the ads underscore the drama and excitement inherent in current events and in the real-life characters that populate them.

"Television news broadcasts face extreme competition today, thanks to the explosion of entertainment options," said panelist Oliver Klein, founder, Cherrypicker. "With this campaign, n-tv skewers the notion that real people and events are somehow dull or dry, using actual news moments to remind viewers that real life produces moments of action and romance and intrigue that Hollywood could never hope to best."

This year, two campaigns were jointly awarded bronze: the LVMH event "Journees Particulieres," by Euro RSCG C&O and Havas Event, and "What a Person Can Miss a Machine Will Find," created by Euro RSCG Warsaw for the Polish Federation of Cancer Survivors.

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