Blue Chip Named to the Crain’s Chicago Business “Fast Fifty” for the Third Consecutive Year

Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in Chicago by being named to the Crain’s Chicago Business “Fast Fifty” list for the third year in a row. Honored as #28 on the list, Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide boasted five-year growth of 197 percent and is the only advertising and marketing agency to be featured in this year’s list.

“We’re honored to have made the Crain’s “Fast Fifty” list for the third straight year, a true testament to our strategic vision and the outstanding work we continue to deliver to our clients,” says Stanton Kawer, CEO of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide. “We made investments in the shopper marketing, patient recruitment, digital and public relations spaces years ago which has enabled us to be the leader in emerging practices and expand our offerings to deliver best-in-class work.”

The Crain’s Chicago Business “Fast Fifty” annual list features companies based in the six-county area of Chicagoland with 2012 revenue of at least $20 million and evaluated based on percentage of revenue growth.

In addition to being named to the “Fast Fifty”, Blue Chip Marketing was recently named one of the “Best Work Places” by the Chicago Tribune and one of the top shopper marketing agencies in the country by Hub Magazine. Recent awards include the bronze EFFIE for its work on the Procter & Gamble “Follow Lolo Run” campaign and a silver Project Isaac Award for excellence in mobile invention from Adweek Magazine for its work on the Vicks Behind Ear Thermometer campaign.

BC in the Press: Lifestyle-Based Analytics for Patient Recruitment

Check out this week’s MediaPost’s Marketing Health byline from Neil Weisman, EVP/general manager of Blue Chip Patient Recruitment, on how marketers can utilize lifestyle-based analytics in their patient recruitment direct mail campaigns.

A Novel Approach to Direct Mail: Lifestyle-based Analytics
By: Neil Weisman
Originally appears in MediaPost’s Marketing: Health

BC in the Press: Discovering Emerging Retail Channels

Jeff Skolnik, EVP/general manager of our shopper marketing practice, discusses how Procter & Gamble successfully generated incremental sales by exploring new retail channels such as home improvement.

P&G Scores with Incremental Sales in Home Improvement Channel
By Pat Lenius
CPG Matters Magazine

Blue Chip Named a Top Shopper Marketing Agency

We’re extremely proud to announce that Blue Chip was recognized by Hub Magazine as one of the Top 20 Shopper Marketing Agencies list, placing 12th overall.

“To be named one of the top shopper marketing agencies by the many manufacturers that participated in the survey is a true honor,” says Stanton Kawer, CEO of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide. “For the last 30 years, we’ve led the industry in providing innovative, sales-driving shopper marketing solutions to our clients and are proud to be recognized for our efforts.”

The survey asks clients to evaluate the shopper marketing agencies they work with based on 13 sets of criteria: excellence in shopper marketing; concept understanding; key account knowledge; innovation; understanding of shopper motivations; programming relevance; execution; results; research and digital capabilities; and more.

Here’s what our clients had to say about working with us:

  • Account knowledge: Blue Chip goes way beyond our expectations to continue to provide us with valuable insights into our customers and how they “do” business.
  • Innovation: Blue Chip always has a fresh “bag of tricks” to present to our company to keep our events new, exciting and relevant.
  • Execution: There is a culture within Blue Chip that never rests on their laurels and always work toward continual improvement.

In addition to being recognized by the clients we work with every day, we’re excited to congratulate our partners at Procter & Gamble for being named the #1 brand marketer on this year’s list. Recognized for their overall understanding of the shopper marketing space, P&G has set the standard for shopper marketing excellence and we’re thrilled to have been their partner for nearly two decades.

The Hub Shopper Marketing Excellence survey began in 2008 and was designed to establish best practices in shopper marketing and evaluate industry progress toward the highest standards based on the skills and capabilities needed to excel at shopper marketing. Please check out the entire article to learn more about the Hub Top 20 Shopper Marketing Program. http://bit.ly/17xn1hv

Blue Chip Wins Shopper Marketing Effie

Blue Chip was awarded a Bronze Shopper Marketing Effie award in the Manufacturer: Single-Retailer Rollout category for its work on the Procter & Gamble “Follow Lolo Run” campaign at the Path to Purchase Institute’s 2013 Shopper Marketing Summit.

Shopper Marketing Effie Awards focus on integrated marketing campaigns specifically designed to engage the shopper and guide the purchase process towards a desired end result.

“We’re extremely proud to be recognized by the Path to Purchase Institute and Effie Worldwide for our work with P&G,” says Stanton Kawer, CEO of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide. “This program showcases not only our deep understanding of the Family Dollar shopper but also exemplifies our ability to create  truly integrated marketing campaigns that engage the shopper and unite brands to sales.”

The “Follow Lolo Run” Family Dollar campaign was part of P&G’s effort to leverage the global excitement of the 2012 Olympics and the emotion of world-class hurdler Lolo Jones and her extraordinary story.

Blue Chip Public Relations utilized a variety of sales-driving tactics to generate awareness and sales, including a national TV media tour, cable TV advertorials, multimedia wire stories, and a robust social media campaign to share Lolo’s unique story.  The program was completed in partnership with Upshot.

The Effie Worldwide organization partners with the Path to Purchase Institute to produce the Shopper Marketing Effie awards. Winners demonstrate how brands effectively solved the shopper marketing challenge, connected with the shopper, influenced her along the path to purchase, and inspired her to become a buyer.

Upcoming Blue Chip Thought Leadership Events

Blue Chip’s Jeff Skolnik will be presenting with Mark Jeffreys, the associate marketing director of shopper marketing at P&G at the upcoming Shopper Marketing Summit. They will discuss how the number of places to make a purchase both in the physical and virtual world has forced marketers to see beyond traditional FDM retailers to find the untapped opportuntiies that live within alternative channels.

Shopper Marketing Summit
April 9, 2013
Schaumburg Convention Center

Blue Chip’s Larry Deutsch and Jeff Skolnik will be presenting at the SymphonyIRI 2013 Summit, a broad-based industry share-group designed to help senior manufacturers and retailers find growth in CPG. They’ll be discussing how Now more than ever, today’s shopper is influenced by all brand marketing touchpoints working in harmony to deliver the right content in the right context at the right time. More than “simply” getting shoppers to buy your product and remain loyal, shopper-centric marketers must inspire passionate consumer advocacy that is achieved when brands deliver an engaging experience online, on device, on the go … right down to the last three feet at the shelf or last three inches on the screen.

SymphonyIRI 2013 Summit
April 17, 2013
Wynn Las Vegas

Blue Chip’s Lowell Cantor will be speaking with Kent McCuddin, Director of Marketing/Consumer Communications, Well Enterprises, Inc. at the IEG Sponsorship Conference in Chicago. They’ll be discussing how to successfully leverage sports at the retail level. From the big leagues to the little leagues, sports sponsorships provide the opportunity for brands of all sizes to capitalize on passionate sports fans and serve as a catalyst to break through the clutter in the marketplace.

IEG Sponsorship Conference
April 17, 2013
Sheraton Chicago

Blue Chip’s Neil Weisman will be participating in an Advanced Resources Thought Leadership Series event called “Generations at Work: Managing the Mix.” During this event Neil will discuss the most successful strategies and practices for managing cross-generational teams.

Generations at Work: Managing the Mix
April 17, 2013
Hilton Rosemont, Chicago O’Hare

BC in the press: Marketing to the Value Shopper

Jeff Skolnik, EVP/general manager of our shopper marketing practice, discusses why it’s important to market to the value customer in the April 2013 issue of Shopper Marketing Magazine.

Marketing to the Value Shopper
by: April Miller
Shopper Marketing Magazine

BC in the Press: Accelerating Enrollment for Orexigen

Neil Weisman, EVP/general manager of Blue Chip Patient Recruitment discusses how innovative clinical trial recruitment strategies were used to accelerate the enrollment of Orexigen’s study of Contrave.

Clinical Corner
By: Deborah Weinstein
MM&M