Our “Manny” Secrets of Winning

Our agency was poppin’ champagne last week after a proud moment in New York — we took home our first ever Manny Award!  In the category of “Best Medical Device Campaign,” our VASER consumer brand campaign secured the hefty trophy — beating out both RosettaWishbone (for a Smith+Nephew campaign) and Beacon Healthcare Communications (for their BreathTek creative). A proud moment indeed.

So what was our secret to taking home the goods?

We started with a dream client. Sound Surgical Technologies has been on our roster for years and is one of those great accounts that loves pushing boundaries. The breadth of work we’ve done for them to-date on the VASER^® brand of body shaping technology has been fun as well as unique – can you say “nude photo shoot?” The brand now provides loads of stopping power at every turn — whether we’re persuading docs or “pamper me” consumers to take a look at VASER.

Second, we put some stellar creative folks to work. Kudos to senior art director Michele Evans and senior copywriter Anne Pratt who were the superstars behind the winning concept. Together they masterminded the vintage 50s pop art look of the campaign, with striking silhouettes and fresh colors, as well as the memorable, tongue-in-cheek copy that gives this campaign its swagger.

Badonkadonk? VASER it.

Muffin top? Turkey Neck? Saddle bags? VASER it.

With a playful tone, we let the consumer know: You got a problem area? We’ve got your fix.

And finally, the secret to winning? We showed up. Sure, HCB has scored plenty of awards over the years, but Med Ad News was one we hadn’t yet cracked. It was worth throwing our hat in the ring for at least a chance, and this year it finally paid off. Next year, we’ll be gunning for even more Manny Awards, so we can decisively tell the other agencies to kiss our badonkadonk.