Winning an Effie for The Coleman Company is just one more story we’ll tell around a campfire, sitting in our Coleman chairs and making s’mores.

The story started around a campfire. Well, not a real one. It was camping enthusiasts sitting on Coleman sleeping bags eating s’mores that were melted in a microwave, telling us about their great camping experiences and the memories they made. This was our research. And the camping stories we heard helped us realize that long before people got together on a website, they got together at a campsite. That makes The Coleman Campsite, The Original Social Networking Site.

We used social networking sites to request camping footage and real pictures. And we created TV spots, print ads and iPhone apps that got people blogging and sharing. (Coleman is all about getting people together and sharing, so they loved this.)

The campaign exceeded all of our expectations.  In a down market, Coleman achieved significant sales increases and equally important, got increased display visibility in all of their key retail accounts. To say thanks, Coleman gave us the most comfortable chairs that you’ve ever tried. And we sat in them, cracked open a beer and toasted a Silver Effie for a brand that we love. Ok, we had more than one beer. But you get the idea.

Coleman – “The Original Social Networking Site”
Chief Creative Officer: Rob Strasberg
Creative Directors: Karen Cathel & Jimmy Kollin
Art Directors: Darrell Credeur & Jeremy Moy
Copywriters: Derek Clark & Alanna Kulas
Agency Producer: Jill Prost-Ray
Voiceover Talent: Sam Elliott
Music Producer: Jon Moshier
Music: Gomez

Coleman – “iPhone App”
Chief Creative Officer: Rob Strasberg
Executive Creative Director, Interactive: Justin Smith
Creative Director, Interactive: Ken Spera
Associate Creative Directors: Derek Clark, Jason Henderson
Art Director: Andrew Wright
Copywriters: Andrew Bouwkamp, Jason Jakubiak, Ellen Sawyer
Project Managers: Laura Squillace, Heather Read
Executive Vice President, Brand Leadership: Kevin Weinman
Brand Leader: Linde Levin