Backchannelmedia

Business Wire

Converse's highly acclaimed "Brand Democracy" marketing campaign, created by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP), with media by Sedgwick Road and interactive by ZAAZ, won the industry's most coveted award, a 2006 Bronze EFFIE in the Apparel and Accessories category. The win underscores the value of cross-agency collaboration between Converse's team of agencies who worked closely together over the past year to develop, execute and expand the "Brand Democracy" campaign. Winning an EFFIE recognizes the development of outstanding campaign strategies that generated measurable business results.

The strategy behind "Brand Democracy," developed two years ago by BSSP, was to create a collaborative relationship between consumers and Converse, allowing them to "co-own" the brand. It was the first campaign to tap into consumer-generated content for use as advertising. Short films and artwork from "creative originals" were used as the core components of the "Brand Democracy" ads, including television, print and out of home. Select artwork was also featured on the Converse Gallery Web site www.converse.com/gallery. Consumers exposed to the campaign through targeted media and interactive forums were encouraged to showcase their own work and inspire others to join the Converse community.

The extraordinary response to the "Brand Democracy" campaign allowed Converse to gain momentum in the footwear category against much larger competitors with much bigger marketing budgets. Because the campaign was designed to allow consumers to "own" the Converse brand, they were enthusiastic participants, contributing over 1,600 short films and original pieces of art for consideration.

A complete list of 2006 EFFIE winners can be viewed at: http://www.effie.org/award_winners/index.html

About Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners

BSSP is a full service marketing communications agency based in Sausalito, CA. The agency provides services in advertising, online, design and brand consulting through its four divisions, Butler Shine & Stern, SF Interactive, GARGANTUA and Influx Strategic Consulting. One of the largest independent agencies on the West Coast, BSSP is recognized for its ability to provide highly creative, fully accountable marketing solutions to a broad array of marketers including MINI Cooper, Converse, LucasArts, Diageo Chateau & Estates, Sun Microsystems and VeriSign.

About Sedgwick Rd.

Sedgwick Rd., a subsidiary of IPG located in Seattle's SoDo district, provides award-winning creative, brand development, digital services, public relations, and media planning and buying services. Sedgwick Rd. serves as the agency of record, a roster shop or a project shop for companies including Tower Records, Redhook Ale Brewery, the Seattle Storm, Krispy Kreme/Icon LLC, the Seattle Art Museum, Converse, Marshall Field's and Nintendo. Sedgwick Rd. is located at 1741 First Ave. South, Seattle, WA 98134, www.sedgwickrd.com.

About ZAAZ

ZAAZ is a premiere interactive agency that provides performance-driven design services to top brands and Fortune 1,000 companies including Microsoft, Converse, E*Trade, Qwest, Alcoa, Blockbuster, Expedia, Reuters, T-Mobile, National Geographic and others. ZAAZ services include web strategy, design, development, user experience, web analysis and optimization. Years ago, ZAAZ recognized a gap in the interactive marketplace. While many enterprise organizations had analytics tools, very few were getting maximum value from them. At the same time, web initiatives scoring big on creativity alone often lacked any scientific proof of their effectiveness. By providing both sides of this equation (award-winning design + comprehensive analysis), ZAAZ is able to provide creative solutions that work -- and the proof to back it up. Founded in 1998, ZAAZ is privately held and has offices in Seattle and Portland. For more information, visit www.zaaz.com.