RPA Celebrates Three MIXX Awards Wins and Two Creative Media Awards

Business Wire, Sept 29, 2006

Premier Advertising Week Events Recognize RPA's Innovative Interactive and Media Campaigns

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- RPA, the largest independent advertising agency on the West Coast, received multiple industry accolades during New York's Advertising Week events. On Tuesday evening, the MIXX Awards honored the agency with "Best in Show" and a gold for the Honda Element's online integration campaign. The search marketing campaign for the Honda Element received a bronze. The following night, the Creative Media Awards presented the agency with the television award for the Honda Fit campaign and the online media/search award for the Honda Element campaign.

"I am extremely proud of RPA's recent interactive and media achievements," said Gerry Rubin, president and CEO of RPA. "Our advertising disciplinesCofrom traditional media to innovative online solutions as well as search engine marketingCoassert the excellence we are committed to for each of our clients."

Honoring the teams and talent that produce innovative interactive marketing and advertising, the MIXX Awards recognized RPA and Honda's integrated Element campaign. Developed in the fall of 2005, RPA was challenged to introduce the unique attributes of the four-year-old Honda Element. The agency created the "Element and Friends" island (www.elementandfriends.com) enabling visitors to drive the vehicle around a digital island while interacting with a crab, platypus, opossum, burro and rabbit, each of which shared a feature with the Element. The Element marketing site supported the model by providing visitors with full-length animations, interaction with the brand through fun games, easy access to the Honda auto Web site and an entertaining experience that enhanced the brand perception.

Cost-efficient keywords like "funny video," "possum" and "platypus" were targeted and clever text ads were used to drive traffic to the Web site. At the "Element and Friends" microsite visitors averaged about 14 minutes per visit.

In addition, RPA created a MySpace profile for the Element and sponsored the first-ever wallpaper contest. This drove significant traffic to the "Element and Friends" microsite, where animated spots received more than 150,000 views and nearly 10,000 spots were downloaded and shared among popular video-sharing Web sites.

Acknowledging creativity in media, the Creative Media Awards honored RPA and Honda for the inventive use of :05 spots in support of the Honda Fit launch and for the success of the Honda Element search efforts. For the Fit campaign, three related 5-second spots ran in a pod separated by two unrelated commercials. The Fit's bold, fun and city-smart character, "Fit is Go!," rang true in the ultra-short spots with a supporting mix of :15 and :30 spots. RPA built brand equity in a creative way while giving consumers enough information to take their search online where most car-buying information gathering takes place.

About RPA

RPA, headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., is the largest independent advertising agency based on the West Coast, with more than $1 billion in billings. RPA builds momentum for brands by offering its clients truly integrated campaigns that resonate throughout its disciplines, which include traditional advertising, interactive, and direct and event marketing. RPA also serves as a media planning and buying agency for clients such as Zatarain's and MGM. For more information, visit http://www.rpa.com.