October 4, 2004 -- Leading global management consultancy Accenture has won the inaugural Sappi Print Media Efficiency Award for its pan-European communications campaign “I am Your Idea”, created by advertising agency Young & Rubicam New York. Sappi presented the award at the eighth annual EACA* Euro Effie Awards last night in Brussels. The campaign, based on the concept "Accenture can turn your ideas into reality”, ran from February 2002 until August last year. Its highly efficient integration of print, broadcast and airport media resulted in a dramatic 34% increase in consultancy bookings. Print, which accounted for 69% of the media expenditure, was the main driver of the campaign. The campaign also won a Euro Effie Gold Award in the corporate category. The Euro Effies recognise effective commercial communications across borders within Europe. Sappi, the world’s leading producer of coated fine paper, launched its print media efficiency award last year in order to raise advertisers’ awareness of the benefits of maximising the use of print media in their marketing campaigns. “To communicate effectively in today’s marketplace, it is vital to understand the special role and function of different media,” says Craig Halgreen, Communications Manager at Sappi. “The Sappi Print Media Efficiency Award is intended to stimulate both advertisers and agencies to think about the effectiveness of integrated marketing communications using print as a key driver. Print media, whether it be advertising, direct mail or sales promotion material, is an essential part of the media mix and can greatly expand the reach of a campaign, communicate brand messages in different ways and often give them greater depth.” Press - primary information source Accenture's research indicated that the senior company executives responsible for awarding large consultancy contracts, from the CEO and corporate officers to strategic heads of operating units, use press as their primary source of business information. In addition, more than half of Accenture's European target audience identified magazines and newspapers as the media in which they most recognized the Accenture brand. As a result the bulk of the communications budget was allocated to a handful of core magazine titles, whose pan-European circulation would ensure maximum coverage of the target audience in a relevant editorial environment. The remainder of the budget was allocated to airport posters, aimed at reaching the audience while travelling, and to broadcast media to generate immediate campaign awareness. The print and airport activity ran over the entire campaign, while the television activity was focused on the initial launch phase. According to Accenture: “Print was chosen as the prime medium for the campaign as it offered a strong in-market presence, enabling the goal of reaching 50% of the target audience a minimum of three times to be fulfilled. A television plan would have barely reached a quarter of that audience.” Sappi is the world’s leading producer of coated fine paper for the advertising and promotions industry. Its brands include Magno, HannoArt, Presto, Voltage and Royal, which are specified by customers in more than 100 countries for high quality books, reports, brochures, magazines, posters and other promotional material.