Wilmington, DE – Associates International, Inc. (Ai) (http://www.associatesinternational.com), a leading integrated marketing services provider, and Barclaycard US received three honors at the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) Benjamin Franklin Award for Direct Marketing Excellence celebration held June 8.
 
Associates International and Barclaycard US won "Benny" awards – the top honor – in three categories for its "Express Your Inner Animal" entry:

• Multi-Media – Acquisition to Existing Customers – Financial
• Internet / Interactive – Retention – Financial
• Internet / Interactive – Acquisition to Existing Customers – Financial

The winning campaign was created to help Barclaycard US convert Midwest Airlines MasterCard customers to the Frontier Airlines MasterCard following consolidation of the two airline brands in 2010.  To be effective, the effort needed to make cardholders aware of the change and educate them about the benefits of their new Frontier Airlines MasterCard.
 
In response to this challenge, Associates International and Barclaycard US collaborated to deliver an innovative, highly integrated customer communication designed to support the rebrand.  The resulting effort delivered dynamic, upbeat, engaging and personal messages that convey trust in a fresh, personal and conversational tone.  Tactically, this approach was executed with both traditional and non-traditional marketing methods, with an emphasis on digital and included highly personalized letters and direct mail.
 
The program was a success, achieving a 55% unique visitor rate to the microsite and a 33% response rate for the direct mail effort, far surpassing typical industry standards.  Barclaycard US converted nearly all of the Midwest Airlines MasterCard customers to the Frontier Airlines MasterCard.  The campaign was successful from a customer experience perspective as well.  The former Midwest Airlines MasterCard customers are now engaged with and using their new Frontier Airlines MasterCard cards.
 
"We were very excited about bringing the Frontier animal characters to life in support of this campaign," said Steve Mathwig, Director of Loyalty Marketing, Frontier Airlines.  "It was a great way to introduce the legacy Midwest Airlines members to the Frontier brand and their new Frontier Airlines MasterCard."
 
"The success of the conversion program is testimony to the great work and collaboration of all parties involved," said Surinder Singh, General Manager-US Cards at Barclaycard US.  "Barclaycard US is very focused on its partnerships and is flexible and ready to help when partners experience a change in their business."
 
"We are pleased to accept these Benjamin Franklin Awards with our client Barclaycard US for the second consecutive year," said Dave Zamorski, Chief Operating Officer, Associates International.  "This winning track record reinforces the value of the working partnership between Barclaycard US and Associates International in meeting the needs of Barclaycard's partners."
 
The Benjamin Franklin Award for Direct Marketing Excellence competition has been a proud Philadelphia tradition for 38 years with the "Benny" itself now one of the region's highest honors in direct marketing and advertising.  A panel of direct marketing experts from the Direct Marketing Club of New England judged this year's submissions and awarded 30 winners and 4 honorable mentions in categories that include direct mail, social media, Internet/interactive, multi-media, three dimensional, television, and print.