Kaiser Permanente and Campbell-Ewald Los Angeles Take First Place in AdPack USA's Inaugural Tissue Pack Marketing Contest

LOS ANGELES, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente, a marketplace leader and innovator in healthcare, and its ad agency, Campbell-Ewald Los Angeles, today were honored at an awards ceremony for their first-place submission in AdPack USA's Tissue Tactics contest.

Kaiser Permanente and Campbell-Ewald L.A. were presented with the world's largest tissue pack, as well as $5,000 in prize money. In addition, they will receive a 10,000-unit production run of the winning entry in AdPack USA's national tissue pack marketing design contest. Developed by creative team Mike Conboy and Neville Anderson, the agency's submission entitled, "You're So Beastly" featured interesting fun facts about human tears and touted that "humans are the only animals who shed tears of emotion." The winning entry is an extension of Kaiser Permanente's "Thrive" marketing campaign.

The contest, held January 1 -- March 31 of this year, challenged marketing professionals all over the U.S. to design an ad campaign using tissue packs. Hundreds of entries were judged on overall design, creativity and distribution strategies. A panel of advertising, marketing and academic professionals judged the entries in April. Tissue pack marketing, new to the U.S., is a major ad medium in Asia and beyond. Last year, $1 billion dollars were spent in Japan on the manufacturing and free distribution of packs to consumers.

"The 'Thrive' campaign has always been distinguished by our use of non- traditional media to spread the Kaiser Permanente message in unexpected places," said Debbie Karnowsky, executive vice president, executive creative director at Campbell-Ewald Los Angeles. "Tissue packs are such a natural extension of that idea and a great medium to keep health issues top of mind. We're thrilled to be honored by AdPack for our first place submission and the opportunity to add tissue packs to our marketing mix."

"Tissue marketing can be used for a variety of companies, but it is very applicable to the healthcare community. Campbell-Ewald recognized that and created a witty, yet informational pack, which is why they won," said Steve Jacobs, president AdPack USA. "Tissue pack marketing is extremely successful in terms of sampling. Over the last year, we have learned that the uptake with sampling tissues is 75-80 percent. These are great numbers if a hospital -- for example, considers making it part of their out-of-home media buys."

About AdPack

AdPack USA is an out-of-home marketing company specializing in intercept marketing and place-based advertising through its line of promotional facial tissues, towelettes and wet towels. AdPack's promotional campaigns, offering the latest interactive components including qtags (short codes used in mobile campaigns) and customized Web sites, provide advertisers with a direct connection to their customers and the ability to effectively measure a campaign's success. For more information, visit http://www.adpackusa.com/.

About Campbell-Ewald Los Angeles

Campbell-Ewald Los Angeles has been serving West Coast clients since 1955 and is part of the nation's sixth largest advertising and marketing communications agency network. Campbell-Ewald has more than 1,300 employees and offices in Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York and Washington, D.C. A part of The Interpublic Group of Companies , Campbell-Ewald partners with a score of national brands, including ACDelco, Alltel, Chevrolet, Farmers Insurance, Ghirardelli, Kaiser Permanente, Michelin, OnStar, the U.S. Navy and the United States Postal Service. For more information on Campbell-Ewald, visit http://www.campbell-ewald.com/.

This release is available on the KCSA Worldwide Web site at http://www.kcsa.com/. CONTACT: Anne Donohoe / Henry Feintuch KCSA Worldwide (212) 896-1272 / (914) 548-6924 adonohoe@kcsa.com / hfeintuch@kcsa.com