ScottsMiracle-Gro Wins Best Hispanic Campaign Award

USA - English

• Latin America - español

MARYSVILLE, Ohio and MIAMI, Nov. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In its first-ever Hispanic advertising campaign, ScottsMiracle-Gro won the coveted best Hispanic campaign award for TV and Radio at the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) 2011 Multicultural Excellence Awards.

One criteria for winning is a campaign that is both insights-driven and delivers a culturally relevant message. Recognized by the judges as exceeding the criteria with humor, Ortho Home Defense Max Insect Killer spot features an innocent chancla, also known as a flip flop, being used to smash cockroaches before taking on a life of its own, hopping about and spraying Ortho Home Defense.

"After extensive multicultural consumer research, we discovered that people were looking for a solution to an embarrassing situation," said Jim Lyski, chief marketing officer for ScottsMiracle-Gro. "Humor desensitized the bug issue and made the Ortho brand an ally. This campaign was wildly successful with Hispanic consumers and raised our brand preference in markets where it aired. We had several challenges to tackle with this campaign, the biggest being that that Latinos didn't have knowledge about a product that actually prevents insects from entering the home; and this campaign had to not only launch the Ortho® brand to this audience, but also educate consumers on preventive care. "

The Hispanic campaign was created by Grupo Gallegos, an advertising agency in Huntington Beach that specializes in the Hispanic Market. "The work reflects the importance of uncovering a real consumer insight, the type that drives behavior, translating it into an actionable strategy and then finding a creative way to communicate the idea.  We are fortunate to work with a courageous client like ScottsMiracle-Gro that is willing to push the envelope creatively", said agency CEO John Gallegos We found that Latinos didn't have knowledge about a product that actually prevents insects from entering the home. We had the large task of making a :30 second TV spot tackle introducing a new brand to this audience and change indoor and perimeter insect control behavior from reactive to proactive; the use of the chancla and humor helped us tell the story and deliver the key points in a relevant and memorable way".

The (ANA) Association of National Advertisers announced the winners of the 2011 Multicultural Excellence Awards dinner sponsored by Arbitron. Now in its eleventh year, the awards recognize ANA member companies and other marketers for their work in producing superior multicultural advertising campaigns that ran between June 2010 and June 2011. The Ortho Home Defense campaign was one of nine category winners. ScottsMiracle-Gro edged out American Airlines and the National Basketball Association in the Hispanic category, while holding court in the competition with Ford Motor Company, PepsiCo, Verizon Wireless and Kraft Singles.

About ScottsMiracle-Gro

With approximately $3 billion in worldwide sales, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, The Scotts Company LLC, is the world's largest marketer of branded consumer products for lawn and garden care. The Company's brands are the most recognized in the industry. In the U.S., the Company's Scotts®, Miracle-Gro® and Ortho® brands are market-leading in their categories, as is the consumer Roundup® brand, which is marketed in North America and most of Europe exclusively by Scotts and owned by Monsanto. In Europe, the Company's brands include Weedol®, Pathclear®, Evergreen®, Levington®, Miracle-Gro®, KB®, Fertiligene® and Substral®. For additional information, visit us at www.scotts.com.

About Grupo Gallegos

Grupo Gallegos was founded in 2001 by California born John Gallegos, who was inspired to start the agency with the idea of integrated marketing strategies for a multicultural audience. Grupo Gallegos leads the Hispanic market with campaigns for ScottsMiracle-Gro, Comcast, Target, Energizer, Fruit of the Loom, California Milk Processor Board (Got Milk?), Bally Total Fitness, and Liberty Mutual, to name a few. The agency's success in revolutionizing how brands communicate with the growing Hispanic market is due, in part, to John Gallegos' mantra: "Look for courageous clients who are willing to challenge convention."  Gallegos believes in connecting with Hispanic consumers in a new effective way. The agency's mountain of awards and rapid expansion attest to the effectiveness of their campaigns.

SOURCE The Scotts Company