The 52nd annual CLIO Awards announced winners for the best advertising campaigns of the year last week in New York. One of the biggest winners of the night was a campaign for American Express entitled "Small Business Saturday." The campaign took home a Grand CLIO for Content & Contact as well as the Special Recognition Award for Facebook Integrated Media. The campaign was produced for AMEX, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Digitas Inc. American Express executive Leslie Berland, accepting the Facebook Integrated Media award for the group, noted: "Over 1.2 million people in three weeks created a national day. This shows you what the power of a great idea, fantastic team and Facebook can do.“
The campaign designated November 27 as "Small Business Saturday" -- a day when American Express cardholders could receive $25 back when shopping at registered small businesses. At the same time, registered small business owners received access to marketing tools, advice, and free geo-targeted advertising. The multi-channel campaign impacted millions of people and business owners nationwide, and was supported by numerous elected officials. A full gallery about the campaigns of winners across the many categories, including Design, Direct Mail, Innovative Media, Integrated Campaign, Interactive, Out of Home, Print, and Film is available at the CLIO website.