Marina Maher Communications

MMC and client Merck were awarded a Gold MarComm Award in the Specialty Web/Microsite Category today.  The awards “recognize outstanding achievement by marketing and communications professionals.”  The Merck campaign, Plan It Forward, encouraged college-aged women to plan for their future, and to consider how contraception can play an important role in that plan.  A key element of the campaign was a Plan It Forward microsite within online magazine HerCampus.com.  The MMC developed microsite, featuring content in the tone and style HerCampus.com to ensure readers remained open to program messages, was the first-ever pharmaceutical company partnership with HerCampus.com.

Nails are having a big fashion “moment”; one that doesn’t appear to be subsiding. For the 2012 Primetime Emmys, the E! Red Carpet Pre-Show had a mani-cam, where stars could show off their stylish nail looks to the world. But that wasn’t the biggest beauty news of the night.  It was Kelly Osbourne’s $250,000 manicure. The E! Fashion Police co-host stirred up some controversy after announcing her pricey beauty treatment with an Instagram photo of the “Black Diamond King” polish from Azature.  The polish contains 267 carats of crushed black diamond powder, explaining the price tag. Instead of applauding Kelly for her fancy nails, her fans were outraged that she sported a mani that cost more than most Americans make over the course of several years.

So, was this exorbitant? Of course! $250,000 to paint ones nails is OMG outrageous. But was it insensitive to publicize? I say, no. I don’t ever recall major controversy over the lavishly expensive accessories celebrities sport (and heavily promote) on the red carpet, even when the recession was at its worst. Stars and their red-carpet pricey jewels are the norm, standard in the world of excessive Hollywood glam that we’re all accustomed to. But the nails phenomenon is fairly new, so it seems extra absurd to many that a celebrity would promote a $250K manicure.  But why? We know so-and-so wore a necklace from so-and-so famous designer worth a million or so dollars and we ogle and ah. This shouldn’t be any different. I say, add it to the list of awesome, unattainable celebrity trends.

Image source

Campaigns conducted by MMC for Robitussin and Head & Shoulders are PR News Platinum PR finalists. The campaigns are:

• Online Communication:  Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, “Robitussin 100,000 Simple Acts of Relief Sweepstakes and Last Names Giveaway”  
• Word of Mouth/Viral:  “Head & Shoulders’ Mane Man Delivers Legendary Results by Scaring “Guy’s Guys” All Over the World”

The winners will be announced on September 14^th at a luncheon hosted by PR News at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York.

It’s been a busy awards week for the U by Kotex team at MMC and client, Kimberly Clark. Last night, our campaign received Honorable Mention in the Marketing Consumer Products: Packaged Goods category at PRSA’s Big Apple Awards.

The entry, U by Kotex: Designing the Future of Feminine Care, highlighted the team’s work to Ban the Bland in feminine care with stylist and fashion visionary, Patricia Field. The program increased product sales, increased website first-time and repeat traffic and generated over 475 million earned media impressions.

The Big Apple Award is recognized as one of the highest honors in public relations. Over the years, more than 1,000 winning programs have solved problems, changed opinions and created business opportunities.

Poise took home a Bronze Effie Award in the Healthcare-OTC category for its 1 in 3 Like Me program at last night’s Effie Awards in NYC. The Effie Awards honor the most effective marketing communications ideas. Marina Maher Communications (MMC) along with partner agencies Mindshare and Organic were recognized for their work on the program.

The goal of the multi-year, integrated 1 in 3 Like Me program was to get women to talk about the sensitive topic of light bladder leakage (LBL). It centered around light-hearted videos featuring Whoopi Goldberg in 2010, who portrayed eight women in history who might have had LBL, including Mona Lisa, Joan of Arc and the Statue of Liberty. In 2011 reality star Kris Jenner continued to the conversation by portraying Rosie the Riveter.

In an article released today, Maree Prendergast, MMC’s head of Talent & Organizational Development, reveals MMC’s winning strategies for being named a Best Place to Work by AdAge, The Holmes Report and PR News.  You can read about them here.

MMC has been named Healthcare Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report. MMC’s Health & Well-Being practice, which was formed just eight years ago has leveraged, as Paul Holmes notes, the agency’s “unparalleled expertise in marketing to women” to become a major player in consumer health, over-the-counter and pharmaceutical marketing. Over the past four years, The Holmes Report has recognized MMC for four highly-coveted awards: Creative, Consumer and Healthcare Agency of the Year and A Best Place to Work.