2014 IMA Best in Class Winner

Outsell’s and Saatchi & Saatchi’s 2014 Toyota Highlander Launch Wins Best in Class Interactive Media Award

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Innovative Microsite Helped Toyota North America Successfully Launch 2014 Toyota Highlander

Outsell, with agency partner Saatchi & Saatchi, received a 2014 Best in Class Interactive Media Award for the 2014 Toyota Highlander Launch microsite in the Automobile category.

According to IMA, the Best in Class award is the highest honor granted by the Interactive Media Awards. It represents the very best in planning, execution and overall effectiveness. In order to win this award level, the 2014 Toyota Highlander Launch microsite successfully passed through an extensive judging process, attaining the very highest marks in each of the judging criteria and this is an achievement that only a fraction of sites in the IMA competition earn each year.

“I want to congratulate the Saatchi & Saatchi and Outsell teams for designing and building an innovative and engaging microsite that helped Toyota North America successfully launch the 2014 Highlander,” said Michael Wethington, President and CEO, Outsell LLC. “The campaign results confirm the ability of a well-crafted, analytically-driven email campaign and interactive microsite to drive vehicle sales.”

2014 Toyota Highlander Launch
Outsell and Saatchi & Saatchi were tasked with getting the 2014 Toyota Highlander on more families’ radar screens for their next family vehicle purchase. The goal of the interactive marketing campaign was to drive awareness, generate test drives, and increase sales for the200+ participating Toyota North America dealers. The 2014 Highlander Launch campaign saw extraordinary engagement rates: more than 28,000 consumers interacted with the campaign, which generated over $3.2 million in Highlander sales for participating dealers.*

*Individuals who interacted with the campaign and subsequently purchased a new Highlander from a participating dealer determined calculated linked sales revenue. Revenue was calculated based on the price paid to the dealer for each Highlander sale.

To view examples of the award-winning campaign, please visit: http://www.outsellauto.com/files/saatchi/11_14_HighlanderAward/

IMA Judging and Results
To win an award, Outsell and Saatchi & Saatchi’s entry had to successfully pass through its comprehensive judging system. IMA judges utilize a points-based scoring system, which allows each entry to receive a maximum of 500 points. By adhering to the specific guidelines and criteria of this system IMA judges are able to maintain the highest degree of fairness, accuracy and integrity; competently and effectively evaluate entries; and, deliver clear results.

The 2014 Toyota Highlander Launch project was scored using five specific criteria, with a score from 0-100 awarded for each criterion. The total of these five scores established the overall score up to a maximum of 500. Websites and microsites receiving an overall score between 460 and 479 receive IMA’s Outstanding Achievement award. Websites and Microsites receiving an overall score between 480 and 500 receive the IMA Best in Class award. Total score for the 2014 Toyota Highlander Launch entry was 492.

*Note: In addition to the standard judging system, the judge’s panel used a customized scoring system to evaluate the Highlander submission. The entry warranted specialized attention since the campaign was comprised of multiple media types, each having its own judging system. The scores from all evaluations were combined to determine the overall score.

There were 85 entries submitted in the Automobile category in the 2014 award year. Not all entries have yet completed the evaluation process (i.e., it is possible that additional awards in this category will be granted this period). To view the IMA Winners Search page, please visit http://www.interactivemediaawards.com/winners/search.asp

 

About Interactive Media Award
The Interactive Media Awards™ recognize the highest standards of excellence in website design and development and honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement.

Created by the Interactive Media Council, Inc. (IMC), a nonprofit organization of leading web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other web-related professionals, the competition is designed to elevate the standards of excellence on the Internet and offer winners a boost in marketing and exposure. IMC serves as the primary sponsor and governing body of the Interactive Media Awards, establishes the judging system and provides the judges for the competition.