News

NEIMAN PARTNERSHIP WITH PENNDOT NETS MORE NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR COMMONWEALTH OF PA

San Diego, CA (June 6, 2010) - Neiman took top honors in the national ADDY competition for creating the best public service website in the country in 2010. A prestigious panel of judges presented the ADDY Gold award to Neiman for LiveFreeRideAlive.com, the centerpiece of an interactive motorcycle safety campaign created in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The ADDY Awards, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), are the industry's largest and most representative competition for creative excellence. After winning at the regional and district levels, Neiman's work was then judged by a panel of distinguished industry leaders, including creative leaders from CP&B and Weiden + Kennedy.

Of the 1,382 entries received at the national level of the three-tiered competition, only 87 professional gold ADDY® Awards were presented. Entries were judged based on creativity, originality and creative strategy.

"For more than a decade, Neiman has partnered with the Commonwealth to use research-based marketing to make life better for Pennsylvanians — and to win national acclaim for the Commonwealth," said Neiman CEO Tim Reeves. "This latest acknowledgment of our work together is significant and gratifying."

Neiman's research affirmed that most motorcyclists would reject traditional safety messages, said Amy Muntz, Neiman's VP for Strategy and Insights. "Talking with bikers we quickly learned that we must instead create a community that would enable them to talk with each other about safety — in their own words, and on their own terms. That is the strategy and effectiveness of Live Free Ride Alive."

Powerful stories from real riders were collected and put on display on LiveFreeRideAlive.com, the centerpiece of which is a moving documentary about passion and tragedy. The safety message grows continually more compelling as more riders visit the site and join the growing discussion.

"Authenticity was the crucial piece in the creation of this website. Anything too polished or overly sanitized would be met with skepticism within the PA riding community," said Chris Reif, digital creative director. "If we wanted to get our safety message out, we first needed to create an online venue that felt real to motorcyclists. The solution was giving the community control. The result is a site that allows motorcyclists to create content and participate in building a documentary with fellow riders. There was no risk of being inauthentic. These are real stories, from real PA riders."

The ADDY Awards competition was held at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

Neiman's collaboration with the Commonwealth to create "Full Apologies" — a campaign to reduce teenage drunken driving -- netted a One Show Gold Pencil as the best interactive public service campaign of 2009.