BBDO New York succeeded in an otherwise challenging year by expanding its b2b work, winning new clients and turning out award-winning campaigns using innovative creative across multiple media platforms.

The agency won new b2b accounts including the Business Roundtable, an association of U.S. CEOs; Hewlett-Packard Co. and LexisNexis. It also expanded its work for existing clients including FedEx Corp., General Electric Co. and Monster.com.

“Last year provided a terrific opportunity to raise the bar on our level of work,” said John Osborn, president-CEO of BBDO New York.

“Particularly in the b2b space, businesses recognize that their messages need to be grounded with tangible product or service offerings that benefit their clients.”

A prime example is GE, whose stock price plummeted in the fourth quarter of 2008 as the economy tanked. To build confidence among its investors, partners and global customers, GE revamped its ongoing “Imagination at Work” campaign with a new theme, “Innovation today for Amer-ica's tomorrow,” created by BBDO.

The agency developed an integrated campaign, using TV, print, online and outdoor, that focused on how GE is working on innovative products to solve some of the U.S.' most pressing problems, such as the environment and health care. As one element of the campaign, BBDO created live HD transmissions of GE engineers working on new products, which visitors could watch on www.ge.com.

The campaign also included a new positioning platform for GE's heath care business, “Healthymagination,” which shows how the company is providing innovative solutions in health care and diagnostics.

“GE has really stepped up and is saying, "Here is a company that is trying to solve some of the world's toughest problems through innovation,' ” Osborn said. “With "Healthymagination,' most of the messaging is rooted in how GE offers specific products, such as diagnostic equipment, that are going out to parts of the world that need it most.”

For client Monster.com, BBDO developed an integrated campaign called “Get a Monster Advantage,” including a redesigned Web site, TV commercials (including a Super Bowl spot) and print ads. “A lot of people are out of a job, and they need tools today to help connect them to jobs that are out there,” Osborn said.

Last year, Monster invested heavily in new technology and tools for its career site, using a “sixth-sense” search technology to improve its facility for connecting people and jobs. BBDO created an integrated campaign to showcase the improved site using Flash, online videos and rich media. The campaign won a Silver Lion award at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

For FedEx, BBDO created a campaign, called “1-2-3 Succeed,” that it designed to engage small-business owners by illustrating how they could use specific FedEx products and services to help them succeed. The campaign used entertaining long-form online videos that were posted on the FedEx site, YouTube and in other social media channels.

BBDO created other groundbreaking work for the logistics company, including a GPS-based iPhone app for FedEx drop sites, sponsorship of Hulu.com and a customized Facebook application.

“This was a real watershed year for BBDO in terms of digital,” Osborn said. “Everything is digital—radio, television and the Web. It is the core of everything we do.” —K.M.

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