MRI Casino Marketing Blog
Marketing Results Wins Telly Award

We are very pleased to announce that we were named a winner in the 38th Annual Telly Awards for our annual ‘Christmas card’ project. Telly Award winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators and corporate video departments in the world.  Our 2016 MRI Holiday Show took the category of Branded Content & Entertainment: Use of Graphics, Sound/Sound Design/Writing, Promotional.

Our card was a two-hour holiday music radio program we delivered through the visual mediums of email and webpages. We created a holiday message to our clients, friends and associates that had a personal touch in an entertaining way. This year’s project got all of the staff involved by choosing each of the songs and presenting them individually.

The inspiration came from our growing focus of mobile-first marketing in 2016. Smartphones are ruling our lives! We use them for everything. We even buy cars based on whether or not it is compatible with our phone!! Car dashboards are app based now just like the phone. Seamless integration. We can geo-locate you and shoot you a personal billboard right to your car dashboard. It’s an advertising platform we will no doubt see grow in exciting ways as casino marketers.

Not only did we set out to entertain with our ‘Holiday card’, but we also delivered it in a way that would make the most of a mobile experience. The project gave us the opportunity to marry illustration, graphic design, sound design, script-writing, code-based animation techniques and incorporate them all into an entertaining presentation that worked on various levels.

The piece is viewed equally as well on desktop or mobile. Once the visual is over, the card keeps going and the recipient can keep listening.  Our audience hears a well-produced radio show with a great mix of holiday music. We now have the opportunity to spend two hours with them, not just a 30-second viewing of an email.

The long form audio also gave us a chance to reinforce our brand multiple times. Not only with radio imaging but also by using actual employee voices and a taste of their personality. It puts the idea of different people working together with a common goal of satisfying the client in a different context.  And it’s mobile!  The recipient can enjoy our card anywhere…in the office, the gym, home and in their car.

“We love working on this project each year and always set out to produce something fun that will entertain our clients.  It was a unique challenge to work within the constraints of code-based animation and produce something fresh and unique” noted John Pace, Senior Art Director.  “It’s not only a chance to break out of the norm and do something cool, it allows us to try new things and develop creative techniques we’ll put into practice in the new year. The things we learn through these projects always get incorporated into our work moving forward. Future projects and our clients benefit from this experience.”