If you had any doubt that the theme for this decade’s party is “Clueless” then you haven’t been paying attention. (We are at a loss to explain why Merrill Lynch keeps throwing fetes at warm climate located Ritz Carltons in the absence of this basic fact). What? More evidence? How about this: PR Week magazine has awarded the public sector campaign of the year for 2009 (in March of 2009) to Weber Shandwick and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for their awareness campaign: “FDIC: Celebrating 75 Years, Not a Penny Lost.”

Strategically speaking, the campaign was designed to deliver a consistent and easy-to-understand message about deposit insurance limits, while highlighting the FDIC as one of the bedrock institutions of the financial system. The effort also sought to engage members of the financial services community in a broad discussion about the FDIC to promote the role it plays in the lives of everyday Americans. The campaign also looked to drive consumers to the group’s Web site and its toll-free phone number.
The FDIC and WS launched the campaign with a standing-room-only event at the National Press Club in Washington on the 75th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of the legislation creating the FDIC. In conjunction with advertising in weekly magazines, the effort leveraged the participation of financial leaders and prominent journalists in road-show events advocating personal financial education.

The FDIC beat out Edelman’s “Encouraging Behavior Change Through Public Education” and State of California Dept. of Alcohol and Drug Programs. We sort of think they should have mounted a joint campaign.
Our favorite contender, Ogilvy PR Worldwide’s “Federal Emergency Management Agency: Making America FloodSmart: Reducing the Risk and Impact of Floods,” was eliminated in the finals.
Public Sector Campaign of the Year 2009 [PRWeek]