hawthorne direct Takes the Gold Award and Two Silver Awards in the 1998 Cindy Competition

Fairfield, IA -- hawthorne direct, the direct response TV advertising agency, recently received the Gold Award and two Silver Awards in the 1998 Cindy Competition. hawthorne received the Gold Award for Time Life’s Gold and Platinum and the Silver Awards for both Nature’s Glory and Fantom Lightning.

The Cindy Awards are presented by the International Association of Audio Visual Communicators (IAAVC), a non-profit organization, representing broadcast, nonbroadcast linear, interactive media and theatrical professions nationally and internationally. The association was originally created in 1959 as an industrial film competition. At that time Cindy was the acronym developed for Cinema in Industry. The group then became known as the Informational Film Producers of America (AVC). In 1984 the AVC became the IAVVC as we know it today.

"We are very honored to have received these three awards," said Timothy R. Hawthorne, founder, chairman and executive creative director of hawthorne direct. "We look forward to our continued success and hope to win many more Cindy Awards in the near future."

Gold Award 1998 Cindy Competition: Time Life’s Gold and Platinum

In 1994, Time Life Music and the Recording Industry Association of America came together in an unprecedented association to assemble a collection of the biggest rock and roll hits of the past 30 years. After nearly four years of negotiations with music’s biggest artists, the result was Gold and Platinum, a collection of over 150 superhits on 6 CD’s from such artists as Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Simon and Garfunkle, Elvis Presley, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, Sting, U2, Bon Jovi, Hootie and the Blowfish, Sheryl Crow and dozens more.

The Gold and Platinum infomercial, produced by hawthorne direct and Time Life Music, showcases over 60 of these artists and their hits in a fast paced, entertaining half hour of great music and performance footage. Targeted for men and women, from 25 to 55, the program persuasively sells the hottest collection of music ever marketed by Time Life Music.

Silver Award 1998 Cindy Competition: Nature’s Glory

Ecoval, a small Canadian company, faced a common challenge among start-up companies with no retail distribution. How to tell their new product story for Nature’s Glory organic fertilizer in a compelling way, sufficient to garner up front sales while enticing U.S. retailers to stock the product on their shelves? The answer was an infomercial shown on U.S. broadcast stations and cable networks.

hawthorne direct was hired to produce the entertaining and informative Nature’s Glory infomercial to appeal to both serious and casual gardeners, age 35 to 65, interested in healthier, organic fertilizing products. Award winning gardeners from LA, Toronto and Miami were recruited to try the new product. An entire New Orleans girls school studied the product while growing their creative science projects. The results are stunning proof how a long form TV commercial can showcase an unknown products features and benefits and cause both consumers and retailers to sit up and take notice.

Silver Award 1998 Cindy Competition: Fantom Lightning Vacuum

Coming off 4 years of double digit growth for it’s Fantom Fury and Fantom Thunder upright vacuums, Toronto based Fantom Technologies Direct developed the next generation canister vacuum cleaner -- the Lightning. Designed to launch the product into the U.S. marketplace, hawthorne direct and Future Thunder produced a half hour infomercial to showcase this revolutionary product’s stunning design and technology.

Using a travelogue approach to its infomercial creative, the program shows the fun and effectiveness of the product in the hands of everyday folks from a Manhattan housewife, to Atlanta finishing school sister instructors, to LA Pet Hotel owners. The real people approach combined with varied locations make this entertaining half hour commercial one of the highest rated infomercials on air while selling tens of thousands of Lightnings via direct response.

hawthorne direct is a full-service direct response advertising agency, specializing in creative and production, long and short form media buying, telemarketing/fulfillment management and integrated marketing.