hawthorne direct Receives Three Top Telly Awards from 21st Annual Telly Competition

Fairfield, IA - hawthorne direct, the direct response TV advertising agency, recently received three top Telly Awards from the 1999 Telly Awards. hawthorne direct brought home the Silver Telly for the “U.S. Navy Behind the Seas” infomercial, produced by hawthorne direct for the U.S. Navy. Receiving Bronze Tellys were “Nikon’s Grand Adventures” produced by hawthorne direct for Nikon U.S.A. and “Clean Machine 2000” produced by hawthorne direct for Solutia.

“Behind the Seas” U.S. Navy – Silver Telly Award

What is it like to bring an FA-18 in for landing? Or to sit behind the wheel of a two thousand-ton submarine or to be a member of the elite defensive force the S.E.A.L.S.? The U.S. Navy action packed infomercial takes viewers behind the seas on a voyage to discover what life in the Navy is really like.

The infomercial answers real questions…What is day-to-day life like? What else is there to do besides military work? Is there any time to play? Real enlistees describe their workday, their time off, what they like and don’t like about the Navy…adding to this unique commercial campaign.

The target audience is predominately male at about 90%, ages 18 to 34, with an educational level of high school plus. The purpose is to generate interest in what the Navy can do for the enlistee. Four years in the Navy can provide income, college credits and invaluable life lessons.

“Nikon’s Grand Adventures”, Nikon U.S.A. – Bronze Telly Award

“Grand Adventures” is an elegant documercial style travelogue designed to maintain the quality image of Nikon, while introducing two new cameras.

What happens when 20 cameras are given to 20 amateur photographers on a Grand Princess Mediterranean cruise? The amateur photographers discover that Nikon, which has an impeccable image for professional cameras, now has the S series; simple, lightweight, easy to use cameras for non-professionals.

Set in the romantic environs of Venice, Florence, the ruins of Pompeii, the Isle of Capri, Monte Carlo and Barcelona - infomercial viewers discover that spectacular pictures can be taken with the Nikon S series cameras that will give them incredible memories for a lifetime.

The target audience of Nikon’s “Grand Adventures” are both male and female, ranging from young adult to senior citizen. The Nikon campaign goal is to generate interest in the new ‘S Series’ cameras.

“Clean Machine 2000”, Solutia – Bronze Telly Award

After sitting on retail shelves for over 30 years, St. Louis – based Solutia Inc. sought to set the billion-dollar-a-year doormat industry on fire by utilizing DRTV to help refresh an existing brand via spots for the company’s new AstroTurf Clean Machine 2000 doormat.

hawthorne direct created the “Clean Machine 2000” spot, with the purpose of teaching the viewer that using the correct doormat really makes a difference. Clean Machine 2000 blocks the dirt out of your home by ‘grabbing’ the dirt.

The revolutionary doormat has 18,246 scrubbing blades, made of space age fibers. Clean Machine 2000 halts, holds and hides the dirt at the door. In fact, Clean Machine 2000 can hold up to 8 lbs. of dirt…dirt that isn’t being brought in on the bottom of shoes. It is simple, inexpensive and it works. Clean Machine 2000 works by keeping the dirt at the door.

Celebrating with its 21st annual competition, Telly Awards was founded in 1980, to showcase and give recognition to outstanding non-network and cable TV commercials. The competition was expanded several years ago to include film and video productions as well as non-network TV programming.

The number of entries in the Telly competition has grown incredibly, from around 4000 entries in 1990 to 11,147 in 1999. This year, they are expecting in excess of 12,000 entries. Judges consist of a group of over 20 production professional from all regions of the USA. They represent a cross section of producers: from agencies, TV stations, production houses and corporate video departments. All judges have previously won a Telly.

"We are very pleased to have received these three prestigious Telly Awards," said Timothy R. Hawthorne, chairman and executive creative director of hawthorne direct. "Winning a Telly Award is in effect, receiving an endorsement from your peers that celebrates the quality of your work. We take great pride in our creativity and anticipate many more great campaigns in the years to come."

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.