hawthorne direct Aegis Awards Winner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE hawthorne direct Aegis Awards Winner Fairfield, IA - hawthorne direct, the direct response TV advertising agency, recently received two Aegis Winner Trophies for the Sonic Web and IDapz  Sunglasses commercials.  hawthorne direct also received two Aegis Finalist Trophies for the Time Life Sounds of the 80’s commercial and WorldTeach documentary."

We are honored to receive this recognition from the Aegis competition.  It is incredibly rewarding to receive affirmations of our creativity and professionalism from our peers," said Timothy R. Hawthorne, chairman and executive creative director of hawthorne direct.

The Sonic Web Show Description:

Sonic Web is one of the best selling summer home and garden infomercial products in 2002.  The electronic control device was found to be the only one on the market that works after having been put through a variety of tests, prior to the creation of its infomercial.  Its performance was exemplary at a USDA mosquito test facility where it was tested under the supervision of a retired USDA mosquito expert.  Through the results obtained from these tests, the Sonic Web infomercial was able to provide enough appealing information to send the competition scrambling and have an extremely positive impact on retail sales.  More than 6000 units have been sold on TV.

The animation used in the infomercial explained the principals behind the operation of the Sonic Web in a visually captivating manner, and made them easy to understand.  The show was structured to reveal all of the features and benefits in each act as well as in the CTAs. 

IDapz Sunglasses

The IDapz sunglasses system allows multiple arms and lenses to be exchanged allowing the owner to create a custom set of sunglasses for any specific occasion.  This unique product allows a specific set of sunglasses to be created to support all types of outdoor activities, including a goggle configuration for truly rigorous sports like skiing or dirt biking.  The system comes with three sets of interchangeable lenses for every type of lighting condition including one set which mimics the lenses used on NASA helmets.  The system also includes a carry pouch, a cleaning cloth and a Dapzie for hanging them around your neck.  The intended audience: men and women from 25 to 65 who are looking for a sunglass set for all occasions including just driving.  Project objective: to sell the IDapz system on television through infomercial Direct Response marketing.

Time Life Sounds of the 80’s

The program objective for Time Life Sounds of the 80’s is to evoke nostalgia for this period music and thereby excite and motivate viewers to purchase the entire Sounds of the 80’s music collection directly over television via infomercial marketing.  ZZ Top. Peter Gabriel, Duran Duran, The Police and more.  The top hits from the 80’s are brought together in one monumental collection.

WorldTeach: An Extraordinary Journey

Tim and Laya Hawthorne, a husband and wife team, produced, directed, shot, wrote, edited and self-funded a documentary/promotional video for WorldTeach, a 15 year-old, non-profit volunteer organization located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  As a 2-person crew, Tim and Laya took 2 months off from their jobs and flew around the world (over 35,000 miles and 30 flights) traveling to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Galapagos, Namibia and China to document the activities, thoughts, and dreams of college student volunteers teaching English, computer and environmental science in Third World countries.  Over 40 hours of tape were shot with a Sony DV Cam.  The resulting 54-minute video was presented as a gift to WorldTeach for purposes of fund raising and recruiting new volunteers at colleges and universities throughout the USA.

As a small, non-profit organization (about 250 volunteers yearly) with limited financial resources, WorldTeach was overjoyed to receive such a powerful, professionally produced recruiting and fund raising tool. Helen Claire Sievers, WorldTeach Executive Director, said: “Please know that you have made a major impact on what is a very fine program that continues to promote peace and understanding between peoples, as they help children around the world to gain the skills they will need to provide for themselves richer lives.”Through its emotional and personal portrayal of how this program touches volunteers’ and indigents’ lives, the documentary fulfills its purpose of motivating prospective volunteers to sign up and generating contributions from foundations and individuals.  With beautiful photography, compelling music and riveting glimpses into the experiences of the volunteers, this documentary also brings an uplifting message of the joy of communication that transcends language and cultural barriers.

The Aegis Awards are the video industry’s premier competition for peer recognition of outstanding video productions an non-network television commercials.  The Aegis Awards were founded over a decade ago by an independent group of directors and producers that had grown skeptical of other award competitions that seemed to be judged by people they didn’t feel had enough experience doing the creative work that they were to be judging.  The group of directors and producers modeled the Aegis Awards after the Academy Awards, allowing their peers to do the judging. 

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.

For more information about hawthorne direct please see: www.hawthornedirect.com