London Fire Department with Partner Environics Analytics Wins Prestigious Canadian Marketing Association Award
The Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) has honoured the London Fire Department (LFD) and its analytics partner Environics Analytics (EA) with a prestigious national award for a data-based marketing campaign, “Fighting Fires with Marketing Analytics.” The LFD received a bronze award in the category of Direct Engagement/Not for Profits at the 44th annual CMA Awards ceremony held December 5th in Toronto.
Using customer segmentation and data analytics expertise provided by EA, the LFD’s 2013 campaign identified those who caused the most fires, determined their lifestyles and values, and then developed a targeted marketing campaign featuring differentiated messages designed to reduce risky behaviours. Last year, residential fires in London dropped by 22 percent, saving lives, reducing injuries and averting potentially millions of dollars in property damage—and the approach is now being adopted by fire departments across Ontario.
“Receiving a national marketing award confirms our creative and innovative approach to fighting fires before they start,” said Fire Chief John Kobarda of the LFD. “That was made possible through our strong partnership with Environics Analytics. Besides reducing the number of fires, the effort resulted in a significant qualitative measure: a philosophical and cultural change at the LFD. Using analytics to understand the demographics behind who is having fires, and where similar groups of people reside, enabled us to use a targeted and tailored approach to the first two lines of defence: education and prevention. This innovative fire safety marketing approach, as well as the results achieved by the LFD, has caught the attention of the Ontario Fire Marshal who is now promoting the concept to other fire departments in the province.”
The CMA’s annual competition begins with judges who evaluate hundreds of submissions from across Canada and in all marketing disciplines, with the best submissions moving on to a second round of judging by a panel of 16 top marketing and advertising professionals. Judges consider business objectives, the creative approach to marketing and the results. In announcing the award to the LFD, CMA Events Director Jeanette Soo stated, “These awards celebrate the best and brightest in Canadian marketing, and your campaign is representative of this excellence.”
“With the high calibre of the entries from across the country, it is truly an honour for the contributions of a marketing analytics company to be recognized in a direct engagement campaign,” said Jan Kestle, president of Environics Analytics. “In collaboration with the London Fire Department, we were able to develop the insights and messages that resonated with the target audiences most at risk for causing fires. We’re most gratified that the campaign helped reduce the number of fires and save lives.”
The CMA Awards are presented each year and open to both members and non-members. This year, 142 companies received awards in seven categories: Advertising, Digital, Direct Engagement, Integrated, Experiential and Innovative Media, Promotion/Shopper Marketing and Community Engagement.