Window and Door Sept. 2012 : Page 47
³ SPECIAL FEATURE —2012 Crystal Achievement Awards l Most Innovative Marketing Program Large Manufacturer Lead-Free Awareness Campaign Simonton Windows, Columbus, Ohio. n 2011, while much of the industry continued to debate the merits of Environmental Protection Agency Lead Remodeling, Repair and Painting rulles, Simonton Windows decided to embrace the opportunity to educate remodelers and homeowners about the hazards of lead paint in homes built before 1978. The company created a multimedia campaign to make people aware that lead dust, created by the friction of opening and closing win-dows in older hopes, can have serious and damaging ef-fects on people–especially children and pregnant women. To bring expertise and knowledge about the lead safety issue to the campaign, the window manufacturer turned to Rick Nevin, a consultant to the National Centerfor Healthy Housing, a leading advocacy group involved with the issue. “Replacing older windows is one of the best ways to reduce lead risks,” he asserts in the campaign. “Make sure to use only a contractor that is certified in lead-safe work practices and strongly consider the use of Energy Star qualified windows.” The theme of “Get the Lead Out” was established as a cohesive message for conumers and contractors, with a special website page created for all audiences at www. simonton.com/leadsafe. Another central element of the campaign was a YouTube video explaining the risks of lead exposure. The multi-faceted campaign went much further, howev-er. To reach consumers, the company created a “Get the Lead Out” informational brochure. To get the message to a wider audience, it reached out to “Mommy Bloggers,” informing them about the lead-safe video. It also sent a “Lead Paint Hazards and Older Windows” press release in conjunction with National Poison Prevention Week. Targeting professionals, Simonton created a “Get the Lead Out” informational brochure for contractors, and also sponsored a pull-out educational poster on the RRP rule in Replacement Contractor and Remodeling. For its customers, it featured cover stories in its InFocus and NDX Advantage e-newsletters. Finally, Simonton featured the “Get the Lead Out” campaign in its blog and Facebook page. It also urged its customers and others to share the video link and infor-mation via Twitter, Facebook and other social media. I Simonton’s special Lead-Safe web page A centerpiece of the Simonton campaign was a YouTube video www.WindowandDoor.com 47
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