Arnold is honored with an Effie award

Arnold of Boston was among the local ad agencies and public relations firms that were honored in a New York ceremony earlier this week for the 40th Annual Effie Awards, which salutes excellence in advertising and marketing.

Arnold was cited for its work for Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., the agricultural cooperative whose headquarters are in Lakeville and Middleborough.

Arnold's work for Ocean Spray features the theme of "Straight from the Bog," and TV ads have included "two 'growers' humorously touting the many taste and health attributes of Ocean Spray produts, while hip-deep in a flooded cranberry bog," an Arnold press release on the campaign noted.

Ads seek to celebrate the cranberry's unique taste, its health benefits, and the history of cranberry growers, the release added.

Other local winners included Boston ad agency Connelly Partners and Weber Shandwick, a PR firm with offices in Cambridge.

The Grand Effie was won by Leo Burnett of Chicago for its work promoting Wii, the gaming system from Nintendo. The theme of the ads: "Wii Would Like to Play."

A press release from the Effie event's organizers said, "The 'Wii Would Like to Play' campaign chose not to embrace an obvious strategy, namely fawning over the prized teenage male gamer. Instead, Wii targeted his mom, dad, and grandmother. While the competition catered to a narrow audience, Wii invited everyone to play. As a result, Wii has been sold out nationwide since the launch and ignited a cultural phenomenon in how people experience video games."

(At right, folks use the Nintendo Wii to enjoy some virtual bowling.)

In selecting winners, Effie judges don't simply evaluate a campaign's creativity but also take into account the effectiveness of a campaign in producing results, the press release noted.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)