Message Strategies of Award-Winning Marketing Communications in Europe

This paper aims to contribute to existing knowledge regarding characteristics of successful marketing communications and assess the relationship between message strategy and marketing communication type. A content analysis of 161 award-winning campaign briefs submitted to the Integrated Marketing Communications European Awards from 2006 to 2009, indicated the prevalence of transformational message strategies. Results also show that depending on the marketing communication type employed, award-winning campaigns utilized diverse message strategies. overall, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the nature of successful communication messages in Europe and provide valuable directions for practitioners, as regards the design and coordination of effective integrated marketing communication programs.