IRVINGTON, N.Y., Friday, November 19th 2010 [ME NewsWire]:
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- House Party, a leading consumer activation and experiential marketing company, was named the winner of the Energizing category within the B2C International Division of the 2010 Forrester Groundswell Awards, for its Microsoft Windows 7 Global Launch Party event. The awards were announced at the Forrester EMEA Marketing & Strategy Forum in placeCityLondon today. In late 2009, House Party helped Microsoft debut its highly-anticipated Windows 7 operating system globally through the company’s signature in-home activation programs.
The Energizing category recognizes social technologies that get a company’s best customers to evangelize its products. Through the Microsoft Windows 7 Launch Party event, more than 40,000 Launch Parties took place with Microsoft brand advocates and employees as the party hosts in 12 countries and seven languages. Parties were attended by the hosts’ friends and family, and their experiences were shared by millions more via the event’s custom branded website, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
The event generated over 78 million brand impressions and over two million hours of consumer engagement. In addition, independent research found the consumers who were reached by the parties, even six months after the parties, were over twice as knowledgeable about Windows 7, over twice as likely to purchase it, and over six times as likely to recommend it, than those not reached.
“House Party is honored to be recognized by Forrester Research for the Microsoft Windows 7 Launch Party event – it is our largest event to date and our first international event,” said Kitty Kolding, CEO of House Party. “We remain thrilled that Microsoft incorporated our capabilities to help unveil such a pivotal product. The results we have seen, spanning six months after the program was concluded, are extremely powerful and demonstrate the strength of deploying the House Party platform for consumer brands.”
The Forrester Groundswell Awards recognize excellence in achieving business and organizational goals with social technology applications. The awards program was developed to support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester Research books Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008) and Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business (Harvard Business Press, 2010). [The fourth annual Forrester Groundswell Awards were announced at the Forrester Consumer Forum in Chicago.] This year, there were more than 130 entries to the Forrester Groundswell Awards in four divisions including Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Management and International.
Independent research also found that the Microsoft Windows 7 Launch Party event caused the other media within the Windows 7 launch campaign to perform better, producing a “media multiplier” effect that was measurable, powerful and long lasting: six months after the parties, participants were still 40% more likely to notice Windows 7 television ads, 40% more likely to recognize the ads’ messages, and 83% more favorable toward the ads, when compared to a control group.
This is the second Forrester Groundswell Award for House Party. The company received a 2008 Forrester Groundswell Award in the Energizing category for their work with The Hershey Company. House Party conducted a 10,000 party event across the United States for the launch of Hershey’s Bliss Chocolate.
House Party specializes in engaging a select group of consumer advocates to host in-home parties where a brand or product is at the center. The Windows 7 launch parties took place in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Hong Kong and Japan. Hosts received an exclusive copy of Windows 7 Ultimate before it was available at retail, and all partygoers experienced and learned about Windows 7’s new offerings in a fun, party atmosphere. Hosts used House Party’s proprietary online tools and resources to plan their parties, document their activities and amplify their experience online and via social media, exponentially increasing the reach of their in-home parties.
“We’re thrilled by the diversity and quality of the entries in this year’s International Forrester Groundswell Awards,” said Nate Elliott, principal analyst at Forrester. “With consumers worldwide embracing social technologies, the Groundswell is now global. The finalists and winners we’ve recognized — including local efforts on four continents and a number of truly global programs — are among the leaders in using social tools to reach and serve their customers.”
More information about the Forrester Groundswell Awards is available at http://www.forrester.com/empowered.
About House Party
Founded in 2005, House Party (www.houseparty.com) is a leading consumer activation and experiential marketing services company that engages thousands of qualified consumer advocates who host in-home parties featuring a brand, product or element of entertainment programming. Managed via a proprietary, customized online community space for each brand event, consumers engage both in home and online to explore and promote brands they love. Headquartered in Irvington, NY, House Party works with such industries as consumer packaged goods, food & beverage, television, theatrical releases, consumer electronics, pharmaceutical, toys & games and automotive. Current clients include NBC, Disney, Ford, Microsoft and P&G.
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