The recreational boating industry’s national marketing campaign in the US and Canada, Discover Boating, took home the top honour in the Small Budgets-Products category of the 2011 North American Effie Awards, at the 43rd annual Effie gala in New York City.

“This is a tremendous honour for the recreational boating industry and testament to the dedication of Discover Boating staff and our marketing partners to provide the best work possible for the industry,” said Carl Blackwell, chief marketing officer for Discover Boating. “In spite of economic challenges, Discover Boating focused on the most efficient and effective ways to promote boating and we’re thrilled to be recognized with a Gold Effie—alongside some of the top brands in the world—as one of the most successful North American campaigns of 2010.” 

Discover Boating was awarded the Gold Effie—the highest Effie awarded for the Small Budgets campaign—for its interactive Facebook campaign, Making Waves. In other categories, a Gold Effie was not awarded as judges did not deem a campaign a Gold winner, making the Discover Boating win even more exceptional. To create Making Waves, Discover Boating partnered with space 150, the Minneapolis-based digital communications agency, with offices in New York and Los Angeles.

The 2010 Discover Boating Making Waves campaign was designed to put at-home boating enthusiasts in the virtual captain’s chair to experience the joys of life on the water. The award recognizes the Canadian and U.S. campaign’s significant results: more than 28,000 people entered the Making Waves sweepstakes, with more than 9,000 opting in to receive the Get Started in Boating DVD; and, Discover Boating’s Facebook fans grew from 7,000 to more than 39,000 throughout the campaign’s eight-month run in 2010.

An Effie is one of the most coveted honors in advertising and is awarded based on marketing results. Winners were selected following two rounds of judging by peer panels and not all categories were awarded Gold. The Effie Awards were originally established to recognize, educate and encourage effectiveness among the marketing communications industry.