Immersion. It's almost the only way to help someone appreciate something they haven't seen before, which is what defines a "product launch." Both KIA and Oakley took the gaming route, with KIA becoming the first ever sponsor of E3 on Microsoft's Xbox, and developing a game for the iPhone. Oakley's advergame took its downhill racers to Facebook. Both were extremely successful. Which had the best approach for its product? You decide.

Email, too, is often called upon for trial or instant conversion. PGATour.com embedded streaming video. Electrolux created a whole clickable laundry room and kitchen. HP embedded personalization options that allowed people to change their emails just by tweaking their profiles; the twist here was that people could see for themselves the impact that changing their info had on the information they'd receive, tweaking the instant-gratification impulse.

All our finalists are raising the bar for the industry, and they're joined by Eyeblaster, our premier sponsor in fostering lasting innovation and creativity. We're grateful for their encouragement. A more in-depth look at the DPAC Awards finalists on DM2PRO.com continues all this month. Pay attention. Your reward could be greater than the insights you glean from sitting at the feet of the pros.

Best Digital Product Launch

Initiative / Kia Soul

Iniative's launch for the gadget-heavy Kia Soul is a blueprint for how to appeal to fun-loving first adopters. Among the highlights: Soul was the first automotive advertiser on mobile music applications, the exclusive (and first ever) sponsor of E3 on Microsoft’s Xbox, including a sweepstake with a Soul presented at E3. It created buzz through in-game ads (NBA live, Guitar Hero and Scene-it etc.) It boasted a heavy presence on Facebook, promoting the Soul fan-page via custom Soul gifts, as well as polling and video ads. And it launched a custom Soul game for the iPhone.

MEA Digital / Oakley

At the heart of MEA Digital's Oakley campaign was a custom, online-only “advergame” called Citizens of Powder. Users could select their favorite athlete and race down a virtual course, picking up power-boosting objects and performing signature tricks to earn points. If they earned a top score, it was displayed in real time across the web in rich media banners and a microsite. We also provided widgets and applications via popular social networking platforms such as Facebook, which allowed users to challenge friends and try to claim the top spot on leader board.

Best Email Marketing Campaign

Acxiom for HP

Acxiom worked with Hewlett Packard on a dynamically triggered email marketing campaign and user friendly interactive application. The application, called HP IPP, allowed HP's 'Technology at Work' newsletter subscribers to build, customize and preview their email newsletters while completing their online profiles. Subscribers can preview in real time what their email newsletters will look like, select the category of articles that interest them and customize their content while completing their online profile. The ability for customers to create and dynamically tailor their vendor messages resulted in an increase of an average of almost 50% in completed profiles.

Datran Media / PGATour.com

PGATour.com thought live video snippets embedded in email would help attract viewers to their site. Through systematic testing and the state-of-the-art technology and its email platform, StormPost, Datran Media helped PGATour.com deliver groundbreaking email messages with live streaming video. Emails with video received a 34 percent click-through rate versus a 14 percent click-through rate for the emails without the streaming video.

Electrolux

In the major appliance marketplace competitive messages are typically delivered through print and broadcast media. Using email as a tool set Electrolux/Frigidaire apart from their competition in a way that was unique and appropriate as the customer was not accustomed to being spoken to through email in this category.