Cowan & Company Wins Ovation Award for L'Oréal Paris "Beauty Tubes on YouTube" Campaign

TORONTO – May 29, 2009 – Cowan & Company Communications Inc. (C&C), a boutique PR firm for first-class brands, was awarded an Ovation Award of Merit last night by International Association of Business Communicators (IABC/Toronto). The Ovation Award was in recognition for a Media Relations campaign C&C initiated that leveraged social media tools to generate online visibility for the launch of a new L'Oréal Paris mascara, Double Extend Beauty Tubes.

In addition to the traditional media relations and advertising components of the overall product launch, C&C recommended the creation of the YouTube video and Blog Product Giveaways to generate pre-launch buzz and awareness and establish post launch continued leadership. C&C created two videos for YouTube that showcased the hot new makeup trends for spring 2009 as predicted by L'Oréal Paris' Official Makeup Artist, Eddie Maleterre and showcased during L'Oréal Fashion Week. Based on the work Eddie Maleterre was doing with participating Fashion Week designers, C&C profiled a well-known designer in each video whose runway makeup look was in line with the Day and Evening trends. In addition to profiling the designers and key Makeup Looks, both videos focused on a demo and key messages for Double Extend Beauty Tubes as part of the overall content.

To generate trials and word-of-mouth buzz for the new mascara, C&C also worked with targeted Beauty and Lifestyle online media and blogs to do Product Giveaways of Double Extend Beauty Tubes to inspire online reviews, trials and general online discussion. These product giveaways were conducted with five top beauty-related websites - Canadianbeauty.com. Makeupjunkie.ca, Lipstickpowdernpaint.com, Slice.ca, and Imabeautygeek.com – and featured product profiles, and positioned the product as a must-have, coveted item that helped to generate trials and word-of-mouth buzz.

To date, in addition to thousands of hits on YouTube and online promos which exceeded the set goals, media coverage of Double Extend Beauty Tubes has included mentions in Hello, Glow, Fashion, Elle, Flare, Metro, Sweetspot.ca and CityLine. In total this campaign has succeeded in generating more than 7 million impressions for this product launch to date.

About Cowan & Company
Cowan & Company Communications Inc. (C&C) is a boutique communications firm for first-class brands. Established in 2002, the firm offers a full array of PR services specializing in media relations, collateral development, event management and promotions. C&C clients include L'Oréal Paris, Kraft Canada, Casey's Grill • Bar, Prime Pubs, Bier Markt, East Side Mario's and the Pedorthic Association of Canada. Cowan & Company was named "Small PR Agency of the Year" in 2007 and 2008 by IABC/Toronto. For more information visit www.cowanandcompany.net.

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Media Contact:
Cathy Cowan, Cowan & Company
416-462-8773 ext. 11 or
cathy@cowanandcompany.net