Chemistry Wins EFFIE for Groundbreaking Launch of Frontdoor

Independent full-service advertising agency Chemistry was recognized last week at the annual Effie awards gala with a Silver in the Marketing Innovation Solutions / Business/Product/Service Innovation category for its work with Frontdoor, a first-of-its-kind mobile app addressing the evolving needs of tech-savvy homeowners. This category awards marketing that had an exceptionally positive impact on the market position of a brand, product, or service.

“In a world where most apps fail their first year out, we have been blown away by the initial success of this product and are even more thrilled to share this success with our agency partners who helped bring it to life. Chemistry’s work in building the consumer experience and the subsequent paid media launch was a study in how truly integrated marketing can and should work,” said Kathy Collins, Frontdoor, Inc.’s Chief Revenue Officer, who has responsibility for sales, marketing, and strategy.

Frontdoor, Inc., the nation’s leading provider of home warranties with about two million members, launched Frontdoor^®, in April of 2023. Since its launch, the app has surpassed two million downloads and has yet to show signs of slowing. 

In a crowded category and with a fraction of competitive spend, the campaign focused on key media usage insights that identified the target audience’s consumption habits. This included live sports (Major League Baseball’s opening week and the NFL Draft on ESPN), streaming audio services and podcasts, Hulu & HBO Max custom units, and a HGTV Smart Home sponsorship as well as a partnership with Amazon Prime, where Frontdoor showed up at people’s front doors in the form of a custom-branded box. Once interest was piqued through broad media tactics, there was continuous exposure with targeting digital and in-app download campaigns within Apple and Android app stores.

The multi-phase media plan met and exceeded Frontdoor’s goals, including aided brand awareness of 52% among homeowners (in less than five months) and even higher (61%) among the target audience. The popularity of the term “Frontdoor” tripled in a one-month period, sessions on www.frontdoor.com were 28 times higher during the campaign and download goals were exceeded by 153% for the entire year.

Chemistry’s work for Frontdoor has received tremendous industry award show recognition, including being a named finalist for two Digiday Media Buying & Planning Awards, one MediaPost Planning & Buying Award, and shortlisted for The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas. The agency was also named a finalist for Digiday’s Independent Media Agency of the Year. This comes following a year of significant growth for Chemistry’s media department, with the agency tripling its media revenue and securing new media clients, including PPG Industries, Georgia Power, Frontdoor, and American Home Shield. The agency has driven 18% organic growth from a media client roster that includes Five Guys, UPMC Health Plan, Atlanta United, Siemens, and CG Insurance. All of this has led to the agency’s fifth straight year of profit margins exceeding industry and agency benchmarks.

Chemistry’s Chief Media Officer Jason Dille said, “Chemistry’s media team is extremely proud of the strategic, results-driven work we do for all our clients. We are especially proud that the Effie judges considered our Frontdoor media strategy worthy of this honor. It is a testament to our focus on controlled experimentation and breakthrough ideas coming from a skilled media staff. We extend our gratitude to Frontdoor for entrusting Chemistry with their media investment and are excited to continue the partnership with new marketing challenges in 2024 and beyond.”