DDB and Special Group waved the Kiwi flag at this year’s edition of the APAC Facebook Awards, winning three virtual gongs between them.
DDB picked up two awards for its Chopper Appeal campaign for Westpac, which told the story of a woman trapped in a car.
The narrative of the clever interactive ad would vary depending on whether Facebook users took action or ignored it. If they simply scrolled past, then the situation of the woman worsened—essentially mirroring what would happen in real life.
“The emergency felt like it was unfolding in real time,” says DDB digital creative director Haydn Kerr. “We used daypart targeting to match the time within the film to the time in the real world. We added a time counter to the film to increase the sense of urgency.”
Not only did the campaign drive online action, but it also led to more online donations, with the Westapc Chopper Appeal getting more online donations than ever before.
Because the campaign was in support of a not-for-profit cause, DDB’s one award came in the Facebook For Good category, while the other came in the Best Use of Facebook category.
“To get two awards for the same campaign is a real feat,” says Kerr.
“Fingers crossed, both for us and Special Group as we go into the final round of judging.”
Special Group followed on its recent win the APAC Effies by picking a Facebook gong in the Best Use of Facebook Platform category.
“Last month, the Smirnoff #purepotential was judged as the single most effect piece of alcohol advertising in the entire Asia Pacific region at the APAC Effies and now it’s been recognised as one of the regions best pieces of work on Facebook and Instagram,” says Tony Bardbourne, the creative director and partner at Spcial Group.
“We couldn’t be more pleased for Smirnoff and the whole team at Lion. These are result based awards and it really shows Lion leading the way in a region of over 4.2 billion people.”
The campaign called on uninspired Instagram users to send in a picture of the contents of their fridge, to which Smirnoff with a bespoke recipe using the ingredients available.
DDB and Special Group will now move onto the global round of judging, where the winners in APAC region will be pitted against the best in the world.
