fbpx

D&AD hands out three Kiwi pencils as Axis winners keep winning

The south of France is significantly adding to its wanker quotient at the moment as ad folk from around the globe arrive for the 60th anniversary of Cannes (although a strike by French air traffic controllers has made it difficult). But D&AD got in there first with the announcement of its winners this week. And three of the four campaigns that earned grand prix awards at Axis backed that up with a pencil of the yellow variety. 

DraftFCB took a yellow pencil for its stunt to promote Prime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl in the radio advertising category, Colenso BBDO took one for Pedigree's 'Donation Glasses' in the direct category and String Theory took one with 'Metamorphosis' for Oxfam's Good Books initiative in the film advertising craft category. Alt Group's Silo theatre identity was the other Kiwi campaign in line for a pencil, but it came away empty-handed (here's the rest of the New Zealand winners). 

“We’re absolutely stoked," DraftFCB's Kelly Lovelock said from the Camden Roundhouse where the awards took place. "We wanted to do something that pushed and challenged the boundaries of conventional radio advertising, and it's great to see innovation in this category recognised at a show as respected as D&AD."

Lovelock and Hywel James worked with the management of More FM in the planning of the (paid for) campaign to ensure the stunt worked to maximum effect. 

‘Call Girl’ has garnered a string successes in the last month including a gold ANDY Award (the only New Zealand agency to win gold), bronze at New York Festivals, and is also shortlisted for a pencil at One Show. 

Just for shits and giggles, we asked Nielsen for the ratings results for the past few seasons to see if the stunt worked (programmes denoted with R = repeats. Ratings for 2013 are based on YTD data; latest episode that went on air – 16th of Jan 2013).​ Judge for yourself. 

As for Pedigree Donation Glasses, when we spoke with Colenso's Nick Garrett and Nick Worthington for a feature in NZ Marketing, they said the campaign, which was created in conjunction with Finch, is soon to be rolled out in the US and Europe. 

“We’re over the moon,” says Worthington. “‘Donation Glasses’ is going to reach millions of people around the world … So whether it’s us developing it here and exporting it to the rest of the world, or whether it’s the international guys ringing us up and asking us to help solve their global problems, either of those things is great.” 

Being part of the global BBDO network certainly helps grease those wheels. But Mars is also using Colenso for more work on several of its major international brands next year and the agency is being asked more regularly by the BBDO network to help out on global pitches. 

String Theory's Metamorphosis, which was made by Buck and Antfood (check out the behind-the-scenes video of how they made it sound so good) is part of the Writers Series to promote Oxfam's charitable book selling initiative Good Books. It followed this up with Havana Heat, which was made by The Mill, and Nick Barnes says the next instalment is going to be a game. 

In total, 618 awards were given by D&AD juries across in-book, nominations and yellow, black and white pencils at this year's awards, with work from over 35 countries recognised. There were a total of 51 yellow pencils awarded, appropriate given it was the 51st anniversary of the organisation. 

Four even rarer black pencils were awarded for 4creative's "Meet the Superhumans" for Channel 4 in TV & cinema communications); Heatherwick Studio's 'Olympic Cauldron' in spatial design/installations; GOV.UK's website in writing for websites & digital design; and McCann Melbourne's "Dumb Ways to Die" for Metro Trains in integrated and earned campaigns (it also received five yellow pencils in Art Direction, Earned Media Campaigns, Digital Advertising, TV & Cinema Advertising and Writing for Film Advertising). 
 
For the first time, a white pencil was awarded to the Droga5 New York for its "Help! I want to Save a Life" campaign for Help Remedies.
 
Speaking of awards, this post from an art director who thinks that ad awards are now for losers is getting a bit of traction online at the moment. And if you were wondering what else ad agencies could use their Cannes entry-fee money for, here's a handy website. 

About Author

Comments are closed.