A record number of 32 golden pencils were handed out at last week’s 36th annual AWARD Awards ceremony at Sydney's Town Hall, celebrating the most outstanding creative communications work in the Asia Pacific region. 96 silver and 127 bronze awards were also given out at the ceremony which was led by Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne, who claimed six gold pencils across Promotion and Experiential, Branded Entertainment and Content, PR, and Poster and Outdoor. Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney followed closely with four gold awards across Film and Video, Creative Innovation, and Direct Marketing. Clemenger BBDO New Zealand, DDB Group Melbourne, JWT Sydney, Leo Burnett Sydney and Red Fuse Communications Hong Kong also received three golds each, while Colenso BBDO and FCB New Zealand got two, and M&C Saatchi Sydney, Ogilvy Beijing and Song Zu all scored one.
A record number of 32 golden pencils were handed out at last week’s annual AWARD Awards at Sydney's Town Hall
The Chairman's Choice award, meanwhile, went to Clemenger BBDO New Zealand for their ‘Mistakes’ campaign (below) for New Zealand Transport Agency. The award was presented by Wieden+Kennedy co-founder Dan Wieden, who said “There were some of the fantastic pieces of work here,” but the thing about the Mistakes work that helped it stand out “As the choice of talent on camera; two men of different levels in the society and a child involved.” He felt that “The whole concept of the accident stopping, the parents getting out and talking to each other was so compelling it just broke your heart when it was over.”
New Zealand Transport Agency - Mistakes
DDB were named the best New Zealand agency, only a week after being named the Creative Agency of the Year by Axis. They picked up one gold, seven silver and seven bronze at AWARD, more than double the metal of any other New Zealand agency. On top of the success at AWARD, Nick Dellabarca and Liz Richards, who took home the Best Emerging Talent prize at Axis, were awarded a silver Integrated gong for their “We Compost” campaign at the Young Guns awards earlier this week. Rory McKechnie also took home a bronze for “Bring Down the King” in the Promotions category. DDB’s CEO Justin Mowday said, “The latest wins at AWARD and Young Guns top off what’s been an exciting month” for the agency.
The coveted Network of the Year award went to Leo Burnett
The coveted Network of the Year award went to Leo Burnett, with Leo Burnett Sydney taking the prize for Agency of the Year. ANZ topped the list for Client of the Year, and Revolver/Will O’Rourke took home Production Company of the Year. Creative of the Year, an award that recognises those being credited across the most individual entries that won Bronze, Silver or Gold, was awarded to Matt Lawson from Colenso BBDO. At the climax of the presentation, David Blackley was inducted in the AWARD Hall of Fame, celebrating his outstanding achievements, including a 36 year long career with the Clemenger Group, co-founding the AWARD Awards and a long list of industry awards. Mark Harricks, chairman of AWARD, said “This really was a night to celebrate the outstanding creativity in the region, with an unprecedented number of gold pencils awarded.” He said the standard this year was higher than ever before, and “Made for an insightful judging experience for this year’s jurors!” He thanks “Everyone who gave up their time to participate,” and offer “Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.”
A PDF file featuring all of the winners can be downloaded from the AWARD website HERE.
