1. Baltic Regions Leading International Adversiting Festival Awards Announced
Latvia’s Jūrmala was host to the Golden Hammer awards, cementing it’s reputation as the Baltic region’s leading international advertising festival. They say: “Golden Hammer is a festival of creativity in every sense. We honour victories achieved, congratulate passionate projects and celebrate the awesomeness of bright minds that know no boundaries”. The award festival has been going since 1999, with the aim of triggering new ways of looking at advertising and embracing changes in the industry.
Golden Hammer winners of the night included Lithuanian agency MILK for creative, Romanian company Geomery Global Bucharest walked away with three awards for PR, Communications, and Network Of The Year, whilst Russia’s Look AT Media won for interactive.
The agency, Milk, won for the their campaign for TransferGo, a new company making international money transfers faster, cheaper and easier. The campaign features famous people from Lithuanian banknotes engaged in touristic activities around Europe (above).
2. Campbell Ewald Win WARC Grand Prix For Project Architeuthis
Marketing communications agency, Campbell Ewald, won the 2015 WARC Grand Prix for their social strategy. The received the award for their work on Project Architeuthis, a campaign developed for the Royal Navy. This is the competition’s highest award, and they beat out work by the likes of global brands such as Nestle, Pepsi Max and Adidas. This is the second annual WARC Prize for Social Strategy, searching around the world for marketing strategies that inspire social effects (judged by conversation, sharing, participation or advocacy), and that have also had measureable business impact.
Project Architeuthis is a puzzle based alternate reality game that draws attention to the Navy’s cryptology. The multi-platform social campaign mixed up strategic insight with creative thinking to get players thinking like a cryptologist. The campaign was credited with helping the Navy reach its recruitment goals. The campaign gained social media buzz and press attention (more than 50 pieces of coverage globally). It’s something of a winning streak for Campbell Ewald, having won ten awards so far this year for the campaign.
On winning the award, Jim Palmer, CEO of Campbell Ewald said, “Winning the Grand Prix is a testament to the global reach this campaign has seen. Project Architeuthis moved the needle for U.S. Navy recruitment, and we are proud to stand behind a campaign that has achieved such a high calibre of recognition… We are honoured, as always, to do work for the people who work so tirelessly to protect our country.”
3. Facebook Awards 2015 Announce Winners
Facebook announced the winners of the fourth annual Facebook Awards, to recognise the best creative work across Facebook and Instagram in the last year. It’s been the biggest collection of work across the social media sites yet, with over 2700 submissions from over 160 countries. As mobile and video consumption continue to grow, brands are building immersive storytelling into the platforms.
Facebook noted: “Winning work doesn’t just wow audiences. It drives businesses results. Brands and agencies that submit their work for review have an opportunity to receive international recognition from the top minds in the industry, including members of our Creative Council, and set the standard for marketing excellence on Facebook and Instagram.”
The Blue Award, the top honour, went to Leo Burnett and Procter & Gamble for their inspiring Always' Like a Girl campaign. The Blue For Good Award, which recognises excellence in charitable/non-profit campaigns, went to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (which reached more people than any other event in Facebook history, other than the 2014 World Cup, and raised more then $225M).
4. Paul Weiland Recieves OBE
An award that’s not necessarily an agency win, but a big deal nonetheless, is Paul Weiland’s OBE. The London ad legend is recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, for his services to advertising. Not that Weiland is any stranger to awards, with an Emmy, a BAFTA and a Lifetime Achievement award at D&AD under his belt. Weiland has been involved in creating over 1000 commercials, as well as directing TV shows and movies... Oh and he’s also the founder, ECD and director at Contagious London, an advertising agency and production company.
His most successful campaign is often thought to be a series for Walkers crisps, featuring celebrities including (obviously) Gary Lineker but also (less obviously) Victoria Beckham. In an interview with the Evening Standard, Weiland said "A friend said to me the other day that they've become like little Woody Allen films – people want to appear in them”. Another iconic piece of work is the Guardian’s Points of View commercial, shot in black and white with a simple message (see above).
On receiving the OBE, he said: “"Some people make it their life’s ambition to get acknowledgement wherever they can, but I hadn’t really thought about it. But people’s reactions have been amazing. It’s almost like getting an Oscar. I didn’t realise people held it in such high esteem. It’s been the cherry on the career cake."
5. Innovation Shortlist Announced For Cannes Lions 2015
So, who’s made it onto the Innovation Lions list? Now in it’s third year, the award has seen a 10% growth in entries, from over 41 countries. Looking at the intersection between data, tech and ideas this is a festival within a festival, that aims to reflect the changes in the industry and the impact technology has on the way we communicate ideas. The Lions Innovation series will also have talks by industry game-changes, with product demos, networking events and the award ceremony all taking place at the Palais des Festivals.
Lions Festivals CEO Philip Thomas said, “The growth of the Innovation Lions is testament to the now instrumental role of innovation in the industry, something which we’re excited to explore further through the festival”. A key theme has been initiative, with a strong trend towards solutions to global issues being observed. Jury President Nick Law suggests this is because “A creative culture with the courage to imagine a better future will reshape an industry and the world. These Lions are a measure our industry’s appetite for innovation, and our collective ambition to effect change, not just react to it”. You can view and download the shortlist here.
