All in all there was a great selection of work to go through. I had so much fun digging in. Thank you.
BEST TV Winner: iPhone 14 '
Long Nights. Longer Battery Life' - TBWAMedia Arts Lab, LA. So good. So tight. So dumb, in the best possible way. Here's a spot that intersects its audience's culture with a relevant product benefit in a memorable and charming way. So good to see humour poking its way back into ads again. The casting is spot on (apparently two old Canadian hockey stars) the track is subtle but hits. Could have been a true :30 but who's counting when it's this good;). I'm jealous and that's what dumb will make you.
Admittedly I'm torn for second and third. But Schweppes '
I Like It Like That' - TBWAParis comes in as runner up. It is simply beautiful and charming and from a soda sometimes that's all you want. Everything about it is considered and tasteful, something quite rare these days.
An honourable mention to
Kleenex - I wish they had put a better line on the spot... perhaps their campaign line "Save the Sleeve"?
BEST PRINTTough week for print. Surprising, as the awards cycle is starting to roll once more. Speaking of which...
Winner: New York Festivals Advertising Awards '
Show Us Something We Haven't Seen, Taxi' - BCW Global. Simple. And simple is always good. On top of that it's visually arresting and it's coupled with a good line and great typography all working to create a beautifully balanced layout, I'd page back for it..
Runner up: AIG '
Travellers' - WINGS The Agency. Ah... the old search engine ad. A well trodden arena but I will say still relevant to the travel audience and smart.
BEST OUTDOOR Winner: Skinny '
Phone it in' - Colenso BBDO. I. Love. A. Hack. And this delivers hack vibes in heaps. Using outdoor to make your radio spots, for free, by your audience, some of those on your competitors devices. I'm done! Great copy, lovingly laid out and the attention to detail and effort in writing spots specific to locations. Chefs kiss.
Runner up: Dove Men+Care '
Hug Like A Dove Man' - Edelman. A nice simple activation that subtly brings to life a product benefit in a real human experience. The genius is doing it in the losing superbowl team's home city. Sometimes I think we lose that human moment or connection in the work and I guarantee you everyone who got a hug that day felt a little better and probably told someone about it.
BEST INTERACTIVEWinner: United24 / Voices of Children / Nova Ukraine / Vostok-SOS '
The Undeniable Street View' - and us. Undeniably revealing. Undeniably necessary. Undeniably powerful. The idea is simple, the execution is brave and that always makes for moving work. I'm always delighted when ideas take what is so everyday and ubiquitous and put a new lens on it. All of a sudden a street view isn't a street view anymore; it's a vehicle for truth.
Runner up: Orange Middle East & Africa '
Cultural Avatars #MaxYourIdentity' - Publicis Conseil, Paris. As the gaming world continues to explode, I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner. Really simple and truly interactive. Hopefully one day we will catch up.
BEST RADIOWinner: Hell Pizza '
Scratch & Sniff' - Special Wellington. Simple device that's relevant to the product. Entertaining dialogue, provocative and intriguing enough to keep me interested the whole way through. All the ingredients for a great spot. Sounds like the team had a lot of fun writing these and it always comes through in the work. 10/10 would try.
Runner up: Samaritans '
Do you ever let your ears stop and smell the roses?' - Clayton & Dillon. Some of the best sound design I've heard in a while and a really nice little thought behind the execution.
This week's guest judge is Ryan Barkhuizen, group creative director at VMLY&R Kansas City.
Ryan's mantra is "Less talkie-talkie more workie-workie". Which is probably why he ended up being an award winning art director and is drawn to the more simple things in life. Currently he serves as GCD on the Wendy's account at VMLY&R Kansas City, where he loves intersecting the brand with culture at moments that count. Like the 4 word "meat" tweet that hijacked Meta's launch and a Facebook campaign for Wendy's that throws all best practices out the window by acting like a boomer, which Facebook called "The most connected to culture campaign of 2022". See, he likes the simple things. Ryan is super excited to look at the work this week so... less talkie let's get to the workie.
