Historic night for Australia at D&AD: record two Black Pencils, seven Yellow Pencils awarded

Australian advertising history was made tonight at the D&AD Awards in London, with a record two Black Pencils and seven Yellow Pencils awarded to down under shops – which placed Australian third on the Pencil tally just behind the United States – with two Black Pencils and nine Yellow Pencils – and the UK – with 10 Yellow Pencils (but no Black).

CumminsNitro, Brisbane (now SapientNitro) was the most awarded agency in the world on the night  – winning two of only five Black Pencils awarded – both predictably for the Queensland Tourism ‘Best job in the world’ campaign – one in Direct, the other in Integrated. The campaign also won two Yellow Pencils on the way to being awarded the very rare Black Pencils, crowning a record run of awards the campaign has won at every major show in the world – including three Grand Prix at Cannes. Without doubt, Best Job is now the most awarded ad campaign ever in the history of advertising.

Droga5 Australia was the third most awarded agency in the world on the night – scoring an impressive three Yellow Pencils (Ben Akers – pictured above left  – senior copywriter at D5 Sydney – writer on 4320LA.com or V Australia – with Droga5 Sydney’s haul, as well as a Yellow pencil he picked up for D5 NY for Puma –  who was at the awards, along with creative partner Ben Smith – pictured below left) two for the VB ‘The Regulars’ campaign in TV & Cinema Advertising and also Writing for Advertising. The agency’s third Yellow Pencil was awarded in Direct for V Australia ‘4230LA’ .

Publicis Mojo, Sydney won two Yellow Pencils, both for the Boag’s ‘Pure Waters’ commercial (which recently won the Clio Grand Prix), one in the TV & Cinema Advertising category, the other for Direction, awarded to Steve Rogers at Revolver.

Colenso BBDO/AIM Proximity, Auckland scored New Zealand’s only Yellow Pencil, won for the Yellow Pages ‘Treehouse’ campaign in the Branding category that has been a huge award-winner over the last year.

TBWA\Hunt Lascaris, Johannesburg was the second most awarded agency in terms of Pencils, taking home a Black Pencil in Graphic Design for the ‘Trillion Dollar Flyer’ – the campaign that turned money into a medium to promote exiled newspaper The Zimbabwean. In addition to its Black Pencil, the agency was awarded three Yellow Pencils in Graphic Design, Outdoor and Integrated for different elements of the agency’s work for The Zimbabwean.

‘The High Line’, almost 2.5km of Inner City Park built on a section of a former elevated freight railroad in New York City, was created by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and awarded a Black Pencil in Environmental Design. Apple continued its winning streak at D&AD with a Black Pencil in Websites for Apple.com.

Says D&AD President Paul Brazier: “And there we have it. Proof, if it were needed, that creativity shines in the face of global recession, and even political oppression. Over the last few years at D&AD, ever more ingenious creative work has been rewarded. Maybe the rise of digital has had something to do with it. That showed us you didn’t need to use traditional media to solve clients’ problems. And when a simple stamp on a useless bank note can make a statement for freedom of speech and a Barrier Reef tourist destination can become the biggest story on the news, it really feels like times are changing.

Speaking further on SapientNitro’s achievement, Brazier said: “Thirty five thousand people applied for The Best Job in the World. The idea is so well-known now, we almost take it for granted. We shouldn’t. It’s a brilliant leap of thinking.  Rather than write another invisible tourism campaign for the Great Barrier Reef, SapientNitro’s idea got the region splashed all over the world.”

Associate creative directors Cristian Staal and Ralph Barnett collected the awards (pictured above at D&AD) on behalf of the agency. To date the campaign, created by the company’s Brisbane agency, has received more than 60 awards including three Grand Prix and five Cannes Lions.  

SapientNitro’s Executive Creative Directors James Burchill and Nancy Hartley said it was the culmination of a world-record breaking run of awards for the campaign: “The fact that this is the first Australian campaign in history to be awarded a D&AD Black Pencil, let alone two of them, puts into perspective what a rare honour this is,” said Hartley.

“The Black Pencil is reserved for work that is considered game-changing,” added Burchill. “To do ground-breaking work requires a visionary client and we are as thrilled for Tourism Queensland as we are for ourselves.”

In total, only five Black Pencils and forty-two Yellow Pencils were awarded this year. All of the winning work can be viewed here