SDWM TAKES OUT IDEA OF THE YEAR FOR TAC ‘ZERO JERSEY’ AT MADC STARS CREATIVE SHOWCASE

600 of Melbourne’s Advertising professionals packed-out both levels of The Albion Hotel, South Melbourne last night to celebrate the ideas that triumphed at the MADC Stars Creative Showcase 2019, dressed in black to mourn the ideas that died along the way.

SDWM took out the Idea of the Year – Brand Impact with their ‘TAC – Zero Jersey’ campaign, designed to start a conversation around regional road toll loss by targeting local sporting clubs.

The jury of award winning Aussie expats, presided over by Chris Northam (SVP, executive creative director and head of creative, R/GA New York) noted: “This powerful grassroots idea targets an often hard-to-reach regional market by focussing on the lifeblood of their community – their local footy club. It starts with a behaviour (get 1,000 footy club captains to change their jersey) and is then beautifully executed on all integrated fronts: the sentiment of the design and packaging of the Zero Jersey gifted to clubs, the sample films made to inspire communities to record their own stories of road toll loss, and the PR effect of these communities sharing their own stories through social media. It brings attention and emotional context to the Zero Round, and resulted in this market considering the impacts of road safety, projected in their own voices.”

Idea of the Year (Charity/Not for Profit Impact) went to co-founders United Nations Development Programme/FINCH/Clemenger BBDO Melbourne/BBDO Worldwide/Mars, Inc/Nielsen/Jc Decaux/The Economist for ‘The Lion’s Share’ – an initiative that invites companies to contribute a small percentage of media spend from advertisements featuring animals to conservation and animal welfare projects across the world.

The jury remarked, “This is a global, world changing idea. The communications and strategy are on-point, and the promo film that has been created is impactful enough to continue to get buy-in from other organisations. This is an example of truly effective cause-based marketing, bigger than one award show cycle – it is a platform for ongoing change. It’s also an example that ideas these days can come from anywhere, and this is a modern way production companies, agencies, clients and organisations can work together as a united front to create strategy, communications and a platform to generate lasting impact.”

The MADC Stars Creative Showcase forgoes the traditional gold, silver and bronze award structure, instead opting for a curated showcase collection of Melbourne’s best work. Rather than one piece of work appearing multiple times, each piece of work features once, in the category the jury deems the strongest, with jury comments for context.

SDWM led the pack, with 4 awards, followed by The Monkeys with 3, BWM Dentsu, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Cummins& Partners, Isobar, Saatchi & Saatchi, Thinkerbell each with 2, and also with work in the showcase: By All Means, Liquorice, Ogilvy, Taboo, TBWA\Melbourne, VMLY&R Melbourne, and Wunderman Thompson Melbourne.

Production (spanning film, experiential, photography, digital, post production and sound) with contributions towards work featured in the showcase include: FINCH and AIRBAG with 4, ARC EDIT with 3, Alt.vfx, Revolver/Will O’Rourke, RISK Sound and Squeak E Clean and Sonar Music with 2, and with one piece Bang Bang Studios, Electric Dreams, Fin, Good Oil, Hase, In The Thicket, Reddogs VR and The Pool Collective.

Up and coming creative talent was also celebrated with the MADC Rising Stars Category, sponsored by Bang Bang Studios, open to creatives and craftspeople. Wins included creative team Bella Plush and Seb Covino, animator and VFX artist Henry Bullen, and technologist Dan Macnish – with each seen as having ideas and skillsets very relevant to today’s advertising landscape.

MADC President Adrian Bosich said in a speech to the crowd: “In these often challenging times, it’s important to remember what unites us, and the creativity that drives us. The MADC exists because community is so important. We are at our strongest when we elevate one another and celebrate one another. On that note, for me personally, it’s been brilliant to be a part of generating initiatives for up-and-coming talent – it’s really important that we send the lift back down, and give them opportunities to grow and shine.”

The MADC Committee would like to thank key sponsors for their contributions to making the MADC Stars Creative Showcase possible: Guilty, Electric Dreams, Alt.vfx, Coco Productions, with motion graphics by Fin.

Additionally, a thank you to all 2019 MADC agency supporters:

AJF, BWM Dentsu, By All Means, CHE Proximity, Cummins&Partners, DDB, Deloitte, Fenton Stephens, Havas Melbourne, Leo Burnett, M&C Saatchi, Marmalade, McCann, Monkeys, Ogilvy, Royals, Saatchi&Saatchi, SDWM, Taboo, TBWA, Thinkerbell, VMLY&R, WhiteGrey, and Wunderman Thompson.

The full showcase is online now at madcshowcase.com/2019 where winners can also order trophies (an initiative that keeps the entry price low).