DDB Melbourne team Daniel Grech and Eamonn Dixon take out Adshel Creative Challenge 2012

100 of Melbourne’s best creative minds have battled it out at the annual Adshel Creative Challenge. The winning team, Daniel Grech and Eamonn Dixon from DDB Melbourne impressed a panel of high profile judges with their innovative “Night Shift” concept, an idea using an Adshel panel as the vehicle to alert authorities of street-violence in the area.

The winning concept will be used to drive not-for-profit organisation Step Back Think’s anti-violence message with a $100,000 Adshel campaign.

The two winners from DDB Melbourne will not only have boasting rights over their peers, they have also won a trip to the US to attend the 2013 New York Festival’s International Advertising Awards. For their efforts, the team has also won their agency five licenses of the latest Adobe Creative Cloud.

“It was important to make sure we could deliver the message in a simple yet impactful way. We wanted to focus on engagement and interaction with the outdoor media so that the target audience could actively participate in the campaign,” said Eamonn Dixon from DDB Melbourne.

“We were up against a lot of tough competition, and only having one hour to deliver was a real adrenaline rush. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to make a difference by helping Step Back Think communicate the consequences of street violence to young Aussies – an issue we both feel passionately about,” says Dixon.    

The winning concept was judged by a panel of industry experts and advertising gurus, which included Matt Batten, National Executive Creative Director at Wunderman, Adam Ferrier, founding partner of Naked Communications, David Ponce de Leon, Creative Director at BDnetwork and Anathea Ruys, MD Mindshare.

“The energy on the night was buzzing. The shift towards engagement is a big focus for our industry and it is great to see the creatives in Melbourne rise up to the challenge,” says Batten.

“Daniel and Eamonn presented a clever campaign and were able to maximise the unique attributes of out-of-home advertising mediums. The concepts presented by DDB Melbourne and other teams are testament to the talent in that Australian creative industry. Well done everyone,” says Batten.

The top three creative concepts delivered on the night were from DDB Melbourne, Hello, I’m Venus and Visual Jazz. The judges made their decisions based on hitting the brief, smart use of Adshel, clear messaging, creativity, and innovation.

“We are really proud to have once again hosted an event which provides Australian creative minds a chance to put their skills on display for a great cause. As out-of home continues to be a growth area in advertising, it is wonderful that our most talented creatives were able to develop concepts for Step Back Think which demonstrate the versatility of this leading edge medium. The idea that won showed that outdoor can have such wide reaching possibilities,” says Jane King, Marketing Manager at Adshel.

To see the photos of the night, check out Adshel’s Facebook page.