Howatson+Company crowned Independent Agency of the Year at the 2023 International ANDY Awards
Howatson+Company has been named Independent Agency of the Year at the International ANDY Awards announced last night, as well as Best Of Region: APAC for the agency’s campaign ‘Rejected Ales’ for Matilda Bay Brewery, which scored three awards in Bravery, Craft and Idea.
The agency also scored an award for Belong ‘Second Life Phones for Belong’ in Idea.
VMLY&R Melbourne scored two awards for Honest Eggs Co. ‘FitChix’ in Idea and RESET.
Aussie agencies scoring one award apiece include Leo Burnett Australia for Bundaberg Rum ‘Bundy Mixer’ in Idea; R/GA Australia for Museum of Chinese in Australia ‘MOCA’ in Craft and Thinkerbell for Furphy ‘What the Truck?’ in Idea.
The integrated Jury reviewed all submitted work, to determine the best ideas, craft, bravery and innovation of the past year, including work from students entering the industry.
DDB Chicago and New York was honored for the Best in Show GRANDY Award for their Apologize The Rainbow for Mars Wrigley, Skittles. Apologize The Rainbow was a re-launch of Lime-flavored Skittles by acknowledging their mistake of changing the flavor years prior. The brand offered personal apologies live on Twitch, Twitter, on billboards and more. Additionally, with a total of thirteen ideas honored within the Bravery criteria, one idea was acknowledged Best In Show for Bravery — The Elections Edition for An Nahar Newspaper from IMPACT BBDO. Lebanon as a nation was at a crux in their history with many hopeful natives for the 2022 elections. However, in a blatant attempt to obstruct democracy, government officials complained that shortages of paper and ink needed to print ballots could cancel the upcoming elections. To combat these excuses An Nahar, Lebanon’s leading newspaper did not print for the first time in 88 years. Instead, the paper and ink that were to be used for that day’s edition were instead used towards a greater cause – the printing of voting ballots.
The Public Service Honor belongs to CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) & ITV from adam&eveDDB for The Last Shot. A sobering campaign that highlighted the truth that thoughts of suicide doesn’t always look suicidal. With 125 people in the UK taking their own lives each week, long-term partners CALM and ITV put together an installation of 50 smiling portraits on the South Bank – with no mention of CALM, ITV or suicide, visitors saw people living what appeared to be happy lives. Two days later, ITV revealed the truth of the exhibition that these are the last photos of people who died by suicide. Proof that suicidal doesn’t always look suicidal. CALM will receive a $10,000 donation from The International ANDY Awards to continue their important work.
VMLY&R took top honors in RESET for I Will Always Be Me. Showcasing Dell Technologies & Intel created a book that allows those diagnosed with motor neuron disease now have the ability to voice-bank much easier than what existed before. The text itself contains all the sounds and syllables necessary to accurately bank a voice in less than 30-minutes when read aloud. And the emotions generated through the copy create a higher-quality digital voice. This win secured VMLY&R as Network of the Year with a total of 14 wins in the show and WPP as Holding Company of the year with a total of 23 wins across agencies.
Other Best Of Region include Burger Glitch, Burger King, DAVID Sao Paulo (LATAM), Discover The Originals, Visit Sweden, Forsman & Bodenfors (Europe) and The Elections Edition, An Nahar Newspaper, IMPACT BBDO (SWANA).
The ANDYs organization invests in the future of the industry by earmarking funds each year to further support the creative endeavors of those beginning their careers. For the first time students of Openlearn Academy are the recipient of The Glenn C. Smith Best in Show Student Award and a $10,000 Scholarship for their idea Building Blocks. Openlearn Academy is a streaming advertising/design school based in New York that teaches international students who need a more affordable and award-winning advertising/design curriculum.
As one of the first awards show of the season, what wins at the ANDYs often medal in other prominent shows. Here are the ANDY predictions:
A.I Ketchup, Kraft Heinz, Rethink
Apologize the Rainbow, Mars Wrigley, Skittles, DDB Chicago + DDB New York
Bring Home the Bud, Anheuser-Busch InBev – Budweiser, Wieden+Kennedy
Bundy Mixer, Diageo, Leo Burnett Australia
Cards of Qatar, Blankspot, Forsman & Bodenfors
Clash From The Past, Supercell / Clash of Clans, Wieden+Kennedy
FitChix, Honest Eggs Co., VMLY&R Australia
Get F*cked by the Government, Dame, Mischief @ No Fixed Address
Hack Market, Back Market, Marcel
Interface Interruption, Tubi, Mischief @ No Fixed Address
Los Santos +3ºc, Greenpeace, VMLY&R
Morning After Island, Grupo Estratégico PAE, Ogilvy
See My Skin, Vaseline, Edelman
The Last Photo, CALM x ITV, adam&eveDDB
The Unburnable Book, Penguin Random House, Rethink
Toxic Influence, Dove, Ogilvy
Please see here for a full list of ANDY Winners: https://andyawards.com/winners/