Ogilvy Australia scores Mobile Grand Prix and Social & Influencer Grand Prix at Ad Stars 2020; Alt.vfx awarded a Grand Prix in Film; Good Oil named Production Company of the Year

AD STARS has announced this year’s Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze winners, which were chosen from 20,028 entries from 60 countries. Australia has picked up three Grand Prix prizes in this year’s competition. Ogilvy Australia, which was the most awarded agency in Australia picked up a Grand Prix in Mobile a Grand Prix in Social & Influencer and a two Golds for KFC ‘Secret Menu’; Alt.vfx scored a Film Grand Prix for AA Insurance ‘Dinosaur Vs Unicorn’. Good Oil has taken out the Production Company of the Year title.

 

Levi Slavin, chief creative officer at Colenso BBDO, New Zealand was an executive judge at the AD STARS 2020 Awards, he says: “Overall, we did get a sense of the power of creativity through the work we judged this year. As a tool and weapon, applied properly, creativity can solve anything.”

Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, the Final Jury voted on winners remotely this year. Slavin explains: “The process was more difficult than people might realize, but nobody on the jury once said, ‘Let’s not do this.’ Everybody felt it was critically important to celebrate creativity and its power. Any metal awarded at AD STARS this year is a career highlight – all winners should be very proud.”

Says Valerie Madon, chief creative officer, Asia at VMLY&R also joined AD STARS 2020 as an executive judge. She says: “It’s really exciting to see that some of the best works this year came from markets like the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka. We see more culturally relevant work getting recognition for being insightfully inspired: the impact is clear, even if the executions can be simple.”

11 Grand Prix trophies were awarded to 9 creative companies:
– 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder (Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix) and ‘Next 100’ for NFL (Film Grand Prix)
– Ogilvy Australia: ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum! (Mobile Grand Prix and Social & Influencer Grand Prix)
– Dentsu Inc., Japan: ‘Pocky THE GIFT’ for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. (Design Grand Prix)
– Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency (Diverse Insights Grand Prix)
– Alt.vfx, Australia: ‘Dinosaur Vs Unicorn’ for AA Insurance (Film Grand Prix)
– Walt Disney Company, United States: ‘Pixar Street View’ for Walt Disney World (Outdoor Grand Prix)
– Flock Creative Network, Indonesia: ‘Mad Cousin’ for McDonald’s / PT. Rekso Nasional Food (Print Grand Prix)
– Jung von matt, Germany: ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany (Radio & Audio Grand Prix)
– WPP Marketing Communications, Thailand: ‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’ for Thai Airways International (Pivot Grand Prix)

Integrated, Innovation, Mobile, Data Insights, Social & Influencer

There were no Grand Prix or Gold winners in the Integrated and Innovation categories this year.

Says Kuntze: “We saw a lot of interesting, fresh thinking, but we were missing that one true breakthrough.”

In Mobile, Ogilvy Australia won Grand Prix for ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum!

Says Sascha Kuntze, chief creative officer, BBH Singapore: “This campaign is such a fresh way to take something so mundane as a delivery app, and play with internet culture to invite people to find something. I know how hard it is for any restaurant, especially a QSR (quick service restaurant), to change their product. This stood out because it was driving business, it was cheeky, gives people a reason to talk about you and lasts longer than one day or one week of PR.”

There were also four Gold winners in Mobile:
– Ogilvy Australia, Australia: ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum!
– Bonsey Jaden, Malaysia: ‘Blink’ for Xiao En
– 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder
– Cheil Germany: ‘Ta(l)king Down the Invisible Wall’ for Diskutier Mit Mir e.V.

Says Kuntze: “To me, Mobile was the strongest of all the categories we judged. The winners show that the industry needs to be mobile-first. If you have an existing app, why not use it in an interesting way; what else can you do with it to drive engagement? Swipe Night and KFC Secret Menu both do this well – it’s really smart and something to focus on more in mobile.”

AD STARS introduced the Data Insights category in 2018. There are three Gold winners:
– Grey Malaysia: ‘WWF Your Plastic Diet’ for WWF Malaysia
– Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘The Unsaid’ for NZ Transport Agency
– jung von matt, Germany: ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany.

Says Kuntze: “Usually, data insights involve a lot of numbers. With ‘The Unsaid’, it is about stories, and using them to get a point across. It’s just very engaging and a smart way to get a lot of engagement with very little investment, simply by taking stories that are out there and packaging them in an interesting way. As for ‘Your Plastic Diet’, I had seen this organically outside of our advertising bubble, so it clearly worked, which is great – that’s the whole point of what we do, so well done.”

In Social & Influencer, Ogilvy Australia won Grand Prix for ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum!

There are also 5 Golds in this category:
– Ogilvy Australia, Australia: ‘KFC Secret Menu’ for Yum!
– Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘The Unsaid’ for NZ Transport Agency
– Ogilvy Singapore: ‘Please Arrest Me’ for RIT Foundation Singapore
– WPP Marketing Communications, Thailand: ‘Lonely Rambutan’ for Malee Group
– Leo Burnett Taiwan: ‘Souvenirs From Travel’ for China Airlines Taiwan.

Kuntze says: “AD STARS allows some of the smaller, lesser known markets to shine with their thinking and work, and I think some of the Gold winners are testament to that. ‘Please Arrest Me’ is clever, cheeky, and very provocative and brave for the region, which doesn’t usually do well with provocative work. ‘Lonely Rambutan’ is a really cheeky way of getting an old-fashioned product out there and repackaging it for the modern world and making it sharable. It’s not just a one-off idea but something that actually works.”

Film & Video Stars

In Film, Alt.vfx, Australia won a Grand Prix for ‘Dinosaur Vs Unicorn’ for AA Insurance; 72andSunny Los Angeles, United States also won a Grand Prix for ‘Next 100’ for NFL.

“Next 100 is a film that creates value in the experience beyond the screen. The production craft of the film is exceptional. It reminded me of the power that one piece of visual expression can have to move mass markets and entire nations,” explains Takahiro Hosoda, executive creative director at TBWA\HAKUHODO and a Final Judge of the Film & Video Stars categories.

“Dinosaur VS Unicorn brings a simple idea to life through production craft particularly, leveraging the CGI to the level of a feature film,” says Damisa Ongsiriwattana, co-founder/executive creative director at Sour Bangkok, who also judged this category.

There were 10 Gold winners awarded across the Film category:
– 72andSunny Amsterdam, Netherlands: ‘Fanta – In The Name of Play’ for The Coca-Cola Company, won 3 Golds
– Wunderman Thompson, United Arab Emirates: ‘Dear Neighbor’ for Bose, won 2 Golds
– OTTO Australia: ‘Dolly’s Dream – Are your words doing damage?’ for Dolly’s Dream
– Dentsu Inc. Japan: ‘Designing Tokyo’ for Mori Building Co., Ltd.
– Rafineri, Turkey: ‘LOSEV: DEAR BROTHER’ for LOSEV
– Cheil Germany: ‘Stripped of Security’ for Samsung Electronics Germany
– DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘Up, Up and Toupee’ for Virgin Australia.

In the Video Stars category, two Golds were awarded to R/GA Shanghai, China for ‘Nike Dark Horse’, created for the Nike Run Club; and FCB India for ‘The Punishing Signal’, created for Mumbai Police.

Says Hosoda: “The AD STARS Awards focus on creative diversity and the importance thereof. It’s meaningful that the creative is authentically local, while having the power to resonate globally. These two pieces were great examples of that. They delivered truly local messages, while also embodying universal human truths.”

Ongsiriwattana adds: “The Punishing Signal reflects the culture and context of India. The idea is also simple enough to change consumer behavior, more or less. Finally, the storytelling execution is so entertaining.”

Design & Print

In Design, the Grand Prix was awarded to Dentsu Inc., Japan for ‘Pocky THE GIFT’, created for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.

Fabio Caveira, senior creative / art director at OPPO China, led the Design & Print categories as executive judge. He says: “This category showed the strength of design on the Asian continent. The Grand Prix combines simplicity and incredible beauty and was a unanimous decision of the jury.”

The judges awarded 7 Gold trophies in Design:
– FCB Chicago, USA: ‘The Gun Violence History Book’ for Illinois Council for Handgun Violence, won 2 Golds
– Dentsu Inc., Japan: ‘Pocky THE GIFT’, created for Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.
– 360i, USA: ‘His Dark Materials – Personal Daemons’ for 360i
– Dentsu Inc., Japan: ‘ Everyone’s an Olympian’ for Japanese Olympic Committee and Consortium Members: Dentsu, Nomura, Dentsu Live
– 33 and Branding, China: ‘Hairstyle Figure’ for Beijing Shanmu Culture Co., Ltd
– Hakuhodo, Japan: ‘toio & toio Collection’ for Sony Interactive Entertainment.

In Print, the Grand Prix was awarded to Flock Creative Network, Indonesia for its ‘Mad Cousin’ campaign created for Indonesia McDonald’s / PT. Rekso Nasional Food.

Says Caveira: “I think what characterizes both Grand Prix campaigns is the simplicity of the idea and being connected, most of the time, to people’s reality: you can see yourself in the situations shown.”

The judges also awarded 4 Golds in Print:
– Flock Creative Network, Indonesia: ‘No Kid Can Resist’ for Indonesia McDonald’s / PT. Rekso Nasional Food, won 2 Golds
– Dentsu Creative X Inc., Japan: ‘Language Sanctuary – Ad Space for Protecting Endangered Language’ for Okinawa Times
– Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency.

Pivot, Public Service Advertising, Diverse Insights, Outdoor, Place Brand, Radio & Audio

This year, AD STARS introduced the ‘Pivot’ category to celebrate campaigns that have amplified and repositioned brands in response to COVID-19. The Grand Prix Pivot winner is WPP Marketing Communications in Thailand for ‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’, created for Thai Airways International.

Says Slavin: “I think ‘Pivot’ is a wonderful idea for a category. It’s obviously very timely given the current state of the world, but it shows how agencies can mobilize any organisation to be able to ‘pivot’, which should be best practice for the industry.”

Pancho González, chief creative officer at Inbrax in Chile, also judged this category. He adds: “‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’ knew how to understand the current context and use it to its advantage, in a very natural and organic way. The airlines have always invited you to fly and for one to do the opposite is simply positive, especially if we are in a pandemic.”

Geumbyul Bae, group creative director, Innocean Worldwide, Korea: “This idea has made the entire nation a potential customer, and it treats the coronavirus more cheerfully than any other work. The idea of turning a crisis into an opportunity with very simple and minimum cost – that is the main point of judging the Pivot category, and also the role of the advertising industry in post-coronavirus era.”

In Public Service Advertising (PSA), there was one Grand Prix winner: Serviceplan Korea’s ‘Dot Translate – The First Braille Translator Based on AI’ for Dot Incorporation.

There were also 3 Gold trophies awarded:
– 72andSunny Amsterdam, Netherlands: ‘HackYourFuture – Behind the Source’ for HackYourFuture
– Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar
– jung von matt, Germany: ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany.

Says Slavin: “One campaign that I was very excited about was ‘HackYourFuture’. This was such an elegant way to address the bias that refugees face when seeking employment. The agency turned the source code into incredible imagery to tell the story of the coders behind the site. It’s the perfect delivery of a simple idea.”

In Diverse Insights, Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand won Grand Prix for ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency.

Says Slavin: “No matter where you’re from, you can look at this campaign and understand it – even though it is absolutely tailored to a particular audience. It shows the power of having a well-understood audience. Campaigns like these absolutely do travel: it can be even more powerful to focus your ideas on particular communities.”

There were also 2 Gold trophies awarded in Diverse Insights:
– Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘The Unsaid’ for NZ Transport Agency
– ADK Creative One, Japan: Avatar Robot Café for Ory Laboratory.

Says Slavin: “‘The Unsaid’ is such a delicate and well-understood campaign, it feels like it’s coming from the audience itself. Avatar Robot Café is also a lovely idea: the agency came up with a way to provide mobility through these little robots, it’s very sweet. For me, Diverse Insights is one of the most important categories at AD STARS. Instead of doing homogenized work to communicate with global audiences, championing Diverse Insights becomes a conversation between a brand and its customers no matter where they’re from. It legitimizes and honours their environment. It is a wonderful category to judge, and the winners should all be very proud.”

In Outdoor, Walt Disney Company won the Grand Prix for ‘Pixar Street View’.

“I loved this idea and I loved the experience. As effortless as it looks, we shouldn’t underestimate how hard it must have been to make this a permanent fixture in Street View. It is an idea I genuinely wish I’d done,” says Slavin.

Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand also won Gold in Outdoor for ‘Belted Survivors’.

There are no Grand Prix or Gold winners in the Place Brand category this year.

In Radio & Audio, jung von matt, Germany won Grand Prix for ‘For Seasons composed by climate data’ for NDR Elbphilhamornie Orchestra Hamburg, Germany.

Adds Slavin: “This is a lovely use of data and experience. By using real climate change data to recompose the ‘Four Seasons’ symphony, it makes a profound statement about the impact of humans on the environment in a relatively short period of time. It becomes a very chaotic piece, but that’s part of the experience – it’s familiar and unfamiliar in the one breath. It’s a wonderful piece of work.”

Brand Experience & Activation, Creative eCommerce, Direct, Media, PR

Valerie Madon, chief creative officer, Asia at VMLY&R, Singapore led these categories as Executive Judge. Overall, she says: “It’s very reassuring to see fresh ideas that leverage tech in a more meaningful and entertaining manner with a clear idea that’s simple and engaging, not technology for technology sake.”

In Brand Experience & Activation, there are two Grand Prix winners: 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA’s ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder and Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates for ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar.

There are also 5 Gold winners:
– 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder
– DDB Group, New Zealand: ‘Lotto – LO5T’ for Lotto New Zealand
– McCann Worldgroup MENA, United Arab Emirates: ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard
– Walt Disney Company, USA: ‘Pixar Street View’ for Walt Disney World
– DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ for Red Cross Australia.

Says Madon: “Personally, my favourite piece of work is ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder because a great idea today is expected to leverage technology but also not lose sight of the emotional reward at the end of the engagement. It’s well executed and more importantly, its app function is at the core of the idea.”

This year, AD STARS introduced a new category, Creative eCommerce, to celebrate ideas that optimise the customer journey through creative eCommerce solutions. McCann Worldgroup MENA, United Arab Emirates, won Gold for ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard.

“I was really excited to notice the Creative eCommerce category, as I work for Geometry, and eCommerce is a big part of our world. ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard stood out because of its ‘damn-I-wish-I-did-that’ simplicity and… well… stellar brand fit,” explains Gabriela Lungu, global creative director at Geometry UK and founder and creative lead at Wings Creative Leadership Lab, who also judged this category.

In Direct, there are 4 Golds awarded:
– McCann Worldgroup MENA, United Arab Emirates: ‘Astronomical Sales’ for Mastercard
– TBWA\Sri Lanka: ‘Aura Incense Barricade’ for D’LAS International Sri Lanka
– Wunderman Thompson (WPP Marketing Communications, Thailand): ‘Thai Stay Home Miles Exchange’ for Thai Airways International
– Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar.

In Media, there are 6 Gold winners:
– 72andSunny Los Angeles, USA: ‘Swipe Night’ for Tinder
– Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar
– DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ for Red Cross Australia
– DDB Group, New Zealand: ‘Lotto – LO5T’ for Lotto New Zealand
– TBWA\Sri Lanka: ‘Aura Incense Barricade’ for D’LAS International Sri Lanka
– Ogilvy Pakistan: ‘Digital Birth Registration’ for Telenor 4G.

In PR, there are 5 Gold winners:
– DDB Sydney, Australia: ‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ for Red Cross Australia, won 2 Golds
– Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates: ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar
– Clemenger BBDO Wellington, New Zealand: ‘Belted Survivors’ for NZ Transport Agency
– FCB India: ‘The Punishing Signal’ for Mumbai Police.

“‘The Burnt Christmas Tree’ has shock value. It makes a sharp point. It brings awareness and creates empathy. It’s timely and relevant. It generated a lot of money to help people who lost a lot of things to the fire. It’s a homerun. Good on the team who made it and the clients who ran it,” says Terence Leong, executive creative director at R/GA Shanghai, who judged these categories.

Australian agencies including M&C Saatchi Sydney, Clemenger BBDO Sydney, McCann Melbourne, whiteGREY, Fenton Stephens, Block, Perth, Deloitte Australia, The Works and VMLY&R also won Silver, Bronze and Crystal awards at the AD STARS 2020 Awards.

AD STARS has also revealed this year’s Grand Prix of the Year winners, which will both be awarded with a US$10,000 prize:
– Impact BBDO, United Arab Emirates for ‘The New National Anthem Edition’ for An-Nahar
– Serviceplan Korea: ‘Dot Translate: The First Braille Translator Based on AI’ for Dot Incorporation: Grand Prix of the Year – Public Service Advertising (PSA).

Says Slavin, who was one of five executive judges responsible for choosing this year’s Grand Prix of the Year winners: “Familiarity is such a barrier to change. I can’t think of anything more familiar than a country’s national anthem. They are not just a set of words we memorise without question; a national anthem is a document that outlines our collective beliefs and culture. It’s in these places that big problems hide.

“The New National Anthem tackles this in such an open and profoundly simple way. The idea proposed changing one critical sentence in the Lebanese national anthem from “the birthplace of men” to “the birthplace of women and men”. It challenged this norm in such a public and inclusive forum. We loved this idea.”

Says Madon: “This is a bold move by a publication to leverage its ability to move people at scale. Their bravery was clearly rewarded with massive PR coverage and impact on society.”

Says Caveira: “The New National Anthem Edition is a powerful idea as it gives women a voice at a time when the issue is being discussed in all parts of the world. Here, women are seen as key mobilizers and partners in a revolution that is no longer silent and that “sings” and fight for equal rights to men to demand a better country.”

It is the second consecutive Grand Prix of the Year win for Impact BBDO, which also won Grand Prix of the Year at AD STARS 2019 for An-Nahar, ‘The Blank Edition’.

Regarding Serviceplan Korea’s Grand Prix of the Year (Public Service Advertising) win, Slavin says: “Dot Translate is an extraordinary idea. With near human accuracy, it translates any digital text to Braille. We loved this idea for a couple of reasons. In a time when we’re all struggling to understand the ethical parameters of AI, this idea elegantly uses the technology to support human effort, in the support of humanity. We also loved that it is a solution that can be delivered at scale. While there was a huge amount of extraordinary work in this category, the potential scale of delivery pushed Dot Translate ahead of the other very worthy contenders.”

AD STARS would also like to congratulate this year’s Special Award winners:

– Dentsu Inc., Japan: Agency of the Year
– BBDO: Network of the Year
– McDonald’s: Advertiser of the Year
– Good Oil: Production Company of the Year

The 13th AD STARS Festival was originally scheduled to take place in Busan, Korea in August, and was tentatively postponed until October.

Says Hwan-Jin Choi, chairperson of the AD STARS Executive Committee: “Unfortunately, due to a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in Korea, the AD STARS 2020 Awards ceremony will now be replaced with an online showcase of winning work. We hope everyone will enjoy this incredible collection of fresh, meaningful and impactful work when it launches on October 22.

“As a festival with ‘humanity’ at its heart as a core value, we are proud to see so many creators applying their creativity to real-world problems. The AD STARS 2020 Awards truly prove that creativity shines amid crisis – congratulations to this year’s winners.”

The AD STARS 2020 Awards winners’ showcase will be released on October 22 via the official AD STARS website. For more information, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn or visit adstars.org.

Download the winners lists below:

AD STARS 2020_Winners List_Professional

AD STARS 2020_Winners List_Non-Professional