Axis 2014: Clemenger BBDO NZ wins coveted Grand Axis Award for NZTA ‘Blaze’ campaign, Screen Content Grand Prix + four Gold Awards; Colenso BBDO/Proximity wins 2014 AOTY Award
New Zealand: At a sell-out event at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland tonight, 800 advertising types came together to celebrate the NZ industry’s best creative work of the past year.
The highly coveted Grand Axis was awarded to Clemenger BBDO, Wellington for its New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) film ‘Blazed‘. The trophy will sit alongside the Grand Prix the film was awarded in Screen Content and a further four Gold Axis awards Clemenger BBDO received: three in Screen Content and one in Craft for copywriting.
Blazed also won a Grand Prix in Craft Direction for Curious Film who added another Gold in Direction and two Silver Axis Awards.
The NZTA wanted to persuade Maori dads to reassess their currently held belief that driving stoned is safe. ‘Blazed’ resonated with these men because it referenced a short film that was already dear to their hearts: ‘Two Cars, One Night’ (2004) made by famous New Zealand Maori director Taika Waititi.
Says Phillip Andrew, Clemenger BBDO CEO/ECD: “Taika was the logical director, as we knew his insights into the culture would lend the project a much deeper level of authenticity with our target audience.”
The executive judges agreed this film had so much integrity, the performances were so real and the writing so sharp.
Other big winners included the NZI ‘Devil’s Chair‘ which was awarded a Grand Prix in the Craft of Animation/Design/Visual Effects to Assembly. The Devil’s Chair also saw Assembly awarded two further Gold Axis awards and one to DraftFCB New Zealand in the TV Single Commercial Above 30 seconds category.
The executive judging panel felt both Blazed and Devil’s Chair were faultless examples of their respective crafts, which made it impossible for them to elevate one and therefore agreed to award both a Craft Grand Prix in recognition of this.
Duan Evans from AKQA in London, Darren Spiller from DDB Melbourne and Mark Taylor ex Crispin Porter in the USA, flew into Auckland earlier in the week, and joined the five local jury presidents on the executive judging panel. Their role was to award the final metal which included a total of 22 gold category Axis Awards. They noted that there was a high standard of very good work which should represent New Zealand well on the world stage.
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand’s Smart Phone Line work for client Samsung New Zealand won a Grand Prix in the Out-of-Home category. With a further seven gold Axis awards for Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand added to their tally of finalists, bronze & silver, they were announced as the 2014 Creative Agency of the Year (calculated on points awarded for finalists and/or metal won on the night).
Creative business of the Year went to Lion and The Sweet Shop celebrated three consecutive years in being named Production Company of the Year.
Former CEO and the President of CAANZ, Sandy Moore was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his illustrious career to the advertising industry, a career spanning 50 years.
The executive judging panel awarded the Emerging Talent Axis to Kevin Walker and Melina Fiolitakis from DraftFCB New Zealand who both demonstrated outstanding talent as newcomers to the industry having won a gold Axis for UNICEF & two silver Axis awards for Sony Walkman.
TVNZ’s Axis Student Challenge Award went to Sam Pascoe and Hannah King from Media Design School for their campaign Share the drama – Coke.
Says Paul Head, CEO of CAANZ: “Axis has always been the pivotal moment in the New Zealand creative calendar because it is a celebration of our best creative work; the work our industry is most proud of because it has broken the rules, permeates popular culture and influences behavioural change, and the winners this year are all great examples of those attributes.”
The gala dinner was preceded by the Axis Speaker Events which included keynote speakers including Axis international judges Duan Evans and Mark Taylor, Gavin Carter (Facebook Creative Shop), Jonathan Richards (Google’s Creative Labs) and Emad Tahtouh of FINCH. Four time Grammy Award winning sound engineer Geoff Emerick was also interviewed by Kiwi legend Dave Dobbyn.
Major Axis Award winners:
Grand Axis
Clemenger BBDO
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
Creative Agency of the Year
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Creative Business of the Year
Lion
Production Company of the Year
The Sweet Shop
Craft Grand Prix – Direction
Curious Film
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
Craft Grand Prix – Animation/Design/Visual Effects
Assembly
NZI
Devil’s Chair
Grand Prix – Out-of-Home
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Samsung New Zealand
The Smart Phone Line
Grand Prix – Screen
Clemenger BBDO
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
Lifetime Achievement Award
Sandy Moore – DDB
Emerging Talent
DraftFCB New Zealand
Kevin Walker and Melina Fiolitakis
TVNZ Axis Student Challenge Award
Sam Pascoe and Hannah King
Media Design School
Share the drama – Coke
Gold Axis category winners:
Animation/Design/ Visual Effects
Assembly
NZI
Devils Chair
Charity
DraftFCB New Zealand
UNICEF
UNICEF Food Photos
Copywriting
Clemenger BBDO
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
Digital/Interactive Campaign
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Bank of New Zealand
EmotionScan
Digital/Interactive Campaign
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Samsung New Zealand
The Smart Phone Line
Direct Campaign
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Samsung New Zealand
The Smart Phone Line
Direction
Curious Film
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
Direction
Assembly
NZI
Devils Chair
Editing
The Sweet Shop
Lion
Be The Artist
Integrated AXIS
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Samsung New Zealand
The Smart Phone Line
Long Form Branded Content
Clemenger BBDO
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
Magazine Campaign
DDB Group New Zealand
Lion
Be the Artist
Out-of-Home Campaign
DDB Group New Zealand
Lion
Be the Artist
Out-Of-Home Special Build
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Samsung New Zealand
The Smart Phone Line
PR
Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand
DB Breweries – Tui
Beer Plumber
Radio Single
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Fonterra Brands (Ltd) Tip Top
Voice Transplant
Social
Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand
ASB Bank
Like Loan
TV Single Commercial Above 30′
Clemenger BBDO
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
TV Single Commercial Above 30′
DraftFCB New Zealand
NZI
Devils Chair
Viral Film
Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand
DB Breweries – Tui
Beer Plumber
Viral Film
Clemenger BBDO
New Zealand Transport Agency
Blazed
Websites and Microsites
Colenso BBDO/Proximity New Zealand
Bank of New Zealand
EmotionScan
Photo credit: RiK Photography