Melbourne agencies dominate at the ADMA AC&E Awards; Whybins Melbourne scores most gongs; Sean Cummins named ADMA Marketer of the Year

Australia: It was a ‘Victoria-ous’ evening at the  Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising’s (ADMA) new Australian Creativity and Effectiveness Awards with five Melbourne agencies walking away with the lion’s share of trophies.

Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, GPY&R Melbourne, McCann Melbourne and Leo Burnett Melbourne all won awards at tonight’s gala evening at The Star in Pyrmont, Sydney.

In 2014, ADMA overhauled its awards program to focus only on marketing, media and advertising work that demonstrated an equal measure of creativity and effectiveness.

Says Jodie Sangster, CEO, ADMA: “In the past, the ADMA Awards recognised creativity and effectiveness as separate specialisations. We awarded great creative work and effective marketing and advertising separately. However, we recognise that now and in the future, stand-out marketing and advertising will have to demonstrate both.”

ADMA also created new awards categories to focus on its five core pillars: customer experience, content, creativity, data and technology.

Thirty-four winning trophies and 65 highly commended trophies were handed out during the evening, replacing the medals of awards past.

Says Sangster: “We have really raised the bar on what it takes to win an award. That the industry responded with such enthusiasm suggests to me that ADMA’s on the right track: to have a first-class campaign, you must have both great creative solutions and effective business outcomes. Also interesting is that so many winners came from Melbourne this year. It says something about the approach that these agencies take in delivering outstanding campaigns.”

Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne won the most accolades: six trophies in all. The agency’s bejewelled GAYTMs for ANZ that were part of the bank’s sponsorship of Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras took out five honours including the Lester Wunderman Grand Prix Award. It also won best Integrated Campaign, Art Direction and PR Campaign. Its client, ANZ, received the new David Ogilvy Courageous Client Award.

Says Sangster: “This gutsy campaign celebrated diversity, inclusion and respect whilst risking a backlash from a more conservative audience. But the dazzling ATMs at Mardi Gras won many people over, and I think this campaign will encourage other banks to be braver and take more risks in the future.”

Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne also won in the Broadcast category for Buy Ready campaign for ANZ.

GPY&R won five trophies. Its Air Force Medical Specialist Reserve for Defence Force Recruiting picked up the Media and Customer Acquisition prizes. The agency also picked up two awards for the Human Walking Program for the Lost Dogs Home, winning the Ambient or Experiential and Not-for-Profit awards. They also won the Out-of-Home award for Buildboard for Defence Force Recruiting.

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne won the new Innovation Award. The new Innovation Award, created by Google, was awarded jointly to Columbus and Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for the Melbourne Remote Control Tourist Campaign for Tourism Victoria. Clemenger BBDO Melbourne also won in the Most Effective Use of Content for Melbourne Remote Control Tourist and picked up the Digital, Website and Microsites award for Footify FM for NAB.

McCann Melbourne received three trophies for its Phubbing Campaign for Macquarie Dictionary, winning the Digital & Social Advertising, Branded Content and Integrated Campaign (small budget) while Leo Burnett Melbourne picked up two gongs for Social Commerce and Customer Retention/Loyalty for #SPCSunday for SPC.

Saatchi & Saatchi Australia won new Customer Experience Award. In Sydney, Saatchi & Saatchi Australia’s Penny the Pirate for Luxottica/OPSM took the new Australia Post Customer Experience Award as well as the awards for Apps and Data-Driven Mail.

VML Australia won the Use of New Technologies and Mobile Marketing accolades for Rip Curl Search GPS. It also took the UX, Interface & Navigation Design trophy for The Commonwealth Bank Website Relaunch.

There were no prizes handed out for copywriting, email marketing or social media this year as the judges felt the entries had not attained the balance between creativity and effectiveness.

Two industry leaders and two up-and-coming stars were given Pinnacle Awards. Sean Cummins, global CEO of cummins&partners was crowned 2014 Marketer of the Year for his role in changing the marketing and advertising landscape in Australia.

Says Karen Ganschow, chair of ADMA’s board of directors and Westpac’s general manager of CRM & digital: “Sean is an influential and prominent leader in the marketing and advertising industry. He has been responsible for iconic advertising campaigns that have put Australia on the map. He has also led the way in introducing new agency models that challenge the traditional approach and bring together the elements of marketing, media and advertising for the benefit of the client.

“Sean has shown what is possible and in that way challenges us all never to accept the status quo, and is now taking this philosophy to the world.”

Cummins has created many of the great campaigns that have put Australia on the map like Best Job in the World, Jeep’s Australia Don’t Hold Back and Keeping the Air Fair for Virgin Airlines.

Independent agency cummins&partners has prospered in tough economic times and Cummins recently opened an office in New York, quickly winning three accounts including champagne brand Maison Perrier-Jouët.

Another industry figure recognised on the night was MercerBell’s managing director, Julie Dormand, who won the Jon Clark Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award, which is awarded to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the industry, nurtured industry talent and has had an accomplished career.

Says Sangster: “Julie is an advocate of best practice in marketing. She was the driving force behind the development of Data Pass, ADMA’s responsible data management program. She understands the importance of agencies demonstrating to clients that they understand best practice around data, and as a result, MercerBell was the first company to finish the program.”

Dormand has also chaired the ADMA NSW Branch for two years and runs the committee that crea
tes and organises networking events in NSW. She is a regular guest speaker at ADMA courses, champions ADMA 30Below, and served as a grand panel judge for the AC&E Awards.

Says Sangster: “She is always there when we need her and is one of the most helpful people I know. Despite her demanding job, she still makes time to help the industry and is very deserving of our outstanding contribution award.”

Brendan Graham, copywriter and strategist at Soap Creative, took out the Young Creative of the Year accolade for his integrated campaign ‘Under 30 invite.’

The clever campaign features images of current industry leaders when they were in their 20s, with copy inviting those under 30 to enter the Young Marketer/Young Creative of the Year competition.”

Says Sangster: “Brendan’s campaign plays on nostalgia. It’s fun for young creatives to look at pictures of their industry leaders when they were starting out and it will be fun for the leaders to take part in this campaign and invite creatives who they think should enter the 2015 competitions.”

Graham’s campaign will be used in print, digital and social to launch the 2015 ADMA Young Marketer and Young Creative competition.

For the last four years Graham has worked at independent digital agency Soap Creative where he helps devise creative strategy for ING Direct, Soap’s biggest client, as well as a diverse list of clients that includes Xbox, Unilever, Lion Nathan, Lorna Jane, Pernod Ricard, Wrigley and 20th Century Fox. He has been awarded at Cannes, Clio, One Show, New York Festivals and was named in Business & Technology Magazine’s list of 30 Under 30 to watch.

Allister Hercus is the 2014 Young Marketer of the Year, which awards a young marketer on their achievements and contributions to the industry. 

Says Ian Kennedy OAM, one of the judges for this year’s Young Marketer of the Year competition: “Allister demonstrated passion, a strong belief in breaking new ground and being an innovator.”

Having developed skills in sales and storytelling during his time in the renewable energy industry, Hercus jumped over to media to develop an expertise in social data. A social architect, he uses big data to create big ideas.

As social media strategist at MEC, he’s been the brains behind many of the company’s most recent social media and content-driven campaigns and played a significant role in converting these executions into awards for the agency.

Thanks to Hercus, MEC was the most awarded agency at the 2014 MFA Awards. He has also won awards at the Global Festival of Media and was shortlisted twice at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. Aside from winning awards, Hercus’ campaigns have driven strong business results for clients by engaging with their customers in more relevant ways.

The AC&E Awards gala dinner attracted over 680 advertisers and marketers to The Star. New Zealand Comedian Cal Wilson took on the 2014 MC duties.

Below is the list of winners of this year’s AC&E Awards:

Apps

Penny the Pirate for Luxottica/OPSM by Saatchi & Saatchi

Use of New Technologies

Rip Curl Search GPS for Rip Curl by VML Australia

Art Direction

GAYTMs for ANZ, by Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne

UX, Interface and Navigation Design

Commonwealth Bank Website Relaunch by VML Australia

Branded Content

Phubbing for Macquarie Dictionary by McCann Melbourne

Most Effective Use of Content

Melbourne Remote Control Tourist, for Tourism Victoria by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Data Analytics & Planning

Q3 Home Loan Property Investor for Westpac, by RAPP

Data Strategy

Thanks a Million for Telstra, by Lavender

Data Visualisation

Working Capital ‘See more inside’ for Commonwealth Bank, by M&C Saatchi

E-commerce Website & Marketing

Michael Hill International by Amblique

Social Commerce

#SPCSunday for SPC by Leo Burnett Melbourne

PR Campaign

GAYTMs for ANZ by Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne

Media Campaign

Air Force Medical Specialist Reserve for Defence Force Recruiting by GPY&R Melbourne

Customer Retention/Loyalty Campaign

#SPCSunday for SPC by Leo Burnett Melbourne

Customer Acquisition Campaign

Air Force Medical Specialist Reserve for Defence Force Recruiting by GPY&R Melbourne

Integrated Campaign (small budget)

Phubbing for Macquarie Dictionary, by McCann Melbourne

Best Integrated Campaign

GAYTMs for ANZ by Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne

Not-For-Profit Campaign

Human Walking Program for the Lost Dogs Home by GPY&R Melbourne

Print Campaign

Hipster Santa for Central Mall / Frasers Property and Sekisui by BMF Advertising

Data-Driven Mail

Penny the Pirate for Luxottica/OPSM by Saatchi & Saatchi

Best Use of Search

The Last Mile for Amaysim, by FirstClick Consulting

Out-Of-Home

Buildboard for Defence Force Recruiting by GPY&R Melbourne

Broadcast

Buy Ready for ANZ by Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne

Digital & Social Advertising

Phubbing for Macquarie Dictionary by McCann Melbourne

Digital, Website & Microsites

Footify FM for NAB, by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Mobile Marketing Campaign

Rip Curl Search GPS for Rip Curl by VML Australia

Ambient or Experiential

Human Walking Program for the Lost Dogs Home, by GPY&R Melbourne

Innovation Award

Columbus and Clemenger DDBO Melbourne for the Melbourne Remote Control Tourist Campaign for Tourism Victoria.

Customer Experience Award

Penny the Pirate for Luxottica/OPSM by Saatchi & Saatchi

David Ogilvy Courageous Client Award

GAYTMs for ANZ by Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne

Lester Wunderman Grand Prix Award

GAYTMs for ANZ by Whybin\TBWA Group Melbourne

ADMA Marketer of the Year

Sean Cummins, Global CEO, cummins&partners

The Jon Clark Award for Outstanding Contribution

Julie Dormand, Managing Director, MercerBell

ADMA Young Marketer of the Year

Allister Hercus, Social Media Strategist, MEC

ADMA Young Creative of the Year

Brendan Graham, Copywriter and Strategist, Soap Creative

Case studies of the winning work will be published next week at www.acandeawards.com.