Top brand marketers select Fearless Girl as winner of One Show’s inaugural CMO Pencil

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Fearless Girl.jpgA group of 10 leading global marketers selected “Fearless Girl” from State Street Global Advisors and McCann New York as winner of the inaugural One Show CMO Pencil, honoring the world’s single most impactful idea on a brand’s business from the past year.

The jury of top brand marketers gathered at The One Club office on the final day of Creative Week to judge the work. Jury members were:

Fiona Carter, chief brand officer, AT&T

Laura Henderson, senior vice president, marketing, Buzzfeed

Lisa Holladay, global brand leader, The Ritz Carlton & St. Regis Hotels and Resorts

Jackie Jantos, vice president, Brand & Creative, Spotify

Sophie Kelly, senior vice president, North America Whiskeys and Tequila Portfolio, Diageo

Fernando Machado, global chief marketing officer, Burger King and One Club International Board member

Leland Maschmeyer, chief creative officer, Chobani

Eric Reynolds, senior vice president, chief marketing officer, Clorox

Stephen Tisdalle, chief marketing officer, State Street Global Advisors

Todd Waterbury, chief creative officer, Target

“Fearless Girl” was selected as the first CMO Pencil winner from among the 40 highest-scoring entries in the 45th annual One Show, which received 19,823 entries from 72 countries.  All work under consideration for this new honor had already won a Gold Pencil or Best of Discipline, as judged by more than 200 of the world’s top agency and brand creative directors who served on this year’s One Show juries.  In accordance with One Show judging rules, jury members abstain from voting on work done by or for their own company.

“It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by my peers with this CMO Pencil award,” said State Street Global Advisors’ Stephen Tisdalle (pictured accepting his award).  “The success of our campaign is really a testament to the courage of State Street Global Advisors’ leadership team in taking a bold stance on the topic of women in leadership.  I’m also pleased to accept this award on behalf of my team, who were able to take the powerful idea behind ‘Fearless Girl’ and communicate it in a simple but highly effective way.”

Thumbnail image for OneShow_CMOPencil2_PeterCunninghamPhotography.jpgOverall at this year’s One Show, “Fearless Girl” won Best in Show honors, Best of Discipline in Direct Marketing, nine Gold Pencils, two Bronze and four Merits.  Earlier this week at The One Club’s ADC 97th Annual Awards, the work won Best in Discipline in Experiential Design, three ADC Gold Cubes, a Bronze Cube and a Merit.

“It was awesome to see big companies generating brand ideas that take on social issues, creating real impact and being part of the cultural conversation in such a powerful way,” said Diageo’s Sophie Kelly about the CMO Pencil judging experience.  “In the end, it was a tough choice between ‘Fearless Girl’ and The New York Times ‘The Truth is Hard to Find’.”

Target’s Todd Waterbury added, “Not only were we granted the ability to review the year’s highest achievements in creativity and craft, but as CMO’s and CCO’s, we were invited to recognize what reached even higher, the work that best contributed to the value of the brand in meaningful and measurable ways.”  

“While the outcome of the inaugural CMO Pencil award was not a total surprise to me, I was surprised by the discussion and insight regarding the final contenders,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club.  “All of the work under consideration had the extraordinary level of craft that would make any brand envious, but the final discussion came down to ‘What piece of work would we look back on five years from now and still be able to say, that changed the business’.  The jury felt ‘Fearless Girl’ met that criteria.”

The One Show CMO Pencil award was part of The One Club for Creativity’s Creative Week, May 7-11, 2018 in New York City.  

The preeminent festival showcasing the intersection of advertising, innovation and creative thinking, Creative Week also includes two nights of the prestigious One Show Awards, the ADC 97th Annual Awards, Young One Students Festival and Awards, inspiring sessions with some of the biggest names in the industry at the Creative Summit, and the exclusive Executive Creative Summit, open to a limited number of top-level leaders (founders, CCOs and managing partners).