AKQA triumph at the Creative Showcase Awards Grand Prix 2007

AKQA triumph at the IAB creative showcase awards in association with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions.

Tuesday, 30 January 2007

On 25 January 2007 at the aptly named Imagination Gallery we held our annual Creative Showcase Awards Grand Prix event in association with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions. The pick of the awards handed out on the night was the accolade of Best Creative Campaign of 2006. Judged from the 12 monthly winners of last year, the top award went to AKQA for their work on the Yell.com campaign, ‘Results for Real Life’.

The monthly Creative Showcase Awards are now in their fourth year and creativeshowcase.net is regarded as the home for the best internet advertising campaigns being created today. The annual event offers the perfect opportunity to reward, thank and generally slap the backs of those who have excelled with the medium throughout the previous year. More than that, it is an evening that permits agencies and their clients to take a step back and look at what terrific jobs they are doing.

At the Grand Prix a veritable who’s who of online mingled with the frankly ‘who’s that?!’ of the IAB. Guests ate mini portions of meatballs and fish and chips in amongst oversized games of Jenga, Operation and Fuzzball. It was like being Alice in Wonderland, but with alcohol and fantastic digital creative.

The evening’s entertainment began with a thought provoking and generally brilliant presentation from Patrick Collister of creativity training company, Creative Matters. Using a number of examples he suggested that digital agencies should not think of themselves as ‘digital’, but rather the producers of great ideas and creative. He pointed the audience in the direction of Crispin Porter in the US who think of themselves as a factory for ideas.

Then, once the gathered agencies and advertisers had drunk enough to not be disappointed if they lost, but not so drunk that they might say something they’d regret in their acceptance speech if they won, it was time for the awards.

And the winners were…

Online creative campaign of the year – AKQA for Yell.com, Results for Real Life

The integrated campaign focuses on the core concept of 'local knowledge' and uses location-based digital outdoor concepts, online advertising, posters, TV sponsorship and cinema to introduce Yell.com's new strapline, 'Results for real life'.

• VIEW CAMPAIGN

Agency of the Year – glue London

With three monthly wins under their belt and several close fought runners-up places, glue London continues to be at the forefront of online creative. Their work for the Royal Marines, Virgin Trains, Coca-Cola Zero and of course, Mini has been a tour de force of online creative. Leaving no format untouched, glue were worthy winners.

• VIEW SAMPLE CAMPAIGN

IAB unthink your brand award - Radio 1 (Musicubes by Agency Republic)

The Musicubes campaign taps into the popularity of self-publishing sites such as myspace.com with Radio 1's target audience of young music fans. The self-publishing application allows users to share their musical taste on their webspace and encourages the trial of Radio 1 online.

• VIEW CAMPAIGN

MDAS most innovative campaign award – Profero for Child Protection on the internet.

The aim of the campaign, which uses rich media, skyscraper and viral media formats, was to shock children aged 11-14 into reassessing their behaviour online. In the ads a predatory figure masked by an emoticon illustrates how easy it is for people to disguise their intentions and identity in the virtual world.

• VIEW CAMPAIGN

Once the awards were over the winners, runners-up and - let’s be honest – losers mingled the night away, until the Imagination Gallery closed for the night. The evening was a testament to the current healthy status of the medium and the extraordinary talent of those working within it. On his way out at a fairly respectable hour, IAB CEO Guy Phillipson summed the occasion up, “This years Grand Prix was not only a great evening, but a great indicator of the hard work and innovative ideas that are shaping today’s communications industry. I’m particularly proud of the Grand Prix winner, Yell from AKQA which has demonstrated that great integrated ideas can come from digital specialists.”

• Visit the creative showcase gallery to view all the winners and runners-up for 2006