International: Campaigns for global brands including KFC, Nestlé, Pedigree, Tanqueray and Xbox, as well as local brands such as Master Kong Express Noodle in China and Donner Sang Compter in Lebanon, are among the winners of the Effective Innovation category of the WARC Awards, a global search for next-generation marketing effectiveness.
Ten campaigns from around the world – one Grand Prix, three Golds, four Silvers and two Bronzes – have won in the Effective Innovation category, which recognizes innovative thinking that has transformed a business to deliver tangible results.
whiteGREY and Mindshare in Australia have won the Grand Prix for their Omtanke – Rethinking Volvoinitiative, which highlighted the car manufacturer’s sustainability credentials leading to the creation of the Volvo Living Seawall, an ocean conservation project in Sydney Harbour. Volvo experienced an unprecedented 113% average uplift in brand attributes across its key target audiences and record sales.
Three special awards have also been given in specific areas of excellence:
- Partnership Award, for the best collaboration that helped a brand rethink a solution to a business challenge, was awarded to PS21 Madrid for gin brand Tanqueray’s colorful multi-channel campaign in Spain.#FFAB60 – Searching for the special color of Seville, launched to drive the growth of its new product and stand out from the crowd.
- Channel Innovation Award, for the best example of innovative use of media, has been awarded to McCann London for travel-themed campaign Visit Xbox – the Birth of Gaming Tourism, to engage a new audience of non-gamers worldwide.
- Category Innovation Award, for the best example of a brand defying category norms or creating a new category, was won by The Brand Agency for Hungry Puffs, an initiative for hunger charity Foodbank Western Australia, which created a new cereal brand, consisting of an empty box, to raise awareness and funds in Western Australia.
Commenting on the winners, jury chair, Jane Wakely, Lead Chief Marketing Officer, Mars & Mars Pet Nutrition, commented: “Amidst the current challenges faced by the world, it’s never been more critical than brand innovations deliver tangible IMPACT for consumers. True innovations are the ideas that can meet the needs of consumers, address their pain points, or provide added-value in a creative and surprising way.
“Against the backdrop of an impressive line-up of submissions, it was this ability to fuse creativity with deep consumer insight that truly set this year’s Innovation winners apart.”
The jury of 14 agency- and client-side industry professionals, selected the following winners:
Grand Prix:
- Omtanke – Rethinking Volvo · Volvo Cars Australia · Volvo Cars · whiteGREY, Mindshare · Australia
Gold:
- #FFAB60 – Searching for the special color of Seville · Tanqueray · Diageo · PS21 · Spain + Partnership Award
- Visit Xbox – the Birth of Gaming Tourism · Xbox · Microsoft · McCann London · UnitedKingdom+ Channel Innovation Award
- Hungry Puffs · Foodbank WA · Foodbank Australia · The Brand Agency · Australia + Category Innovation Award
Silver:
- SelfieSTIX · Pedigree · Mars · Colenso BBDO · New Zealand
- Blood Unity · Donner Sang Compter (DSC) · FP7 McCann Dubai · Lebanon
- Colonel KI · KFC · Yum! China · Mindshare China · China
- OMO Tag · OMO · Unilever · TBWA\RAAD · Lebanon
Bronze:
- Ok Nestlé! Tell me more about food · Nestlé · McCann Worldgroup · India
- The Makeover of the Four Immortals · Master Kong Express Noodle · Ting Hsin International Group · BBDO China · China
