Three Gold Lions for NZ at Promo Lions

New Zealand won three out of the ten Gold Promo Lions handed out in Cannestonight. In total, New Zealand won four -three Gold and one Bronze – with TBWA\Whybin/Tequila’s gold winning ‘Adithread’for Adidas/New Zealand Rugby Union, a contender for the Grand Prix.

DDBAuckland won two Gold Lions for Pascall’s ‘When will the fruit burst?’ (DDB executive CD Toby Talbot pictured left, snapped in Cannes) while ColensoBBDO Auckland/AIM Proximity Auckland won a Bronze Lion for Yellow Pages ‘YellowTreehouse Restaurant’.

The GrandPrix was awarded to Japan for Beacon Communications Tokyo for Yubari Resort’s’Yubari’, a campaign to save a dying city. In March 2007 Yubari was $330m indebt and declared bankrupt. The discovery that Yubari had the lowest divorcerates in Japan inspired the idea of promoting it as a city with ‘no money, butlove’. Three thousand newly married couples from all over Japan visited tobless their union and a variety of revenue generating ideas raised $31m toalleviate the city’s debt.

Jury president William Rosen, president, chiefcreative officer, North America, for Arc Worldwide, described the Adidas NZRUpromotion, which allowed people to use nanotechnology to write their names on athread of the All Blacks jersey, as a compelling idea that really broughtpeople closer to their team. However, after a lot of discussion ‘Yubari’ was aunanimous vote by the jury for Grand Prix.

“We allfelt that it truly showed the true potential of the promotional category,” saidRosen. “It was not only a program that changed behaviour, it actually changedpeople’s lives and we thought that was a great example of the potential for thepromotional category.”

Additionally,it used a core activation idea that unified all media channels and allmarketing categories.

Rosen said:”There was a real idea behind the work and we really thought it brought thebrand together in a unique and honourable way.”

Rosen saidthat the jury didn’t respond positively to ideas that were just gimmicks or aninteresting application, it had to have a great idea behind it.

“Thiscategory is all about activating people’s behaviour and this jury wasrelentless in holding the work to that standard and ensuring everything wasapplied in a way that really connected people and motivated them to engage andto do something,” he said.

Rosendescribed ‘Magic Salad Plate’ as a clever premium and promotional object thattook an old school approach and gave it new life with a real sense of humour.Of the work awarded in Promo he thinks that ‘Yubari’ and ‘Zuji Beans’ may welldo well in Titanium.

Australianjury member Shane Bradnick, art director at BMF Sydney, who worked on ‘TED 696’, saidwhen you are in the region every day you can get quite cynical about the work,but seeing it in this forum in a global context he realized how much qualitythere is in our region and how good the ideas are.

He addedthat the other jury members were genuinely impressed with the standard of workcoming from Australia and New Zealand.

Australia, which had 56 entries in Promo, had 23 shortlistedentries while New Zealand had 11 nominations out of 21 entries.

NEW ZEALAND

GOLD LION

DDBAuckland

Pascall

‘When willthe fruit burst’ (Best Use of Print and Standard Outdoor in a PromotionalCampaign)

DDBAuckland

Pascall

‘When willthe fruit burst’ (FMCG)

TBWA\Whybin/Tequila (180/TBWA)

Adidas/New Zealand Rugby Union

‘Adithread’

BRONZE LION

ColensoBBDO Auckland/AIM Proximity Auckland

YellowPages

‘YellowTreehouse Restaurant’