Bensimon Byrne knocked out the competition in most categories at last night’s 2011 Best on Page Awards with its Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) “Face Punch” ad.
The awards, which took place at the Allstream Centre in Toronto, celebrate excellence in magazine ad creative from Canada and around the globe.
Toronto agency Bensimon Byrne won three of the four awards given out: Best Full Page or DPS, Most Innovative and Best of Show.
“Face Punch,” a double-page spread that readers open and close to get the full face-punch effect, was the work of creative director Ian MacKellar, copy writer Joe Musicco and art director John McDougall.
“It is indeed a pleasure and an honour to be recognized for doing exceptional work on our newest client: UFC. What a great way to start off our relationship,” MacKellar told Marketing. Leading up to UFC124 in Montreal last December, “we were looking to leverage some of the intense rivalry that had built up between [UFC fighters] Quebec-born Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck.”
The award for Best Magazine Campaign went to Grey Canada for its “Tourism PEI” work, fashioned by creative director Carl Jones, copywriter Bill Parker and art director Gerald Schoenhoff. This was the second Best on Page award for Grey Canada in two years.
The judges for this year’s competition were Israel Diaz, EVP, chief creative officer at Young & Rubicam Canada; Deborah Prenger, vice-president, creative director at Dentsu; Doug Robinson, chief creative officer at Doug & Serge; and Nancy Vonk, chief creative officer at Ogilvy & Mather Toronto.
In addition to the Canadian magazine ad creative on display at last night’s event were more than 160 international magazine ads.
Ron Tite, creative consultant and former Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG creative director, hosted the awards, which are put on by Magazines Canada, the national trade association representing Canadian-owned magazines.
