Once again it was perennial contenders Calder Bateman and DDB Canada battling it out for top spot at the Advertising Club of Edmonton (ACE) Awards (not to be confused with the recent public relations award of the same name). Both agencies won seven first-place ACEs at Saturday’s gala, but Calder Bateman nipped its rival at the post, winning an eighth trophy for Best of Show for its Non-traditional/Guerilla campaign for the Edmonton Christmas Bureau charity.
The Best of Show-winning mail-out campaign featured boxes that would normally contain toys but were filled with potatoes and carrots – a reminder to potential donors that these were the real Christmas gifts many children needed. The campaign also won two ACEs for Direct Marketing and one for Packaging, while Calder Bateman won two ACEs in the Radio Single category and an ACE for Fearless Client for additional client work
DDB won seven ACEs over the course of the night, five of them for client Pose Hair Salon. The wins came in Art Direction, Newspaper Series and Single, Self Promotion, Poster Series and two ACEs for Poster Single.
The only other multi-ACE winner was Bluefish Studios with wins in Photography and Brochure. Red the Agency, which won the second-most trophies at las year’s awards, won a single ACE in the Website/Microsite category this year.
There were several first-time ACE winners, including Starburst Creative, Geffen Media and RocketFuel Games.
The Fellowship Award was presented to Craig Roskin, former general manager of CITY-TV, for services to the Edmonton advertising community and to charity.
There were 308 entries this year, with 27 first-place Aces awarded.
