Four Canadian advertisers and agencies took home major awards at the 34th annual One Show in New York City last night.
The Vancouver office of DDB Canada earned Canada’s only Gold Pencil of the evening, claiming top spot in the Television, :30/:25 Single category for its “Chase” entry for Midas.
Three other Canadian entries were awarded Silver Pencils, including Toronto’s Doug Agency in the Television, :20 and Under Single category for its “Scooter” ad for the Canadian Film Centre’s Worldwide Short Film Festival.
Toronto’s Leo Burnett was awarded an Outdoor Campaign Silver for its “Share Our Billboard” campaign on behalf of James Ready, while fellow Toronto shop Zig won a Silver Pencil in the Radio Single category for its IKEA “Low Voice” spot. The James Ready campaign recently won Best of Show at the Obie Awards and Low Voice won a Gold Lion at Cannes last June.
“It’s an honour. The One Show is the most prestigious show in North America,” said Zig creative director Aaron Starkman, who now has three One Show Pencils on his shelf. It’s especially gratifying to share the award with one of the agency’s key clients, he added.
“It’s more important than ever, in this economy, that the industry recognize its biggest clients,” he said. “IKEA continues to inspire us, and we feel so fortunate to have them as our partner.”
Australia shop CumminsNitro earned the evening’s top prize, taking home Best of Show for its “Best Job in the World” integrated branding campaign for Queensland Tourism. Central to the campaign, which generated massive amounts of free media, was a contest that awards the winner a $150,000 cash prize and a six-month term as an “island caretaker” near the Great Barrier Reef.
The One Show gala included the presentation of the inaugural Green Pencil award for excellence in environmentally conscious advertising.
San Francisco’s Goodby, Silverstein & Partners took the award for its Haagen-Dazs Honey Bees integrated branding campaign.
U.S. firms topped the field overall, winning 39 Pencils, including eight Golds. Australia was next with six awards, two of them Golds, while Malaysia counted two Golds among its total haul of five Pencils. Canada and the U.K. finished with four apiece, the latter country earning four Bronze nods.
The One Show marked the apex of the inaugural Creative Week NYC, a five-day celebration of creativity in advertising and design organized and presented by the One Club. The event continues today and tomorrow with the first-ever Creative Week UnConference and concludes tomorrow night with the One Show Interactive awards gala.
