Unilever Canada, Ogilvy and Mather, Playland and Rethink all came up big at last night’s Marketing Awards in Toronto.
Unilever’s “Evolution” viral film for the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, part of the Campaign for Real Beauty, took home Best of Show honours as well as gold in the TV single over 30 seconds category.
The creative for the campaign, by Toronto’s Ogilvy & Mather, showed how an attractive but clearly natural woman is transformed through makeup artistry, lighting and technology into one of the billboard models that populate so much of today’s advertising.
After being posted on YouTube, the film became a massive hit generating widespread interest from major mainstream media outlets like Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
“It is a fascinating piece of film that generated millions of impressions and well over $150 million worth of PR and media coverage, even though Unilever didn’t spend anything on media in Canada,” says Paul Ferriss, managing editor at Marketing magazine.
“On that level it was a tremendous success for the client Unilever, but it also changed the way advertisers and their agencies think about the Internet and viral advertising,” he says.
“Evolution” was chosen by the Marketing Awards’ 19-member judging panel, co-chaired by Pirate Radio & Television partner Terry O’Reilly and Rethink partner Chris Staples. The awards were handed out in front of nearly 1,000 members of Canada’s advertising and marketing community at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre in downtown Toronto.
Staples’ own Vancouver firm Rethink topped all agencies with 37 awards on the night, including six golds and 11 silvers, well ahead of DDB and Taxi which took home 18 and 12 awards respectively.
Rethink’s client, Vancouver amusement park Playland, was named Advertiser of the Year based on its haul of 11 awards, including five golds, three silvers and three certificates.
After Playland, the next best performance by a marketer was Gold’s Gym (another Rethink client) which won four silvers and four certificates, followed by the United Nations (one gold, two silvers, one certificate); Mackenzie Investments (two silvers, two certificates); and Toro magazine (two golds, one certificate).
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Notable agency performances included:
- Sid Lee’s (formerly Diesel) 11 awards (three golds, three silvers, five certificates);
- BBDO’s nine awards (one gold, four silvers, four certificates);
- LG2 took home eight (three golds, one silver, four certificates); and
- John St. picked up seven honours (three golds, one silver, three certificates).
The Marketing Awards is an annual event recognizing both marketers and agencies for top creative advertising. This year, the judging panel reviewed 2,101 entries in 35 categories, and gave out 178 awards.
