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It’s not always advisable to mix alcohol with Red Bull, but last night’s Marketing Awards did just that by awarding top honours to the blue and grey energy drink brand alongside Leo Burnett’s James Ready outdoor beer campaign.
Leo Burnett won Best in Show for the James Ready “Share Our Billboard” campaign, which gave outdoor ad space to consumers to use as they saw fit under the guise of helping keep the brewer keep its buck-a-bottle pricing. The campaign has already brought home big awards from this year’s Obie Awards, Andy Awards and Clios.
“There’s a big discussion going on right now about how much of a [brand’s] message belongs to the people and how much belongs to the brand,” said Patrick Scissons, co-chair of the Marketing Awards jury and co-founder and creative director of Birthplace|Syncapse.
“What I like about that campaign is that it really strikes a balance of delivering on a communication strategy, and using user-generated content in a way that’s building on that message,” added the former BBDO creative director.
The James Ready campaign also won gold in the Out-of-Home Standard Format Campaign category, gold in Integrated Campaign, three bronzes in the Non-Traditional Advertising Single and another bronze in Non-Traditional Advertising Campaign.
Red Bull was the night’s other big winner, taking home the first ever Excellence in Brand Creativity award for the Canadian Crashed Ice campaign.
“The reason [Montreal-based creative director and jury co-chair Frédéric Girard] and I introduced this category was to acknowledge and celebrate creativity as it relates to a client on a more macro scale,” Scissons said. “We looked at how they approached their business and their entire body of work.
“Red Bull isn’t allowing themselves to be limited to advertising. They’re introducing new sports… going beyond sponsorship and actually creating events,” said Girard, referring to the annual Crashed Ice downhill skating race, among other events. “They’re a brand that’s doing things outside of advertising to keep their brand top of mind.”
Last year’s Best in Show winner, Cossette, won the most Marketing Award golds overall this year with six. That includes three for its outdoor work on YellowPages.ca, one for McDonald’s and two more for junk removal service 86it television ads.
DDB Canada’s national network went head-to-head with Vancouver agency Rethink in a battle for the most awards overall. Each took home 14 trophies. DDB’s tally includes six silvers for work on Midas, BC Dairy Foundation, BSH Home Appliances and The Looking Glass Foundation. Rethink, which took home 41 awards last year, won a gold in Non-Traditional Advertising for work on Keys Please, a driving service catering to bar goers. It also won four silvers and nine bronzes.
Zig’s 12 medal night was capped by three golds for Scream TV’s “Sound Cannon Project,” IKEA’s “Dubbed Husband” television ad, and Mr. Sub’s “416-RDO-TUVT” radio spot.
Other notable winners included Lowe Roche, which won two golds for Stella Artois’ “The Race,” and John St., which won the Andy Rodgers Public Service Award in addition to two golds for its latest War Child work.
Across 32 categories, 126 awards were distributed, including 21 golds.
“We’re starting to notice a cross-pollination of categories, stuff that could be in consideration in any number of categories,” Scissons said. “That’s a testament to the fact that the industry is changing. People used to think that video content—a commercial—is defined by the place where it’s run. Maybe it’s about looking at video content simply as a piece of communication, not letting it be defined by the channel.”
Thanks to presenting sponsor Cineplex Media, the winning work was shown on the big screen at Toronto’s Varsity Cinemas.
Other key supporters included platinum level sponsor Transcontinental, silver sponsor Rogers, and after-party sponsor Eye Weekly.
Bronze level sponsors included AdBeast, Canadian Newspaper Association, Infopresse, MIJO, Radio Marketing Bureau, Television Bureau of Canada and VIA Rail.
It was a true celebration at the Varsity with attendees enjoying complimentary refreshments courtesy of supporting sponsors Stella Artois, Jackson Triggs, Hershey’s, Maple Leaf Foods, Zast Foods, Mars, Pizza Pizza, and Coca-Cola.
