The 55th D&AD Professional Awards Ceremony
has just wrapped up in London, where Clemenger BBDO Melbourne was
crowned the most awarded advertising agency in the world at D&AD
2017.
Campaign Brief's reigning Agency of the Year took home a
Black Pencil (plus another for Agency of the Year), five Yellow Pencils
and two Graphite Pencils for
their
Meet Graham campaign,
which aims to promote better road safety by imagining how the human
body would need to evolve to better survive on the roads.
Clemenger
BBDO Melbourne also took home a Yellow Pencil and Graphite Pencil for
Bond's The Boys' contributing to the agency's overall total of 16
Pencils.
Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney won a Yellow Pencil and three Graphite Pencils for
Toyota 'LandCruiser Emergency
Service', while Leo Burnett Melbourne scored a Yellow Pencil and a Graphite Pencil for
Headspace 'Reword'. And R/GA, Sydney won a Yellow Pencil for
Google 'Through the dark'.
Graphite Pencils were awarded to Marcel Sydney for Tiger Beer 'Air-Ink' and TBWA Melbourne for ANZ 'GAYNZ'.
For the first time ever, the United States has topped the country
rankings with 182 Pencils - with the United Kingdom coming in second
with 164 Pencils and Australia third with 56 Pencils.
However,
at the pointy end in terms of Black and Yellow Pencils, Australia
equaled the UK, scoring two Black Pencils (including the AOY for Clems
Melboune) and nine
Silver Pencils compared to the UK's two Black Pencils and nine Yellow
Pencils. The USA scored 17 Yellow Pencils and no Black Pencils.
We're the Superhumans claimed two Black Pencils on the night, one each
for 4Creative and Blink - the creative team and production team
(respectively) who created the film to promote Channel 4's coverage of
the 2016 Paralympics.
Black Pencils were also awarded to INGO
Stockholm for their Swedish Number campaign for
The Swedish Tourist
Association - which gave people the chance to talk to a Swedish person
on the phone about the country - and to Serviceplan for their work with
Dot Incorporation creating
the world's first Braille smartwatch.
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne creative chairman James McGrath told CB this
morning: "Well you called it early before anyone else, by choosing us as
CB AOTY, it is a great privilege and humbling for us to join the
incredible lineage and legacy of D&AD. We are thrilled to be
D&AD agency of the year, we want to thank our creators and makers of
course but most of all our clients, whose bravery and genuine belief in
solving real world problems inspires us."
[Perth-based Paula
Taylor, D&AD regional director APAC, is at the awards - pictured
below at left. No doubt she will be sending the Pencils back to
Clemenger BBDO tomorrow.]
In total, 733 Pencils were awarded during D&AD Judging 2017. The number of Pencils awarded by level are as follows:
Black Pencil - 5 Pencils
Yellow Pencil - 62 Pencils
Graphite Pencil - 180 Pencils
Wood Pencil - 485 Pencils
Says
D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay: "What an outstanding year for creativity.
Five Black Pencils, all hugely deserving of the Award. What unites them
is a clear desire to create a better world, whether it's promoting
diversity, safety or inclusivity but what is really fantastic is that
they win this coveted award for their craft. Proof that creativity as a
force for good lives outside of a single category but has become an
all-encompassing theme.
"For the first time ever, the United
States is the country taking home the most number of Pencils. In fact,
the top of the country rankings is comprised of countries from across
Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa, reminding us that D&AD is a
truly global organisation, encouraging and awarding talent from around
the world."
This year the President's Award winner is Michael
Johnson, Creative Director at Johnson Banks, Ex-President of D&AD
and Black Pencil winner.
D&AD President Bruce Duckworth commented: "Michael's
reputation for creative excellence is massive, he represents so much of
what I respect about great design and great designers. He manages to
distill complicated issues and simplifies them into solutions that you
can't argue with. They're just right. He does the kind work that you
can't help but notice, the kind of work that I look at and wish I'd done
myself. For this reason and for so many others, I am giving this Award
to him."