Colenso BBDO Takes Out US$10k Grand Prix Of The Year Award for Pedigree Child Replacement Programme at Ad Stars 2017

Colenso BBDO's 'Child Replacement Programme' has also scored the Grand Prix for Print along with a Gold, a Silver and three Bronzes. The agency also picked up two Gold awards for Fonterra 'Anchor Milk Slams - Blank Canvas'; three Silvers and three Bronzes for DB Export 'DB Export Beer Bottle Sand'; two Silvers and two Bronzes for New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation 'The Annoying Lump'.

Clemenger BBDO | Touchcast has scored New Zealand two Gold awards for KiwiRail 'The Conscious Crossing' as well as a Bronze. DDB NZ has picked up a Silver for Coastguard NZ 'Donate a Fish'.

The other US$10,000 Grand Prix of the Year award went to Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission 'Meet Graham'.

Established in 2008, Ad Stars is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year after receiving the highest number of entries in its history - 21,530 entries from 56 countries, up from up from 18,063 entries last year.

"These campaigns stood out for all the right reasons - idea, execution, wit, craft, approach, relevance, and scale," says Kiran Koshy, Creative Director, Innocean Worldwide USA, commenting on the two Grand Prix of the Year.
 
James Keng Lim, Creative Director at Hakuhodo Sinagpore, adds: "In the end, the decision to award these two pieces of work the highest accolade was unanimous. Whilst they are different as night and day, what stood out was the brevity of thought, the audacity to think big, and a true desire to make a positive change."

Explaining Colenso's win, Helen Pak, President and Chief Creative Officer of Grey Group Canada, says: "The Pedigree Child Replacement Challenge is a fantastic integrated campaign. Often when you see integrated campaigns, some of the individual pieces are stronger than the others. In this case, all of the pieces we saw were individually strong, delightfully crafted with great insight and humour. The campaign's results and level of engagement also contributed to its selection. It was such an interesting, humorous new way to approach an age-old dilemma of increasing animal adoption rates."

Wain Choi, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at Cheil Worldwide, says: "I've been an empty nester for the last four or five years and I replaced my kids with two beagles. I love that this campaign is driven by a human truth. I think you can never go wrong when your campaign is driven by real human insights."

"It's incredibly funny," says Raj Nair, CEO and Chief Creative Officer at Madison BMB in India. "Parents are so emotional about their kids moving out. This turns things around in an irreverent way, and it's beautifully integrated and executed."

Explaining Clemenger BBDO's success, Suthisak Sucharittanonta, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer at BBDO Bangkok, says: "'Meet Graham' pushes creativity to another level. The big idea is very stunning and powerful - it's a familiar message presented in a new and integrated way. To win Grand Prix of the Year, the standard has to be very, very outstanding. It not only takes the brand to another level but also takes our ad industry to new heights."

"The 'Meet Graham' campaign is a true reflection of creativity and technology: a surgeon, engineer and artist combined to create a re-engineered human," says Hwan-Jin Choi, Co-Chairperson of the AD STARS Executive Committee.

AD STARS is the only international award show to offer a US$10,000 prize to its Grand Prix of the Year winners. It's also one of the only advertising shows that doesn't charge entry fees.  

"So what have the judges seen that's new here at AD STARS? What I find refreshing at this show in particular is there's more of a democracy and an openness - the fact that there is no entry fee, and AD STARS is open to the public - it's very refreshing. It means as a jury, we were able to see a broader range of work, and also share it with the broader community, which is really wonderful," says Pak.

Sucharittanonta agrees: "It's a great show which is open to everyone who wants to attend and see diverse ideas from around the world including my region - Asia. It's different from other awards shows, it's more relaxed and casual in a beautiful city."

Eui-Ja Lee, Co-Chairperson of the AD STARS Executive Committee, would like to encourage even more people to enter next year's Awards: "AD STARS first launched in 2008 with the vision of being a truly democratic festival. That's why anyone with an interest in advertising can enter or attend for free - even non-professionals. This model has proven to be a huge success. We encourage more agencies and production companies to enter AD STARS 2018."

NZ Winners:

Grand Prix of the Year (Integrated):
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree, The Child Replacement Programme

Grand Prix (Print):
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree, The Child Replacement Programme

Gold Winners:
Clemenger BBDO | Touchcast, KiwiRail, The Conscious Crossing
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree, The Child Replacement Programme
Colenso BBDO, Fonterra, Anchor Milk Slams - Blank Canvas (x2)

Silver Winners:
Colenso BBDO, DB Export, DB Export Beer Bottle Sand (x3)
Colenso BBDO, New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, The Annoying Lump (x2)
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree, The Child Replacement Programme
DDB NZ, Coastguard NZ, Donate a Fish

Bronze Winners:
Clemenger BBDO | Touchcast, KiwiRail, The Conscious Crossing
Colenso BBDO, Pedigree, The Child Replacement Programme (x3)
Colenso BBDO, DB Export, DB Export Beer Bottle Sand (x3)
Colenso BBDO, New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, The Annoying Lump (x2)

VIEW THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS - Adstars Winner List 2017.xlsx