VMLY&R NY Wins Black Cube, MullenLowe US Named Agency of the Year at ADC 102nd Annual Awards

VMLY&R New York and MullenLowe US New York had stellar nights at the ADC 102nd Annual Awards ceremony, held this evening at Terminal 5 in New York during Creative Week 2023.

The esteemed global jury awarded this year’s coveted ADC Black Cube for Best of Show to VMLY&R New York for “I Will Always Be Me” on behalf of Dell Technologies and Intel.  The work also won Best of Discipline in Interactive, three Gold Cubes (two in Interactive, one in Advertising), one Silver in Interactive, and two Bronze, one each in Advertising and Interactive. 

Based on cumulative points for all Cubes and Merits won, MullenLowe US New York was crowned ADC 102nd Annual Awards Agency of the Year.  The agency won two Best of Disciplines – in Brand/Communication Design and Illustration – for “Something To Offend Everyone” on behalf of Brooklyn Film Festival.  

Overall, the work received four Gold Cubes (two in Illustration, one each in Brand/Communication Design and Advertising), two Silver (both in Advertising), one Bronze in Brand/Communication Design, and a Merit in Interactive.

This year’s ADC 102nd Annual Awards “of the Year” winners are:

- Agency of the Year: MullenLowe US 

- Boutique Agency of the Year: Bickerstaff.734 Kyiv, and Josephmark Brisbane/Los Angeles (tie)

- Brand-Side Agency of the Year: Squarespace New York

- Design Team of the Year: The New York Times Magazine New York

- Boutique Design Studio of the Year: G Design Studio Athens

- Network of the Year: VMLY&R

- Production Company of the Year: Smuggler New York/Los Angeles

- Music & Sound Company of the Year: JSM Music New York

- Brand of the Year: Squarespace

- Non-profit Client of the Year: Brooklyn Film Festival

- Freelancer of the Year (as selected by The One Club and Working Not Working): Greg Miller, Greg Miller Photography, Mansfield Center (CT, US)

- Members’ Choice Award: Performance Art Toronto “The Black Elevation Map” for Black & Abroad 

ADC 102nd Annual Awards Best of Discipline winners are as follows.

- Advertising: DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, and Molson Coors “Chillboards” for Coors Light

- Apparel/Accessory/Footwear Design: Jam3 and Media.Monks Amsterdam “Ozworld” for Adidas Originals

- Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design: iart - studio for media architectures Basel with AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi Milano “Novartis Pavillon - Zero-Energy Media Facade” for Novartis

- Artificial Intelligence:  Dentsu Tokyo with Data Artist Inc., Dentsu Live, and Shindii, all in Tokyo, “Voice Watch” for Toyota Mobility Foundation

- Brand/Communication Design: MullenLowe U.S. New York “Something To Offend Everyone” for Brooklyn Film Festival

- Brand-Side/In-House: Squarespace New York with Q Department New York, Final Cut New York, and Smuggler New York/Los Angeles “The Singularity” for Squarespace

- Experiential Design: FCB New York “McEnroe vs McEnroe” for Anheuser Busch Michelob ULTRA

- Gaming: The Hive Toronto with MLB New York “Chatham Plays On” for OLG

- Illustration: MullenLowe U.S. New York “Something To Offend Everyone” for Brooklyn Film Festival

- Interactive: VMLY&R New York “I Will Always Be Me” for Dell Technologies and Intel

- Motion/Film Craft: VMLY&R Mexico Mexico City “Shout” for Telefonica Movistar

- Packaging Design: G Design Studio Athens “Dia Elis” for Dia Elis

- Product Design: Serviceplan Germany Munich with Serviceplan Korea Seoul “Dot Pad. The first smart tactile graphics display.” for Dot Incorporation

- Photography: The New Yorker New York “Waiting for the School Bus in Uvalde” for The New Yorker 

- Publication Design: Rang Li Stockholm “Chinese Nursery Rhymes” for China People's Education Press

- Typography: DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, and Molson Coors “Chillboards” for Coors Light

The ADC Designism Cube, for the entry that best encourages positive societal and political change, went to DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, for “Chillboards” on behalf of Molson Coors.

There were two winners of the ADC Fusion Cube, established two year ago along with The One Show Fusion Pencil as the industry’s first global award to recognize great work that best incorporates underrepresented groups in both the content of the ad and the team that made it: 

- Performance Art Toronto “The Black Elevation Map” for Black & Abroad

- Serviceplan Germany Munich with Serviceplan Korea Seoul “Dot Pad. The first smart tactile graphics display.” for Dot Incorporation

DDB Chicago and Squarespace New York tied for the most ADC Gold Cubes with eight each.

DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen, and Molson Coors won five Golds for Coors Light “Chillboards”, and three Golds working with adam&eveDDB London, Mars Wrigley Chicago and dummy Venice (California) for Twix “Bears”.

Squarespace New York with Q Department New York, Final Cut New York, and Smuggler New York/Los Angeles received four ADC Golds for “The Singularity”, three with Rare Medium New York, Rock Paper Scissors New York, and Hero Films Reykjavik, for “Squarespace Icons: Björk”, and one with Q Department New York, Final Cut New York, and Smuggler New York/Los Angeles for “The Singularity BTS”.

FCB New York won six ADC Gold Cubes, all for “McEnroe vs McEnroe” on behalf of Anheuser Busch Michelob ULTRA.

Other top ADC Gold Cube winners this year were Klick Health Toronto with five, and four each for MullenLowe U.S. New York, The New York Times Kids New York, The New York Times Magazine New York, and VMLY&R Mexico Mexico City.

A total of 11,198 pieces were entered from 59 countries and regions in the ADC 102nd Annual Awards.  Agencies, studios, freelancers, brands and production companies in 32 countries were awarded a total of 106 ADC Gold Cubes, 120 Silvers, 162 Bronze and 390 Merits this year.  

The top five countries for winners are the US with 367, Canada and Germany with 75 each, China with 74, and Japan with 38.

“For more than a century, the ADC Annual Awards have celebrated ideas and craft,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club.  “Prompted by the recent huge advances in technology and artificial intelligence, ADC this year became the first global award show to recognize AI in creativity and design as a separate discipline with a dedicated jury.  However, we strongly believe that it still takes humans to turn a great idea into something brilliant and award worthy.”

A complete showcase of all ADC 102nd Annual Awards Cube and Merit winners can be viewed here.