The Dubai Lynx Awards Ceremony, held the evening of March 13, brought the 2019 Festival to a close with an award ceremony that revealed the winners from this year’s edition where a total of 2,406 entries were received across 18 Lynx Award categories from 20 countries, an increase year-on-year of 43%.The creative community gathered at the Madinat Jumeirah to honour the very best creativity from the MENA region.
Philip Thomas, Chairman Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx said, “The winning work at Dubai Lynx demonstrates creative excellence with a distinct regional tone. From the 2,406 entries received this year, the winners, as well as setting the creative bar for MENA, also achieved some important milestones, including a record year for winning work from Saudi Arabia and a first-ever shortlisted entry from Iraq.”
Themes emerging from this year’s winners included: using cultural artistic traditions and local artists to bridge content and context; harnessing the power of culture to amplify the impact of the campaign and an increase in brands attempting to become more meaningful for people and demonstrate that they care about their customer’s lives, global injustices and the future of the planet.
The 2019 Dubai Lynx Grand Prix winners are:
Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix: TBWARAAD, Dubai, UAE, ‘OMO Tag’, Unilever Lebanon
Brand Experience & Activation Jury President, Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive commented that his Jury loved this work from the start. “It is so simple and so different. It’s a great activation from the 'Dirt is good' stable and goes to show that size doesn't matter when it comes to great ideas.”
Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix: TBWARAAD, Dubai, UAE, ‘Slow Trends’, Connect.
Creative Effectiveness Jury President, Amanda Fève, Partner, Chief Strategy Officer, Anomaly Amsterdam, The Netherlands said, “This classic David and Goliath story reminds us that it's not the size of the budget, but the quality of thinking and craft that goes into it, that determines a campaign's impact. Sharp use of data and social listening helped uncover a genuine cultural insight, which not only created entertaining content, but drove tangible commercial results. Truly effective campaigns must do more than earn attention and engagement, they must change attitudes and behaviours. 'Slow Trends' did both, putting smiles on our faces and bringing in new subscribers for 'Connect."
Design Grand Prix: BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai, ‘Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints.
Digital Grand Prix: TBWAIstanbul, Turkey, ‘Hailstorm in Istanbul’, IKEA.
Digital Jury President, Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive, commented, “This campaign for IKEA is possibly the best 'real-time response' idea any of us on the Jury had ever seen.”
Direct Grand Prix: BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai, 'Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints
Entertainment Grand Prix Kijamii, Cairo, Egypt, ‘The Sweet Revenge’, Président Cheese Egypt
Entertainment Jury President, Alexandra Ouzilleau, Global Head of Entertainment Partnerships, Havas Group, Global commenting on this Grand Prix winner said, “What we found really interesting with the Grand Prix is that it tapped into the cultural context at the perfect moment in a very smart and fun way which makes the brand’s intersection with Entertainment look very authentic.”
Film Grand Prix: Leo Burnett Dubai, UAE for campaign ‘Fire’, ‘Fall’ and ‘Crash’, du Telco.
Film Craft: Grand Prix J. Walter Thompson, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ‘What are we allowing?’, Saudi Telecom Company
Glass Grand Prix J. Walter Thompson, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ‘Akhou Nora’, Saudi Telecom Company
Glass Jury President, Candace Kuss, Director of Social Media, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, UK, commented, “’Akhou Nora’ celebrated a woman as the hero, rather than defending women as victims. The work also integrated men into the cause, based on an historical fact. STC didn't just create a TV ad, they integrated internal comms, social and even physical signage. Most of the Glass entries address much needed change. So they are by nature addressing issues that show women and girls as victims. ‘Akhou Nora’ looked into the history of the country to show us a proud and courageous role model.
Grand Prix for Good: Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘Zero Tolerance Ribbon’, 28 Too Many
Healthcare Grand Prix: The Classic Partnership Advertising, Dubai, UAE, ‘Rx Prescription Stickers’, Dubai Health Authority
Integrated Grand Prix: Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘The Blank Edition’, An-Nahar.
Media Grand Prix: FP7/DXB, Dubai,UAE, ‘Al Umobuwah: Putting "Mum" into "Parenthood"’, Babyshop
Media Jury President Veriça Djurdjevic, Chief Executive Officer, PHD, UK commented, “This campaign went beyond paid media; they created new owned channels, and harnessed the power of earned media, as well as using each of the paid channels creatively. It was a brave strategy for a retailer, but we felt it was a really important campaign: it shows that harnessing a cultural insight and executing it in a truly integrated way can deliver a strong commercial impact in terms of sales results, not just brand warmth uplift.”
Mobile Grand Prix: Google Dubai, UAE, ‘Qibla Finder’, Google.
“The sheer usefulness of this idea made us love this work. We all have apps that end up on page 5 of the home screen of our mobile but this Grand Prix will stay on page 1 ,” said Mobile Jury President Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive.
Outdoor Grand Prix: BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai, ‘Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints
Outdoor Jury President, Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive, commented, “When you sit in a jury room looking at hundreds of case studies, you can become desensitised to the results sections. But you can't argue with the result of reuniting three children with their parents. We will be talking about the beautiful ‘Truck Art Childfinder’ idea for many years to come.”
PR Grand Prix: Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘The Blank Edition’, An-Nahar.
Commenting on why this piece of work was awarded the Grand Prix, PR Jury President, Candace Kuss, Director of Social Media, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, UK, said, “The jury room immediately responded to this entry. We understand the power of the press to hold politicians to account and to rally citizens to share their voice. A simple execution for a powerful idea and very relevant for the times we live in. This work was very specific to Lebanon, but also addressed a universal issue. Journalism has ever been more important. We need bravery from our news reporters all over the world to uncover the truth.”
Print & Outdoor Craft Grand Prix: BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai, ‘Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints
Speaking on why the Grand Prix was awarded in both Design and Print & Outdoor Craft, Jury President, Guillermo Tragant, Chief Creative Officer, Furia, said, “The ‘Truck Art Child Finder’ was chosen because it was a brilliant, simple, strong idea. It was executed with excellent craft in a manner that respected the local folklore art. But the campaign also elevated the art-form, integrating the product in the most natural way, with purpose and real life changing results for the children and their families.”
Print & Publishing Grand Prix: Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘The Blank Edition’, An-Nahar.
Radio & Audio Grand Prix TBWARAAD, Dubai, UAE, ‘Predictive Radio Spots’, AWR Arabian Automobile.
Special Awards
Network of the Year: 1st place: BBDO Worldwide; 2nd place: TBWA Worldwide; 3rd place: J. Walter Thompson
Agency of the Year: 1st place: Impact BBDO, Dubai; 2nd place: TBWARAAD, Dubai; 3rd place: BBDO Pakistan, Lahore.
Independent Agency of the Year: 1st place: Kijamii, Cairo; 2nd place: Good People, Cairo; 3rd place: Beattie + Dane, Kuwait City.
Media Network of the Year: 1st place: OMD Worldwide; 2nd place: UM; 3rd place: PHD Worldwide.
Golden Palm Award: 1st place: Big Kahuna Films, UAE; 2nd place: bigfoot Films, UAE; 3rd place: Good People, Egypt.
Dubai Lynx Advertising Person of the Year: Ian Fairservice, Founder, Managing Partner and Group Editor, Motivate Media Group.
Advertiser of the Year: Nissan
YOUNG LYNX COMPETITIONS
Young Lynx Integrated Competition Winners: Kadir Ali, Senior Art Director, Impact BBDO; Priyaa Naidoo, Senior Copywriter, Impact BBDO; Kusal Udhara, Senior Art Director, Impact BBDO.
Young Lynx Print Competition Winners: Mohamed Kotait, Art Director, TBWARAAD, Dubai; Osama Siddiq, Art Director, TBWARAAD, Dubai.
Young Lynx Media Competition Winners: Roxanne Gahol, Manager – Strategic Marketing Investments, OMD, Dubai; Omar Anwar, Senior Executive - Planning, OMD, Dubai.
Young Lynx PR Competition Winners: Tala Arakji, Strategy Planning Manager, FP7, Dubai'; Moushami Dighe, Strategic Planning Manager, FP7, Dubai.
STUDENT AWARDS & SCHOOLS COMPETITION
Masar Student Creative Award for Print Winner Rym Farran, Middlesex University Dubai
Student Integrated Award Winner Divya Ariga, Middlesex University in Dubai.
University of the Year Winner The Middlesex University in Dubai.
