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New York Festivals’ AME Awards, world-wide since 1994, announced the 2021 award-winners.
The international AME Awards Grand Jury awarded the following: AME Best of Show (Grand Award), 5 Regional Platinum Awards, 1 Green Award, 28 Gold, 37 Silver, 23 Bronze and 33 Finalist Certificate Awards for generating stellar creative and tangible results for their brand.
Europe
AMVBBDO’s “Wombstories” for client Libresse was honored with the prestigious 2021 AME Best of Show (Grand Award) and the AME Regional Platinum – Europe. “Wombstories” also earned 3 Gold Awards.
The powerfully effective campaign celebrating womanhood takes the viewer to where no other brand has gone before, in the womb. The 3-minute film weaves together multiple story lines about the culture of shame and silence that surrounds women’s intimate experiences and inspired women to share their own stories while building up market share across the world. Results include over 100 million views spread to 132 countries. In the UK, “Wombstories” achieved #1 share of social voice, a 200% increase in followers and trended online and built market share across the world - 8.1% (UK), 14.1% (Russia; highest share ever), 9.9% (Denmark). The campaign helped to raise €7,000 in France for contraception projects, and £9,000 for Endometriosis UK.
“We’re tremendously proud to have been awarded Best of Show and AME Platinum - Europe at the Advertising Marketing Effectiveness awards. To have achieved these accolades for Bodyform/Libresse in two consecutive years makes it doubly gratifying. We place the highest value in making work that works so being recognised by the AME awards - amongst a hotly contested field and judged by some of the sharpest minds in our industry - is a brilliant endorsement of our approach to creating brave and effective work for our clients,” says Tom White, Chief Strategy Officer, AMVBBDO & David Edwards, Chief Customer Officer, AMVBBDO.
Four international agencies were recognized with 2021 AME Regional Platinum Awards.
Middle East & Africa
The UAE Government Media Office & MullenLowe MENA scored the Regional Platinum Award – Middle East & Africa for “Double Moon” for the UAE Government Media Office. Additional recognition for UAE Government Media Office & MullenLowe MENA includes 2 Gold Awards for “Double Moon” and an additional Gold for “The World’s Tallest Donation Box” (The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives).
When the UAE sent a probe to Mars, the government wanted to make sure everyone was watching this epic event. UAE Government Media Office & MullenLowe MENA’s campaign used super-realistic sky mapping projection technology and projected two exact replicas of the Mars moons onto the sky to make UAE residents feel as if they were in space. Within hours of the projection videos flooded the internet and the media covered the phenomenon. An announcement revealed the truth and invited everyone to tune into the live stream and watch the UAE arrive on the Red Planet.
Impressive results—The Hope Probe’s Arrival on YouTube was the most-watched live stream ever in the UAE. The activation reached more than 82 million people, equivalent to more than 8 times the entire population of the UAE. With a single stunt executed over 5 days in just one location, the campaign achieved over USD 8.2 million in earned media, and more than 380 broadcast networks in over 50 countries covered the story.
“For our first participation at the AME Awards to be recompensed with a Regional Platinum Award for the Middle East and Africa, as well as a Gold, is truly amazing. It may not be as big a journey as the Hope probe’s mission to Mars this entry relates to or the 50 years of the UAE it marks, but it is still a giant step for us. A global recognition for our strategic thinking, creative excellence, and effectiveness is a massive encouragement to keep pushing the boundaries and aim higher still. We broke new ground on Earth and in space, we’re certainly not stopping here,” comments Khaled AlShehhi, Executive Director of Digital, UAE Government Media Office Communication.
“The stars from New York are shinning on us brightly this year. Having won the New York Festivals Regional Agency of the year 2021 and now the AME Platinum Award for the Middle East and Africa. Wow. A huge congratulations to my talented bunch of creative cohorts and our amazing planners/account peeps @MullenLowe MENA who dream big every day. Plus, a galactic sized thank you to the best client in the world who pushed us to dream even bigger. Finally, a humble thank you to all the judges for giving up their precious time. What else can I say other than that we are all feeling over the moon today ;)” says Paul Banham, Regional Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe MENA.
Asia Pacific
Special Group New Zealand was honored with the Regional Platinum Award - Asia Pacific for “Meddle in the New Zealand Election” for client Every Kiwi Vote Counts. The agency also earned 2 Gold for “Meddle in the New Zealand Election” and a Gold for “Good Morning World” (Tourism New Zealand).
Special Group’s Platinum winning campaign used powerful strategic insights to mobilize overseas New Zealanders to vote in New Zealand’s 2020 national election. The winning strategy overcame the barrier of overseas Kiwis believing their votes didn’t matter. The campaign utilized Russian spokesperson “Viktor” to encourage overseas Kiwis to vote by Infiltrating their social networks and news feeds. The social led campaign reached 1 in 2.5 overseas Kiwis in just 18 days. Results— Over 80 million earned global impressions, an ROI of 9.67:1 driving voter engagement and turnout. The highest turnout on record, with a 42% increase in overseas residents voting. The click thru to the NZ voting site from everykiwivotecounts.nz represented 67% of the additional overseas resident votes.
“I’m so thrilled to be recognised by our peers around the world. To win a platinum for APAC at the AME is a true honour. Thank you to our amazing client who strove for greatness. And congratulations to all of the winners on their success,” says Rory Gallery, Chief Strategy Officer, Special Group New Zealand.
"It is an honour to have The Meddler recognized by the AME in celebrating brave and effective campaigns. Never more so than when that effectiveness is for impact on democracy and culture. There has never been a more crucial time for creative problem solving. Heartfelt thanks to my fearless partners in Meddling, Special New Zealand. And I challenge you all to make good trouble in 2022," notes Tracey Lee, Initiator/Strategic Lead, Every Kiwi Vote Counts
Latin America
McCann Lima’s “If you're outdoors, you need to protect yourself” was honored with the Regional Platinum Award – Latin America for their client League Against Cancer. The agency also earned a Gold for “If you're outdoors, you need to protect yourself”, and 2 Gold Awards for their campaigns “Delivery to Burger King” and “The most famous griller in Peru” (Burger King).
McCann Lima’s results-driven winning entry reminded residents of Lima the importance of wearing sunscreen. As skin cancer diagnoses continued to climb in Lima, the agency negotiated with 55 brands with outdoor billboards and convinced every single brand to agree to put sunscreen on the most viewed and expensive billboards in Peru located on the South Pan-American Highway, leading to the most visited beaches. The agency convinced prominent brands Coke, Pepsi, Nike, and Adidas. All total 55 big brands in total joined the cause and gave space on those billboards for the entire summer to draw attention to the League Against Cancer’s message. Impressive results include 100 km of highway lined with the brand’s message worth $12 M in outdoor advertising and $7.8 M earned media, plus thousands of people sharing photos of their “sun-screened faces on social media.
“For our office it is a great honor to receive this important award which puts us in the world showcase. This campaign is really special for us, because in it we managed to unite more than 50 brands, which agreed to collaborate with the League Against Cancer to bring a health message to Peruvians. An example that when big brands come together, they can have a great impact on society,” says Christian Caldwell, Chief Creative Officer, McCann Lima.
North America
Starcom’s “Trapped in Advertising” for client Pringles earned the Regional Platinum – North America. The agency was also honored with two additional Gold Awards for “Trapped in Advertising” and a Gold for “#danceAwesome” (Samsung Galaxy A Series phone).
The award-winning campaign “Trapped in Advertising” trapped two of the world’s most popular comedy characters Rick & Morty, in a Pringles TV commercial to entice young viewers during Super Bowl. Together Rick & Morty and Pringles leveraged the power of the multiverse to breach the boundaries of traditional advertising and sponsorship.
Results— On Super Bowl Sunday, eCommerce sales grew +52%, a massive increase compared to the +23% seen the year prior. The co-branded Pringles “Pickle Rick” flavor saw overwhelming demand, becoming the #3 trending item on eBay. The Pringles partnership with Rick & Morty achieved more than 1.2 billion impressions, far exceeding the previous two Pringles Super Bowl campaigns. Pringles made several “best of” lists coming out of the big game—with the spot named the #1 liked Super Bowl campaign on YouTube. Pringles’ household penetration grew by $1.4 Million. And overall, Pringles grew +13% in GSV (gross sales volume) in 2020, a record for the brand.
“We’ve seen the power of incorporating content upstream and strategically to solve key business needs, and are thrilled to be recognized with the prestigious AME Platinum Award. A big shout out to our Kellogg’s Pringles clients, Adult Swim and Grey for their collaboration and partnership,” comments Jonathan Goorvich, VP Director Content Partnerships, Starcom.
AME Green Award
BBDO Germany earned the prestigious Green Award for “Eurythenes plasticus” for client WWF Germany.
Green Award winning “Eurythenes plasticus” is an innovative cross-platform environmental activism campaign that got the world talking and taking action in the form of a petition calling for a legally binding UN agreement to put an end to marine plastic pollution. The agency combined various ad formats to drive action and used permanent museum exhibition partnerships to provide an educational experience to persuade people to support the cause. To highlight that the ocean plastic problem, a new deep-sea species was named after the plastic found inside its body - Eurythenes plasticus.
Results include 120K Petition signatures, €12 million in earned media value and thanks to the social conversation, over 93 counties discussed plasticus online. The permanent museum exhibitions have had over 410,000 combined visitors to date and new partnerships requests continue to be supported. Eurythenes plasticus received a Guinness World Record as the first new species contaminated by plastic.
The results of the AME Grand Jury are parsed in an annual rankings brief, The AME Report, a creative ranking system based on overall points earned for winning entries and provides an account of the highest-ranking agencies and brands within this year’s competition.
For a complete list of the AME 2021’s award-winning entries, visit award winners.
