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The prestigious Jay Chiat Awards organized by the 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies) have been a global awards platform to recognize the world’s best strategic thinking. The awards are unique because they judge the art and the craft of strategy - and this year, they did not permit case study videos.
In exciting news for the region, FP7 McCann from Dubai, the world’s most awarded agency for strategy and effectiveness over the past two years, has set a new benchmark for strategic thinking in the region by winning the MENA region’s first-ever Grand Prix at the Jay Chiat awards, and the only Grand Prix awarded too.
The award was for Home Centre’s A Dad’s Job, a campaign where the home furniture retailer tackled the taboo topic of single mothers to create impact with its Father's Day campaign in the UAE.
The campaign featured, recognized, supported and celebrated single moms in the region, during Father’s Day, as a stage to support those moms who double up as dads. Hence, it has done something no brand has done in the Middle East.
Being recognized as the best strategy of 2019-2021 with the Grand prix, it also won a Gold in Regional Strategy and a Silver in PR Strategy.
Tahaab Rais, who is the strategist, writer and the director of the film that kicked off the initiative, and also served on the regional jury commented: “I’ve always been a fan of the Jay Chiat as a young strategist. It has been aspirational and it should be aspirational for all strategists, more than most awards out there, because they award the strategy behind the creativity. After winning our first Jay Chiat for Babyshop (a Gold) in 2019 and picking up that award at the ceremony in New York, I was very excited to get our agency back up there and winning again in this edition. ‘A Dad’s Job’ had unanimous love and support from the jury. And credit goes to Home Centre for backing this and to our team and our partners for making this happen.”
This follows other Grand prix wins for this campaign across WARC’s Global Awards for Effectiveness by Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx, among wins at Cannes, Webby’s, Clios and other global award platforms.
In addition to the wins on Home Centre, FP7 McCann also won a Bronze for DSC’s Blood Unity, along with Honorable Mentions for A Dad’s Job (Connection Strategy) and Blood Unity (Non-Profit Strategy) making it the most awarded agency at the Jay Chiat Awards in 2021.
The full list of awards can be viewed here.
