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The winners of the 2021 Immortal Awards have been announced and just four projects have been crowned Immortal by this year’s jury.
The 31 piece shortlist was discussed and debated by a global jury, composed of jurors from each of this year’s five regional competitions, with just four Immortal winners and six Commendations being awarded this year.
The winning projects were selected at the final virtual round of judging held on Thursday 18th November. They will receive the iconic skull and wings Immortal trophy.
This year’s Immortal winners are.
- Propuesta Civica - #StillSpeakingUp DeepTruth, submitted by Publicis Groupe Eastern Europe
- Mastercard - True Name, submitted by Hungry Man US
- Beats by Dre - You Love Me, submitted by PRETTYBIRD & Company 3
- Reddit - Superb Owl, submitted by R/GA California
With regard to the middle East, only four projects from UAE achieved finalist status:
MINI - MINImalism, submitted by Serviceplan Middle East
Pizza Hut - Offline Hour, submitted by M&C Saatchi UAE
TENA - Despair No More, submitted by BIG KAHUNA FILMS Dubai
UAE Government Media Office - Double Moon, submitted by MullenLowe Dubai
Separate from that, in the League Table of Creativity, which ranks the creative agencies according to the scoring points of each entry, the top five agencies in the UAE are:
Top 5 UAE Advertising Agencies 2021:
1 Impact BBDO
2 MullenLowe Dubai
3 M&C Saatchi UAE
4 Serviceplan Middle East
5 FP7 McCann Dubai
This year’s results mean that UAE ranks #8 on the country list.
Europe makes its mark this year with Latvia and Italy being recognised among the Immortals and Commendations for the first time ever.
Hungry Man has equalled the current record by securing a third Immortal Award for True Name, following two wins in 2019.
Somesuch continues to uphold its standard of quality, having been recognised among the Immortals and Commendations each year since the inaugural awards in 2018.
Building on the competition’s growth last year, there was a 14% increase in the number of entrant companies in 2021, from 541 in 2020 to 619 in 2021.
This year’s global jury maintained the incredibly high standards set by the juries in the competition’s first three years, limiting the number of Immortal winners to four - the same number as 2018, 2019, and 2020 - whilst also keeping the number of Commendations low, at just six.
Matt Cooper, founder of Little Black Book, comments: "Four years in, we are so proud of what the Immortal Awards is fast becoming. Our dream was to do something different; to be free to enter, hard to win and to celebrate truly great work. It is also about showing this work to the world, which we will continue to do globally in cinemas and in-house. Our belief is that country-by-country we can really help the world see the greatest work and inspire them to make it. Now we want to push The Immortal Awards a whole lot further. Next year, we aim to do local judging on the ground in many more countries before returning to in-person regional and global finals - and we are so excited."
Paul Monan, awards director of The Immortal Awards, comments: "With the introduction of local jury days, this year’s judging has been a phenomenal experience. Having listened to creatives around the world, our belief is that the work judged locally by locals, then regionally with hand-picked locals, and then globally with some of our regional jurors, would get discussed and distilled in a way that has never been done before and it paid off. Thank you to our jurors this year and, of course, a huge congratulations to the four Immortal winners and the six Commendation recipients on their achievements as our juries were as tough as we've ever seen."
Monan adds: "This year's Immortal Awards was by far the toughest, most intensely debated edition of the show yet. The calibre of the work making it through to the final round was simply phenomenal and our jury spent a long time discussing each and every piece on the 31 project shortlist, which featured work from every region. We believe the Immortal Awards are judged through a different lens than other shows and our jury are looking for the all-round creative projects that are incredible ideas, exceptionally executed - the work that hits you in the heart and the head. The four projects that received Immortal Awards this year were varied projects that truly stood out this year and will be looked back on in many years as work that pushed the boundaries of what we can achieve through creativity.”
The full list of winners for The Immortal Awards 2021:
IMMORTAL:
Propuesta Civica - #StillSpeakingUp DeepTruth, submitted by Publicis Groupe Eastern Europe
Mastercard - True Name, submitted by Hungry Man US
Beats by Dre - You Love Me, submitted by PRETTYBIRD & Company 3
Reddit - Superb Owl, submitted by R/GA California
COMMENDATION:
House of Lapland - Salla 2032, submitted by Africa
City of Chicago - Boards of Change, submitted by FCB Chicago
Channel 4 Paralympics - Super. Human., submitted by Time Based Arts, Somesuch, Factory Studios, Leland Music, Final Cut London
Heineken - Shutter Ads, submitted by Publicis Italy
Heinz - Draw Ketchup, submitted by Rethink
Duck Sauce - Mesmerize, submitted by Caviar
The global League Table rankings for 2021 are as follows:
Agency Network:
1. McCann
2. BBDO
3. DDB
Agency:
1. McCann New York
2. Publicis Groupe Eastern Europe
3. R/GA California
Production Company:
1. Hungry Man US
2. PRETTYBIRD US
3. Somesuch UK
Post Production:
1. Company 3 LA
2. Company 3 NY
3. Mill London
Edit Company:
1. Final Cut London
2. tenthree
3. The Editors
Music & Sound:
1. 750mph
2. Factory Studios
3. Wave Studios
Country:
1. USA
2. UK
3. Australia
4. Canada
5. Ireland
6. Brazil
7. Germany
8. UAE
9. Ukraine
10. South Africa
The Immortal Awards is a free-to-enter award show for all of Little Black Book’s global members.
Disrupting the traditional industry awards model, The Immortal Awards provides its members with an award that is free to enter, easy to enter and hard to win.
Inspired by Sir John Hegarty’s belief that creative companies rarely create more than five genuinely award-worthy pieces per office a year, The Immortal Awards only allows entrants a maximum of five entries, a limit that ensures only the very best creative work is entered and creates a democratic, level playing field for all entrants.
