Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne takes home Grand Prix for TAC ‘Meet Graham’ at the 2017 AC&E Awards; James McGrath named Creative OTY; Nick Mercer inducted into ADMA Hall of Fame

Last night was a particularly rewarding night for Melbourne-based agencies once again at the ADMA Australian Creativity and Effectiveness (AC&E) Awards, held last night at Big Top, Luna Park, Sydney.

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne (left) received the most awards handed out during the evening to one agency, taking home 10 awards plus three Pinnacles including the Data-Driven Award, The Courageous Client Award and the Grand Prix.

For 2017, new Pinnacle categories were introduced including Social Impact and Data-Driven to ensure the Awards are aligned with industry expectations.

Taking the AC&E Awards to the next level, the Audit Media Association joined with the AC&E Awards Audit Committee, reviewing all entries to ensure that only agencies that could prove their results got through to the final round, making the AC&E Awards the most rigorous in the country.

‘Meet Graham’ produced by Clemenger BBDO was the most awarded campaign on the night including for Courageous Client with ‘Meet Graham’ for the Transport Accident Commission (VIC), ‘Graham’ is part interactive sculpture, part educational tool and a catalyst for conversation. ‘Graham’ shows how humans would need to change or evolve in order to survive impact forces of 30km/hr.

‘Snickers Hungerithm’ also by Clemenger BBDO for Mars Chocolate Australia was also a huge win with four awards plus one Pinnacle Award in Data-Driven.

Clemenger BBDO creative chairman James McGrath (left) took out the ADMA Creative of the Year title. Qantas chief marketing officer Stephanie Tully was named ADMA Marketer of the Year.

MercerBell founding partner Nick Mercer was inducted into the ADMA Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to the industry.

Over an impressive career spanning 30-years, Mercer held integral posts at leading global agencies such as JWT and M&C Saatchi before co-founding MercerBell with David Bell in 1999. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to turn MercerBell into one of Australia’s most successful independent agencies culminating in the recent partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi and the Publicis Groupe.

In the coming months, Mercer who pioneered the Customer Experience Agency in Australia, will be relocating to Melbourne, where MercerBell is establishing a new office.

Mercer (centre) has served on the Board of ADMA, and as chairman of judges for the ADMA Awards in 2008.

Says Mercer: “While I am incredibly proud of this award, the reality is that it’s a combination of all our staff and clients who enabled me to accept this great accolade.”

Notable in the 2017 Awards was the quality of the awards with game-changing ideas and data baked in at all stages of the campaigns. The judges noted the entries were phenomenal and a delight to judge.

In all, the gala evening delivered 42 winning trophies and 39 highly commended trophies during the evening.

The AC&E Awards Gala Dinner attracted over 500 advertisers and marketers to Big Top, Luna Park. Australian stand-up comedian and radio and television presenter Tom Gleeson took on MC duties. ADMA acknowledged its sponsors for their generous support including oOH!Media, The Sydney Morning Herald, Publicis Cubed, Westpac, Acquia, Smart Video, Siteimprove, Slidemaster and SSI as well as event partners Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, the Audited Media Association of Australia, DRV Creative, and Wink Models.

Says Jodie Sangster, CEO, ADMA: “The AC&E Awards matter enormously to clients and agencies today because they’re the only awards in Australia that recognise exceptional creativity and solid business results in equal proportion, not as separate specialisations. Together they have the power to transform a business demonstrated by the fantastic work we’ve seen tonight.  I congratulate all the winners, those who received highly commended trophies and the finalists, all of whom should be very proud of their work.”

The full list of 2017 AC&E Award winners by category comprises:

Ambient/Experiential

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission Victoria for ‘Meet Graham’

Apps

Adrenalin for Supercars for Supercars Official App

Art Direction

BMF for ALDI Australia for ‘Meet the Tinkletons’

Best Use of Search

Online Circle Digital for Mercedes-Benz for ‘Grow up’

Branded Content

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission Victoria for ‘Meet Graham’

Broadcast: TV, Cinema, Radio

CHE Proximity for Cochlear for ‘The Hearing Test in Disguise’

Copywriting

BMF for ALDI Australia for ‘Meet the Tinkletons’

Customer Acquisition Campaign

CHE Proximity for Cochlear for ‘The Hearing Test in Disguise’

Customer Retention Campaign

Lifelounge for Guild Insurance for ‘Rewarding Choice’

Data Analytics and Planning

Woolworths Rewards for ‘Stealing Santa to Create an Email Personalisation Revolution

Data Strategy

Ogilvy Australia for Suncorp/AAMI for ‘AAMI SmartPlates’ 

Data Visualisation

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission Victoria for ‘Meet Graham’

Data-Driven Mail

LIDA Australia for Lexus Australia for ‘Finding the 100’ 

Digital & Social Advertising

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Mars Chocolate Australia for ‘Snickers Hungerithm’

E-commerce Website & Marketing

Email Marketing

Cummins & Partners Sydney for Go Gentle Australia for ‘Be the Bill’

Integrated Campaign

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Mars Chocolate Australia for ‘Snickers Hungerithm’

Integrated Campaign – small budget

Cummins & Partners Sydney for Go Gentle Australia for ‘Be the Bill’

Long Term Loyalty Program

CHE Proximity for AIA Insurance Australia for ‘AIA Vitality: Rewarding Healthier Habits’

Media Campaign

McCann Melbourne for University of Melbourne for ‘Made Possible by Melbourne’

Mobile Marketing

Ogilvy Australia for Suncorp/AAMI for ‘AAMI SmartPlates’

Most Effective Use of Content

BMF for Football Federation Australia, ‘You’ve Gotta Have a Team’

Not-For-Profit Campaign

Cummins & Partners Melbourne for Movember Foundation for ‘Suicide Notes Talk Too Late’

Out-Of-Home

McCann Melbourne for University of Melbourne for ‘Made Possible by Melbourne’

PR Campaign

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission Victoria for ‘Meet Graham’

Social Commerce

Ogilvy Australia for IBM for ‘Cognitive Collection’

Social Media Campaign

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Mars Chocolate Australia for ‘Snickers Hungerithm’

UX

Adrenalin for UNSW International for ‘UNSW International Website’

Use of New Technologies

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission Victoria for ‘Meet Graham’

Websites & Microsites

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Mars Chocolate Australia for ‘Snickers Hungerithm’

Pinnacle Awards

Data-Driven Award

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Mars Chocolate Australia for Snickers Hungerithm

Social Impact Award

Cummins & Partners Sydney for Go Gentle Australia for ‘Be the Bill’

Innovation Award

Ogilvy Australia for Suncorp/AAMI for ‘AAMI SmartPlates’

Grand Prix Award

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission Victoria for ‘Meet Graham’

Overall Customer Experience Award

CHE Proximity for Cochlear for ‘The Hearing Test in Disguise’

Courageous Client Award

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for Transport Accident Commission Victoria for ‘Meet Graham’

Excellence Awards

ADMA Marketer of the Year

Stephanie Tully, Qantas

ADMA Creative of the Year

James McGrath, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

The Jon Clark Award for Outstanding Contribution

Jo Whyte, City of Melbourne

ADMA Young Marketer of the Year

Shannon Clarke, iSelect

ADMA Young Creative of the Year

Marina Vasilieva, McCann

ADMA Hall of Fame

Nick Mercer, MercerBell

Case studies of the winning work can be viewed here.