Mark, Sydney takes out Ninemsn’s Butterfly Award for best rich media campaign of the year for ANZ ‘Sneaky Thief’ Banner

Mark, Sydney has won the inaugural Ninemsn Butterfly Award for best rich media campaign of the year for  for its ‘Sneaky Thief Banners’ execution for ANZ. The online ad, to launch ANZ’s Fraud Money Back Guarantee campaign, was considered the best of the best of the four ninemsn Butterfly Award quarterly winners, to take out the top annual prize.

It was announced late last month that Mark had won the fourth quarterButterfly Award for the advertisement that features two synchedbanners. A cat burglar crawls along the top banner and saws a holethrough the ‘ceiling’ of the lower banner to reach in and steal an ANZcard. The message: “We can’t protect your card from falling into thewrong hands, but if it does, we’ve got you covered,” is sequencedwithin the two banners.

Mark executive creative director GavinMcLeod (left) said it was a fantastic achievement for everyone involved to berecognised for creating the best rich media work of the year: “Wereally pushed the boundaries on this work to get the execution lookingas realistic as possible.

“So instead of going with a standardphotoshopped execution, we created and shot everything live in aphotography studio. We believe the production quality was evident andthe results speak for themselves,” McLeod said. “It’s also verygratifying to see a bank being recognised for some cutting-edge,innovative work in the digital space. I applaud ANZ’s leadership onthis campaign.”

McLeod also commented on the effectiveness ofthe banners, which he said were a great example of what can be achievedwith imaginative use of rich media: “This should be of interest toclients debating whether to invest in rich media placements. Richmedia, executed in a quality and compelling way represents a fantasticmarketing channel.”

Nicholas Gray, Ninemsn national salesdirector and member of the awards judging panel said of theachievement: “The ninemsn judging panel felt this execution by Markreally stood out, and showed how engaging traditional banners can be.The leaderboard and medium rectangle working together really jumped offthe page and told a compelling product story.  Congratulations to Mark.”

ANZhead of Retail Marketing Paul Riley said: “We are thrilled that Markhas received this recognition for their work on our campaign.  Thisaward is testament to the quality of the agency’s creative work andtheir intimate understanding of our brand as well as what we believe isour determination to take online to the next level.

“We recognised that online had a key role to play in building awareness for this integrated campaign,” Mr Riley said.

“Mark’sinnovative execution was borne from a great creative idea. It enabledus to further build on the ANZ Fraud Squad above-the-line campaign witha more direct ‘visual’ of how the ANZ Fraud Money Back Guaranteeprovides peace of mind to ANZ customers.”   

The ButterflyAwards recognise rich media online executions that demonstrate powerfulbrand building, clever integration and creative cut through.  Teamssubmitted rich media advertisements to be judged by a panel of crossmedia and brand CMOs, with winners chosen based on creativity, powerfulbrand building ability and demonstrated integration within a largermedia mix.  The annual prize is an all-expenses paid trip for two tothe 2010 Cannes Advertising Festival.  Each of the four quarterlywinners won a lunch to the value of $1500 at a venue to be chosen bythe winning team.