The 26th annual MAA Best Awards recently took place at London’s The Brewery. Categories were revamped to reflect the award’s “#DoDifferent” spirit and to honour communications that stand out in the real world.
Following the event, the MAA chairman, one of the client judges and three industry leaders who attended the awards evening gave their reactions.
Simon Hathaway, former MAA chairman and global chief retail officer, Cheil Retail
We are living in exciting times for marketing communications. Innovation and change will move at a faster pace. How people work, shop and play will never be the same again. The only truth we can be sure of is that in the real world they don’t care about our marketing disciplines; they just want the best possible experience.
This year the Best Awards recognised that. We celebrated #DoDifferent work and ensured that it competes, as it must, in the real world by removing the prejudice of disciplines and media. Our new categories reflect that clients want thinking and ideas that are effective in addressing the challenges for their brands and their business.
Jennie Price, CEO, Sport England and MAA Best Awards judge
I was intrigued by the wide range of ideas and campaigns that made the shortlist,
from the beautifully executed to the completely original.
Humour was particularly impactful; anything that provoked general laughter had a head start.
Richard Dutton, head of brand experience, Leo Burnett UK
There were some brilliant campaigns across a range of disciplines that rightly picked up lumps of granite (Golds). Two picks from the night:
Proximity London deservedly picked up two awards for its super-smart work for its campaign for The Economist: Raising Eyebrows and Subscriptions. The campaign targeted new Economist subscribers across 13 markets, using in-feed advertising and real-time creative to serve in contextually relevant and unexpected places – very much proving tech does not get in the way of creativity.
Second, AMV BBDO won the inaugural PrideAM Best Award for its “Never Alone” work for Guinness that ran during the Rugby World Cup last year. This powerful, poignant campaign celebrates the courage of former Welsh captain Gareth Thomas and support shown by his teammates when he needed them most.
Graham Wall, executive creative director, Table19
More so than many awards, the Best Awards genuinely looks to embrace the changing nature of the way people interact with their world. Gone are antiquated categories, instead replaced with meaningful awards that reflect the real way real ideas are consumed.
Perhaps that’s why there was such a strong turnout. I could hardly take five paces without bumping into many of the people I respect most in this industry. The consistent theme of conversations was the high standard, diversity and progressiveness of the nominees and winners.
Whereas many awards lately seem to have straplines for nothing more than their self-serving ring, the MAA’s #DoDifferent positioning ran seamlessly through everything they did: from the categories to the winners and even the host Sanderson Jones, who rather than dialling in a performance, wrote a totally bespoke set that punctuated the awards with genuinely hilarious assassination of attendees’ social media accounts.
Barry Clarke, chairman, Wiki-Solutions
Having been involved in this sector for 50 years, it was a pleasure and privilege to see how far it has come. I suspect our successors have missed the halcyon days of big budgets and loyal clients, but it was encouraging to see so many examples of ingenuity and entrepreneurship.
The Pride AM Award went to the best campaign I’ve seen in a long time
(the Guinness Rugby World Cup Never Alone campaign) and will set a high standard for future years.
Thanks for encouraging so many businesses to do differently and do better. It was good to be a small part of it.
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