The AWARD Awards presentation is the culmination of Circus, the three-day festival of commercial creativity held in Australia each year.
Under the leadership of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' Erik Vervroegen, the 90 judges from across the region handed out a total of six gold awards. In addition to Clemenger BBDO Melbourne's double gold haul, Special Group, Happy Soldiers, Clemenger BBDO New Zealand and Colenso BBDO Auckland won a single gold each.
In further wins on the night, BBDO scooped Network of the Year. The honour was initially awarded to Publicis on the night but was later retracted and handed to BBDO after it was discovered that the points had been miscalculated. Agency of the Year went to Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney, Lion Nathan won Client of the Year and Best of Show went to Clemenger BBDO Melbourne for 'Support scent'.
New categories music video, applications, social media, environmental design and branded content were introduced this year to reflect how the industry is evolving.
Craig Davis, AWARD chairman, said “AWARD is here to champion commercial creativity, at a time when it has never been more important to business or society. I am proud of our industry and – after these last three days – am more convinced than ever about the very real contribution we have to make.”
The festival also incorporated the Battle of Big Thinking, where high profile speakers from advertising and marketing, business and government battle it out for the 'biggest idea', an international keynote programme and ‘pencil case’ segment showcasing the importance of creativity in campaign effectiveness.