8 campaigns we loved at D&AD Awards 2014

Each month, the Creative Hub of the Brand Activation Council seeks out inspiring work, to share with you, here, on the DMA Blog.

For our May showcase, creative team members at Arc WW and N2O visited the D&AD Awards 2014 judging and each picked one piece of work that impressed them the most with its design and or innovation.

We won’t have long to wait until the official awards’ results – the Pencil winners will be announced on 22 May but for now, here are our Picks for a Pencil.

Campaign: Don’t text and drive
Client: Fiat
Agency: Leo Burnett, São Paulo, Brazil

Picked by: Ian Mitchell, Arc WW

Don’t text and drive is a print and poster advertising campaign featuring the letters R (Girl), F (Bus), N (Dog), L (Truck) and Z (Cow).
“You either see the letter or the bus. Don’t text and drive”.

This is a road safety campaign produced by Leo Burnett in São Paulo, Brazil and is one of those campaigns where after seeing it I thought why did I not think of that? It’s simple in its idea and its execution.

Put simply: Lovely

Campaign: The Biggest Air Filter. Lung Trees project by KNOxOUT paint
Client: Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines
Agency: TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno, Makati City, Philippines

Picked by: Jenny Murphy, N2O

This project featured “a painted row of colourful lung shaped trees” along an extremely polluted highway, they were painted using a paint called KNOxOUT, this paint when activated by light, absorbs and breaks down air pollutants.

I thought it was a great example of how useful and beautiful things happen when science and design meet.

Campaign: People for Smarter Cities
Client: IBM
Agency: Ogilvy France

Picked by: Bianca Padurean, N2O

There was a lot of great work here, some funny (Volkswagen and Land Rover), some innovative (Share a Coke, Coca-Cola) but the one that I think deserves to win a Pencil is the most human oriented campaign in which the creators tried to give true meaning to outdoor advertising. My nomination is (although it already won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2013) IBM: People for Smarter Cities campaign.

Campaign: Phubbing – a word is born
Client: Macquarie Dictionary
Agency: McCann Melbourne

Picked by: Kevin Travis, Arc WW

The good old dictionary hasn’t been enjoying the best of times in the digital age. So how do you make it more relevant? Well those clever people at McCann Melbourne came up with the idea to invent a new word: phubbing (v). The act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention

The campaign started a movement around smartphone behaviour, attracting huge media attention, not just in Australia, but also around the world. And more importantly, it reminded people that language is ever changing and they should update their dictionary.
My verdict: awesome (adj) causing feelings of great admiration, respect or fear.

Campaign: Banana Comic Week
Client: FYFFES
Agency: Serviceplan, Munich, Germany

Picked by: Hiral Shah, N2O

This campaign tackled the growing problem in industrialised nations – children’s diet consisting of fast food and sweets leading to early diabetes and adiposity. Banana skins were laser imprinted with a comic strip where ‘Fyfe’ becomes a superhero after eating a banana. The playful approach of this campaign communicated to the target (kids) in a voice and manner they understood, without being preachy or authoritative.

Disclaimer: Time allowed to judge hundreds of entries was not enough. I was only able to see a very limited number.

Campaign: Feel Safe
Client: BMW
Agency: Bcube, Milan, Italy, Germany

Picked by: Michael Elliott, N2O

My nomination is BMW’s Feel Safe press advertisement. This clever concept emphasises the level of security and peace of mind you can have when purchasing used cars from BMW. By honing in on the potential dangers of purchasing used cars, the iconic bars highlight the safety only BMW offers.

Simple and clever.

Campaign: Every Signature Makes It Harder
Client: Amnesty International Chile
Agency: JWT Beirut (MENA), Lebanon

Picked by: Terence Bolsh, N2O

The visit to D&AD Judging 2014 was marred by the distinct lack of time each visitor was allocated to evaluate the plethora of entries on display.

Highlight: Amnesty International ‘Signature’ posters.

Campaign: Respect the Water
Client: RNLI
Agency: Leo Burnett Change/Arc WW

Picked by: Rachel Lamb, N2O

It is a fantastic idea illustrating a serious public safety issue in a humorous and engaging manner. It works because they have considered their audience and provided an outcome which educates without nagging, boring or patronising anyone, and the pint glass stories are a lovely touch!

Heather Devany comment:
A sharp selection of potential Pencil winners, I hope you’ll agree.
Are there any standout examples you believe we’ve missed?
And, if you visited the entries’ judging exhibition, what’s your pick for a Pencil?

As for me; having judged the RNLI Respect the Water pilot campaign for the 2013 DMA Awards, where it won Gold for Use of Experiential, I hope it will again prove buoyant. But, IBM: People for Smarter Cities always makes me smile, wish I’d come up with it, then think, “What else could we include?”.

“Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” Steve Jobs.

By DMA guest blogger Heather Devany, Creative Director, N2O Limited and DMA Brand Activation Council member