AME Awards announces 2016 award-winners

The jury awarded 1 Grand Award, 4 Regional Platinum Awards, 29 Gold AME Awards, 30 Silver AME Awards, 21 Bronze and 24 Finalist Certificates.

Winning award uses guerrilla tactics

Grabarz & Partner/GGH Lowe Germany’s campaign “Nazis Against Nazis - Germany's Most Involuntary Charity Walk” for ZDK Zentrum Demokratische Kultur earned top honours, taking home both the 2016 AME Grand Awards and a AME Regional Platinum Award/Europe. The grand winning campaign tricked participants in a pro-neo-Nazi march by turning it into a charity walk to raise attention and money for EXIT-Deutschland, an initiative assisting neo-Nazis who want to leave the extreme right-wing movement. For every meter the neo-Nazis marched, they donated EUR 10 for their own opt-out, giving them the choice to either donate or stop their own march. The campaign also earned 4 Gold AME Awards.

Packaging platform wins

Leo Burnett Melbourne was in the spotlight earning the 2016 AME Regional Platinum Award/Asia-Pacific for “#MyFamilyCan” for client SPC. The campaign successfully leveraged a national debate over contaminated imported foods that caused a hepatitis outbreak in Australia and fuelled the nation’s growing concern over the origin of food by creating a packaging platform for SPC, Australia’s largest food processor.

The agency dedicated SPC’s iconic advertising real estate to Australian farming families, converting 4 million cans into an educational media space. The results: one million SPC Family Cans were sold in the first month alone—a 17% uplift on the sales target.

Vines creep into awards

BBDO New York was centre stage, earning the 2016 AME Regional Platinum Award for “Vines in the Real World: Making the Digital Analog” for client Lowe’s Companies. To launch Lowe’s two new Manhattan stores, the agency connected with New Yorkers via a store window marketing campaign that allowed them to engage with their new retail neighbour. BBDO created analogue versions of popular Lowe’s DIY digital Vines and displayed them in the windows of the Manhattan stores. The campaign’s results include 34.4 million impressions in just three weeks, and increasing engagement by almost 1300%.

Energy awarded

Impact BBDO Cairo earned the 2016 AME Regional Platinum Award for “Everyday Hero” for Sting, PepsiCo’s energy drink. Energy drink advertisements are often associated with extreme sports activities. The agency increased brand awareness with a campaign that associated the Sting with the extreme sport of ‘Everyday Egyptian Life’, since Life in Cairo with a population of 9 million can be exhausting with traffic jams, pollution power outages and more. This positioning, in less than a year, grew the Egyptian market of energy drinks by 1400%, and established Sting as the market leader of the category with over 60% market share. “Everyday Hero” also garnered a Gold AME Award.

Technology drives engagement

Technology drove engagement, with entries striking Gold including: Serviceplan Germany’s “Speaking of Images 2015”—the first book where every single photo will be able to literally speak for World Press Photo—earned 2 Gold AME Awards and 2 AME Silver. Serviceplan’s “The Match” earned a single Gold AME Award and a Bronze for client Sky. The campaign invited rival fans to view a sold-out football match on their smartphone. The catch was only one half of the game was visible on phone’s screen. In order to view the entire match, the two rival fans had to work together joining their phones side-by-side to follow the game.

Serviceplan Middle East was awarded the Gold AME for “BMW xWalk,” a campaign featuring an interactive art installation/3D optical illusion at the Dubai World Trade Center highlighting the benefits of the BMW xDrive, and bringing to life the idea, "Go smooth on uneven roads."

Branded entertainment engages consumers

Branded entertainment campaigns engaged consumers and elevated brands while creating an emotional response. TBWA Kuala Lumpur earned two Gold AME Awards for “EVEREADY Book of Play - Brand Rejuvenation through Innovation” for client Energizer Malaysia. The campaign created an emotional connection for the brand through the creation of EVEREADY Book of Play (BOP), an innovative storytelling platform based on the traditional Malaysian art of storytelling called Wayang Kulit (shadow play). The BOP’s die cut pages were brought to life when illuminated with torchlights and batteries, by casting shadows on walls, engaging parents and children transforming a product used only for emergencies to a brand of daily bonding and relevance.

ADK TAIWAN also earned two AME Gold Awards for its campaign “House of Little Moments,” which revitalized the Uni Noodle brand by transforming the instant noodles into a mood enhancing brand via micro movies, inventive recipes and a brick-and-mortar noodle shop. HEIMAT Werbeagentur GmbH’s Gold AME award-winning campaign “The Hornbach Spring Collection” for client Hornbach honored well-worn work clothes and supplied consumers with a literal badge of honour/clothing label designed for home project enthusiasts

Event marketing increased brand affinity. Gold-winning work in the spotlight includes Ogilvy Germany’s “Rabbit Race” for client Media Markt, Germany’s largest consumer electronics retail chain. The campaign used celebrity racing rabbits for a live marketing event race that allowed customers who shopped at Media Markt to win a 50% cash-back coupon for the value of their last purchase—but only if the winning bunny’s number matched the number on their receipt.

Five awards for BBDO NY campaigns

BBDO New York was in the winner’s circle earning five Gold AME Awards for the following campaigns: “Mountain Dew Kickstart Comes Alive” for Mountain Dew Kickstart; “#HORSEwithHarden” and “Fight of the Century” for client Foot Locker; “Cigarettes Out. Health In.” for CVS Health; and “Lowe's #FixInSix: The Quickest Quick Tips” for Lowe’s.

McCann XBX USA’s was honoured for its award-winning work for client MasterCard, earning two Gold AME Awards for “#OneMoreDay”, the campaign stood up to an obsessive work culture, encouraging people to take #OneMoreDay and make it priceless with MasterCard.

To view the complete 2016 AME Award Winners Showcase, go to http://ameawards.com/winners/2016/.