Three SA agencies amongst winners announced for 2018 Midas Awards

© Midas Awards.

King James was honoured with 11 Golds and 1 Silver Ingot, Mortimer Harvey received 7 Silver Ingots and 5 Finalist Certificates and FCB Africa scooped 1 Gold, 11 Silver Ingots and 4 Finalist Certificates.

With an impressive 12% increase in entries this year, the 2018 Midas Awards’ executive jury honoured entries with 1 Grand Midas Award, 56 Midas Gold Ingots, 114 Midas Silver Ingots, and 144 Finalist Certificates. For a complete list of winners visit here:

Gold winners

Futurelite AG was awarded the prestigious Grand Midas Award for “The Bellboy” for client Credit Suisse. The campaign illustrates via analogies about why the hotel director needs the lease for a new elevator and how he can get it done simple and fast home through Credit Suisse. “The BellBoy” also earned an additional 4 Midas Gold Ingots.

McCann Worldgroup sp. z o.o. Poland was in the spotlight earning 7 Gold Ingots for “Business Facelift” for client Mastercard. To build awareness of Mastercard’s support to SME companies and improve the quality of Polish commercial communication, the agency conducted a stunt to change the signboards on the busiest streets in Warsaw. In addition, a competition was launched to awarding those who use Mastercard technologies the opportunity to win a makeover for their storefront.

King James Group Johannesburg, South Africa “Father’s Share” for client Allan Gray was honoured with 7 Gold Ingots for their heart-warming film, the story of a South African boy learning the value of long-term investing from his father.

The agency also earned 4 Gold Ingots for client Sanlam. Gold Ingot winners include: “Conversations with Yourself,” a campaign that brought to life the feeling of speaking to your older or younger self about the life you’ve lived. “2 Minute Shower Songs,” instead of making ads, Sanlam made an album that urged people to cut down on their water consumption.

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“200 Years Old,” a scripted audio docudrama set in 2218 telling the story of a woman born in 2018 becoming the first human being to reach 200 years of age, created to take the consumer to places that cannot yet be seen. “Lives of Grace,” promoted Sanlam’s My Choice Funeral Plan, an interactive mobile drama demonstrated the importance of wise decision making and its impact later in life.

TJ Worx Thailand was in the winner’s circle earning a total of 6 Gold Ingots for client Krungthai Bank. “HI-SA-TI Brand” earned 5 Golds for their campaign featuring a line of fashion products with memorable product names - You-Have-Something-Similar, phrases that people might say before making a purchase. Designed to raise people’s awareness about financial literacy and to be more responsible when it comes to their spending/shopping habits. The agency also earned a Gold Ingot for “The MV That Knows Where You Are”.

McCann New York scored 4 Midas Gold Ingots for client Mastercard. “You Can’t Judge a Book” earned 3 Gold Ingots for their music video artists who have each overcome a personal or societal barrier— from a blues-guitar virtuoso who’s blind to a female Filipino rapper to a five-time Grammy nominee. “Charlie’s Perfect Pitch” earned a Gold Ingot, the campaign featured American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth demonstrating his perfect pitch before an exclusive JetBlue Card cardmember Priceless concert.

McCann XBX was recognised with 3 Gold Ingots for client OppenheimerFunds. Double Ingot winner “Global Campaign” for Oppenheimer Funds Global Campaign challenges a hot-button issue and aims to show investors a whole world of opportunity, “5 Senses/Get Smart/Cowboy”

R/GA Sao Paulo’s “Bank next: Swamp or Lolla” for client Banco Bradesco earned 2 Gold Ingots for their online mobile game called “Swamp or Lollapalooza.” Players had the chance to win real prizes, including free tickets to Lollapalooza.

United States

Agencies from the United States were recognized with multiple Gold Ingots including MullenLowe for “Nuveen: CR07 Direction” and “Nuveen: CR02 Animation” both for client Nuveen. Huge earned two Ingots for “Translator :60” for client Quicken Loans, Strawberry Frog was recognized with 2 Ingots for “The Bridge” for SunTrust Foundation, and Groupe Connect saw “Friends Again” earn 2 Ingots for client Bank of America.

Global agencies

Global agencies striking Gold include Publicis, USA “The Citi Mobile App” for Citi; Zulu Alpha Kilo for Interac Association, Canada; “The Musician” for FCB Africa (Pty) Ltd, South Africa for “Swiish Music Video” Absa Card Usage.

McCann Sydney, Australia “Tap for Your Town” Mastercard; White64, USA “King” PenFed Foundation Mortierbrigade Belgium “A Mascot For The Red Devil” ING Belgium; POL, Norway “The Ripple Effect Generator” DNB; 303 MullenLowe, Australia, “Invest in the World’s Best” for Magellan; Decoded Advertising, USA for “Money is Changing” Visa; Superunion, Germany “Turn Something Boring Into Something Happy” for Yunar; and Rahofer Werbeagentur Christian Rahofer GmbH, Austria “Palfinger Annual Report 2017: "The future is: whatever is imaginable” for client Palfinger AG.

The results of the juries are parsed in an annual rankings brief, The Midas Report, —a veritable whos-who in the world of financial services advertising that includes the 3 individual reports: Agency, Brand, and Network.

Midas released the 2018 Midas Report, a yearly ranking of the most successful global agencies, brands and networks according to their achievements in the Midas Awards.

2018 Midas Report

Brand

1. Mastercard
2. HSBC
3. OppenheimerFunds

Allan Gray

4. Krungthai Bank
5. Citi

Absa Corporate and Investment Banking

6. State Street Global Advisors
7. Bank of America
8. Nuveen

Company

1. McCann New York
2. Grey Group Hong Kong

FCB Africa (Pty) Ltd

3. McCann XBC

King James Group Johannesburg and McCann Worldgroup sp. z o.o.(tie)

CJ WORX

Mortimer Harvey

4. Groupe Connect
5. MullenLowe
6. Futurelite AG and King James (tie)

Network

1. McCann Worldgroup
2. Publicis Worldwide

King James Group

3. Grey Group
4. MullenLowe

To view the 2018 Midas Awards Winners please click here.