D&AD Professional Awards 2016: India brings home 11 Wood Pencils

Winners of the D&AD Professional Awards 2016 were felicitated at an awards ceremony held in London on May 19. This year, Indian agencies walked away with 11 Wood Pencils. D&AD celebrates and nurtures outstanding work in the design and advertising industry each year with its international creative awards. A D&AD Pencil is recognised the world over as a shining symbol of the very highest creative achievement.

The much-awarded Ariel – Share the Load campaign bagged three Wood Pencils. Conceptualised and created by BBDO India for P&G India’s brand Ariel, the campaign is aimed at washing away the cultural stain of gender inequity at home. The Ariel – Share the Load campaign score a Pencil each in the categories of – Integrated - large business (over 500 employees), Advertising & Marketing Communications - Brand, and Ambient.

Beauty Tips by Reshma, the social campaign done by Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai for NGO Make Love Not Scars calls for end of over-the-counter sale of acid and features beauty Vlogs by Reshma, an acid attack survivor. The campaign won two Pencils in the categories of – Advertising & Marketing Communications - Not for Profit and Integrated Digital Campaigns.

Another much-awarded campaign, Whisper – Touch the Pickle, bagged a Wood Pencil in the Integrated - Large Business (over 500 employees) category. The campaign, done by BBDO India for P&G India’s brand Whisper serves as a metaphor to break free from all period related taboos.

McCann Worldgroup India’s campaign, titled Musical Instruments, done for Dabur’s Grastrina won a Wood Pencil in the Illustration for Advertising category. The campaign seeks to communicate Dabur Gastrina’s proven efficacy against gas problems by bringing alive humourously the embarrassing sounds an upset stomach can make.

The campaign for Ambuja Cement – A Giant’s Story – has scored a Wood Pencil in the Casting for Film Advertising category. Conceptualised by Publicis India, the ad featuring wrestler Great Khali, aims to communicate Ambuja Cement’s giant compressive strength.

Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai’s campaign, titled #GodSaveTheOcean, done for Sprouts Environment Trust won a Wood Pencil in the Sustainable Product Design. The campaign promoted using eco-friendly Ganesha idols during the festival of Ganesh Mahotsava by creating unique fish friendly Ganesha idols from vegetarian food ingredients that the fish could eat. The idols were painted with natural food colours and were encased in river clay moulds. The size of the idols was also reduced to just 9 inches.

The Rajasthan Tourism Logo Reveal done by Studio Eeksaurus Productions won a Wood Pencil in the Animation for Film Advertising category. The campaign involved a sand sculpture animation film using stop motion animation technique with sand for Rajasthan Tourism.

The Two Sisters campaign done by Sisterconcern Design Studio, a design studio started by two sisters, bagged a Wood Pencil in the Graphic Design – Stationery category. The campaign involved using the sisters’ childhood pictures as their business cards.