WARC Effective Innovation: Gold for McCann India; metals for The Womb, Taproot

Campaigns for Ad Council, David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, IDFC Bank and Pril are the top winners of the Effective Innovation category of the WARC Awards 2018, a global search for next-generation marketing effectiveness. 

The Grand Prix has been awarded to agency 22squared for its ‘7-Seconds Resumes’ campaign for Grads of Life, an initiative run by the Ad Council in the US, which worked with unemployed young people to create short videos that showcased their skills, changed perceptions, and helped them into work. 

A total of 13 campaigns from around the world – 1 Grand Prix, three Golds, four Silvers and five Bronzes – have been selected as winners in the Effective Innovation category which recognises innovative thinking that has transformed a business or disrupted category conventions to deliver tangible results. 

Three special awards have also been given in specific areas of excellence: Channel Innovation Award – for the best example of an innovative use of media; Category Innovation Award – for the best example of a brand defying category norms or creating a new category; and Partnership Award – for the best collaboration that helped a brand rethink a solution to a business challenge. 

The jury of 15 agency and client-side industry professionals chaired by Christopher Yu, Vice President, Integrated Marketing Strategy, Innovation, and Technology, U.S. Bank have selected the following winners: 

Grand Prix:
7-Second Resumes · Grads of Life · Ad Council · 22squared · United States+ Partnership Award 

Gold:

• Hello in Elephant · David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust · whiteGREY · Australia, Kenya, Tanzania, United Kingdom, United States
• Bank in a Box · IDFC Bank · McCann Worldgroup · India
• One-Drop Bottle · Pril · TBWARAAD · United Arab Emirates

Silver:

• Denmark vs. Trump · Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF) · UncleGrey · Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, United States+ Channel Innovation Award
• The Loneliness Index · Age UK · Manning Gottlieb OMD · United Kingdom
• So how about creating viral products instead? · Carvaan · The Womb · India + Category Innovation Award
• Lost Frequency · HearLife Clinic · FP7/DXB · United Arab Emirates

Bronze:

• 100% Asian. 100% British – How a simple insight changed a radio station · BBC Asian Network · MullenLowe London · United Kingdom
• Hearing Rescue · Thai Health Promotion Foundation · BBDO Bangkok · Thailand
• Odds · adidas · Taproot · India
• Camelpower · Nissan · TBWARAAD · United Arab Emirates
• Seek Deeper · Royal Caribbean International · MullenLowe US · United States

Commenting on the winners, jury chair, Christopher Yu of U.S. Bank, said, “From a field crowded with exciting initiatives, the 2018 WARC Innovation Award judges chose the very best and most ground-breaking ideas from the perspective of originality, planning, and execution.  Each of this year’s winners dispenses with convention and demonstrates the boldness of thinking that leads to sustainable, substantial results.” 

The winners of the remaining categories – Effective Content Strategy, Effective Social Strategy and Effective Use of Brand Purpose – will be announced shortly.