The Midas Awards, the only international competition to recognize excellence in financial services communications on a global scale, announced the winners today for its 2008 competition. One prestigious Grand Midas Trophy was awarded, as well as eight Gold Ingots and twenty-two Silver Ingots. In addition, seventy-nine entries were awarded Finalist Certificates.
The Jupiter Drawing Room, South Africa took home the prized Midas Grand Trophy for its “Cubism Manifesto – The Power of 3” for their client ABSA Capital, winning for Best Direct Mail campaign. A limited edition book titled “The Cubism Manifesto” was created to showcase ABSA’s unique “Power of 3” philosophy which features the three intellectual components of investing that only ABSA Capital offers. The “Cubism Manifesto” was sent to the top 100 business people in South Africa who could benefit from ABSA’s investment knowledge. The book featured 99 pages on the “Power of 3” investment message using design, illustration, typography and photography which resulted in ABSA Capital’s profits increasing by 51%.
This year’s Midas Awards honored eight winners from around the globe with Gold Ingots. The Jupiter Drawing Room, South Africa was awarded two Gold Ingots for their client ABSA Capital, winning Best Electronic Contest for “Cubism Manifesto – The Power of 3” and the second Gold Ingot in the category of Investment Advisors. Taivas of Helsinki, Finland won the Gold Ingot for “Revelations” in the Annual Report category. Velocity Films, Johannesburg, South Africa struck Gold taking home two Gold Ingots for their spot for client Allan Gray, winning for Best Cinematography and Best Direction. MUW Saatchi & Saatchi, Bratislava, Slovak Republic garnered the gold for their client Kooperativa in the Insurance category.
Two Gold Ingots were awarded to companies from the United States. McCann Erickson, New York and client MasterCard received the Midas Gold Ingot for their campaign titled “Priceless Search” winning in the category Best Pre-Printed Magazine Insert. MasterCard celebrated 10 years of the priceless things in life by marking their 11th year as an opportunity for MasterCard to become the source of priceless experiences. MasterCard offered consumers an insert within targeted magazines containing an envelope that consumers could open to become an instant “Priceless Winner.” The three “Priceless Prizes” were: a private dinner prepared by Chef David Bouley along with a trip to Paris to experience his favorite restaurants, a personal portrait painted by famed artist and director, Julian Schnabel and a once in a lifetime trip to the Seven Wonders of the World. Ologie, of Columbus, Ohio was awarded the Midas Gold Ingot in the Real Estate category for their client Cityspace for “The Jeffrey Brochure.” The award winning brochure showcased a conversion of a historical manufacturing building into apartments and communicated the architectural integrity of the process to the reader through photography and copy.
The 2008 Midas Awards competition awarded entries from twenty-four countries spanning five continents. Silver Ingot Award winners included: the United States receiving seven Silver Ingots, Germany and South Africa each took home five Silver Ingots, in addition, The Netherlands, Malaysia, England, Hong Kong and New Zealand were each awarded one Silver Ingot.
Midas jury member, Bob Pullman, Group Creative Director, AKQA San Francisco, commented, “It’s important for an awards show like The Midas Awards to exist. Great financial work is important and could be lost among the many categories and competitors in general awards shows. The show helps raise the bar to demonstrate how great work in the financial category can be.”
The Midas jury is comprised of international client and agency leaders from creative and marketing disciplines as well as international experts in finance and communication. Midas Awards jury members award Gold and Silver Midas Ingots to the highest scoring entries in each category. Grand Midas are selected by the Board of Judges and Advisors as the “Best of Show.”
Award winning Medalists and Finalists of the 2008 Midas Awards will be featured in the Showcase section of our website at www.midasawards.com. In addition, all winning entries are promoted by our network of representatives in 62 countries around the world.
About The Midas Awards
Founded in 2001, The Midas Awards is the only competition to recognize excellence in financial services communications on a global scale. The Midas Awards has honored advertising in banking, brokerage, insurance, mutual fund, and credit, in addition to, real estate, accounting and consulting. The Midas Awards focuses on four distinct areas: Consumer and Business-to-Business Communications, Corporate Communications, Craft and Technique and Best Use of Medium.