“The Campaign For Real Beauty,” Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago’s breakthrough creative in which everyday full-figured women rather than thin fashion models define and represent beauty, took the top honor, the Grand Effie, at the 38th annual Effie Awards ceremony in New York. The Effie competition honors the most significant achievement in marketing communications: Effectiveness.
“The Dove campaign was the clear Grand Effie winner. It is a successful campaign rooted in a powerful human and cultural insight: that beauty has heretofore been defined by the media and is actually defined much differently by real women,” said Ty Montague, chair of the 2006 Grand Effie judging panel, and chief creative officer/co-president of JWT New York.
Indeed Dove’s “Real Beauty” integrated campaign (TV, print, Web, outdoor, PR) struck a responsive chord in both men and women. It encompassed such TV ad fare as “Anthem” directed by Jeff Preiss of Epoch Films, bicoastal and London.
“The Campaign For Real Beauty” headed a field of top scoring Gold Effie winners such as Cingular’s “Raising The Bar” campaign from BBDO New York (a centerpiece spot being “Road Trip” directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures, New York), and CareerBuilder.com’s “Working With Monkeys” out of Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago (directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man).
The Effie Awards introduced three new categories this year: Anything Goes (innovation, creativity and content in the face of a small budget); Media Strategy (outstanding effectiveness driven by a media idea); and Third Screen (marketing using a mobile hone as a main media channel).
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, won a Third Screen Gold Effie for its “Curious Britney Spears” campaign on behalf of client Elizabeth Arden.
Copping a Media Strategy Gold Effie was Leo Burnett Detroit, GM Planworks and Vigilante for the Pontiac-GMC Division “G6 Launch” campaign.
And WongDoody, Seattle, garnered an Anything Goes Gold Effie for Tully’s Coffee Corporation’s “Tully’s 3:21 Wake-Up Call” campaign.
For a full rundown of Effie winners, visit effie.org.
Director Ben Steiger Levine Joins Lord Danger For U.S. Spot Representation
Lord Danger, the creative production company that’s part of the Monstera Group, has added director Ben Steiger Levine to its talent roster for U.S. commercial representation. He joins a Lord Danger directorial lineup which includes Mike Diva, Cache Bunny, MP Curtet, and Parker Seaman.
Steiger Levine shared that he was drawn in part to Lord Danger in that it’s a small, close-knit group of creative pros producing standout work. “They’re not a huge fish but rather a stealthy, nimble piranha made of beautiful rainbow colors that can adapt on a dime and devour,” Steiger Levine said. “All the directors on the roster have a voice. Lord Danger makes original images. Images with impact. Maintaining voice all while effectively selling products is the killer combination that makes work iconic, and this is Lord Danger’s priority.”
Known for his flair for design and visual effects, complemented by his strengths as a storyteller, Steiger Levine burst onto the scene after earning a slot in the 2009 Saatchi and Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase unveiled at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity. He was also named a Young Gun by the Art Directors Club. Prior to joining Lord Danger, Steiger Levine was most recently with production house Greencard.
His reel includes a visually arresting campaign for Jack Links, a campaign for Core Water featuring actress Hailee Steinfeld, work for Nintendo, and the oddly-moving “Intolerance” project for Natrel, the Canadian lactose-free dairy product line, which uses a faux documentary to tell the story of a giant of a man who owes his status to drinking Natrel milk. The effect of a towering man in his too-small house was achieved without any CGI, just using in-camera tricks and compositing. Steiger... Read More