Thai Life Insurance Company’s “Melody of Life”–directed by Thanonchai Sornsriwichai of Phenomena, Bangkok, for Ogilvy & Mather, Bangkok–has won the TV/Cinema Grand Prix at the Spikes Asia creative advertising competition held on Sept. 19 in Singapore’s Victoria Concert Hall.
The moving spot tells the story of a young woman, Toi, who is stricken by cancer and has two years to live–yet she remains remarkably positive and upbeat, caring for her family which consists of three at-risk youngsters she took off the street and gave a home.
The Grand Prix is the latest honor for Phenomena and director Sornsriwichai. Phenomena took the coveted Palme d’Or as the year’s top production company at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in June. And in last year’s independent Gunn Report, Sornsriwichai was named the world’s most awarded director in ’08, marking the fifth time he has earned that distinction.
Phenomena and Ogilvy weren’t the only big winners at Spikes Asia. JWT India copped both the Direct & Sales Promotion Grand Prix as well as the Integrated Jade Spike Grand Prix for its Bennett Coleman’s “Teach India” campaign, designed to get India’s most educated professionals to volunteer two hours a week to teach children. India currently has 75 million kids who have never gone to school–and this staggering total rises by 130,000 every single day. Thus far the “Teach India” campaign, with backing from the United Nations, has recruited and inspired 100,000 volunteers teachers.
The campaign was launched with a full page on the front page of the Times of India. From there, it went to a full fledged mass-media campaign that spanned television, outdoor and other channels that were relevant in reaching the average educated Indian, like cinema halls, on-ground street play and digital media.
Meanwhile taking the Spikes Asia Media Grand Prix was JWT Singapore for “Cinema Takeover” for client SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines. Over a period of four weeks, selected theatres in Singapore were redecorated to look like the inside of an airplane. Cinema ticket stubs spoofed boarding passes. Stewardesses greeted cinema-goers as they were seated. And the pre-movie announcement was recreated in the form of a cinema spot/pre-flight safety video (directed by Melvin Mak of Rushes Network PTE, Singapore). The video included emergency exit instructions for the movie theater, and a directive to turn off cell phones.
Another major Spikes Asia winner was Sony Music’s ad “Wish I Could Be True To Myself,” promoting the song of that title from singer/songwriter JUJU, which earned the Digital Grand Prix. Dentsu Tokyo and Robot Communications, Tokyo, teamed on the five-episode mobile series. Director was Takahiro Miki of Stardust Music.
Overview
Of the 2,685 entries competing at this year’s awards, the jury awarded a total of 258 Spikes Asia trophies across the 11 different categories.
The Outdoor category was the strongest with a total of 51 winners, followed by Digital with 36, 35 in TV/Cinema, 34 trophies in Print, 29 in the Direct and Sales Promotion category, 20 in Design, 16 Media awards, 12 Print Craft winners, 9 TV/Cinema Craft trophies and 8 Radio winners. Eight Jade Spikes were given in the Integrated category.
Ogilvy & Mather, Bangkok, was honored with the Agency of the Year Award. Saatchi & Saatchi, Petaling Jaya in Malaysia came in second, with BBDO/Proximity Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur finishing third.The inaugural Media Agency of the Year trophy was awarded to OMD Hong Kong with JWT Singapore taking second place, followed by Dentsu Tokyo.
JWT was presented with the Network of the Year trophy with Ogilvy & Mather coming second followed by BBDO.
The winning work, which was judged by 39 top international creatives and media experts from 18 countries, can be viewed at www.spikes.asia/winners.
