The “Nike Battlegrounds-King of the Court” campaign scored the Grand Prize–and topped three of the four categories–at the second annual Battle of the Brands competition held by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) last month in New York.
“Battlegrounds”–from Wieden+Kennedy Entertainment, Portland, Ore., and bicoastal/international @radical.media–took not only best of show but the strategy, production ingenuity, and business performance categories at the ANA/AICP event, which is designed to recognize stellar efforts in the branded entertainment sector.
The remaining competition honor, in the creativity category, went to Audi’s “Art of the Heist” campaign, which teamed McKinney, Durham, N.C., with New York-based production house Campfire, a division of Chelsea Pictures.
The other two finalists in the competition were: Cadillac’s “Under 5” campaign produced by bicoastal Anonymous Content for Leo Burnett, Detroit and Chicago, and Arc Worldwide, Chicago; and Rainier Beer’s “Operation Liberation” campaign produced by Area 51 Films, Santa Monica, for Cole & Weber/United, Seattle.
During the ANA/AICP event, each of the finalists presented its campaign and demonstrated how brand and entertainment were integrated across varied media platforms. The presenter for the Nike campaign was Justin Wilkes, executive producer/head of content for @radical.media.
“The Battle of the Brands finalists are all prime examples of marketers integrating their brands with consumers in creative, exciting and innovative ways,” said ANA president/CEO Bob Liodice. “Their fresh approaches to branded entertainment not only delivered the brand’s messages to consumers, but also entertained and engaged audiences.”
“The most interesting part of this process has been that the brands that created unique, creative campaigns consistently scored higher than those that simply integrated their brands into existing content,” said AICP president/CEO Matt Miller. “Those in the industry who push the envelope farther than it has been pushed before are the ones who will truly enhance their brands, and branded entertainment as a medium.”
