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The international AME Awards® for the World's Best Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness℠ competition announced the 2015 winners.

The 2015 international AME Grand Jury, comprised of interactive and multidisciplinary marketers, planners, and creatives, awarded a total of 25 Gold AME Awards, 25 Silver, 26 Bronze, and 20 Finalist Certificates to entries submitted from 18 countries on 5 continents.                                                              

Brands employed cause marketing, new and existing technology, celebrity-driven engagement, and experiential marketing campaigns to boost brand recognition and consumer engagement. Award- winning campaigns successfully demonstrated groundbreaking solutions to challenging marketing problems.      

Jung von Matt AG Germany was a triple threat in the winner’s circle this year, earning the top-honor AME Grand Award and the AME Regional Platinum Award/Europe, along with an AME Gold Award for their campaign “Trojan Mailing” for client DHL. “Trojan Mailing” utilized guerilla tactics to prank their competition into delivering with DHL branding. The oversized chilled thermo-sensitive boxes appeared black upon pickup and warmed up during the delivery process to reveal the slogan “DHL is Faster.” The results: 4 million video views in the first days, number one topic on Twitter, top 10 videos on YouTube, almost 100k shares on Facebook with 5.350 Euro production costs for 5.3 million views and 10 years of playback on YouTube.

Peter Waibel, chief executive officer, Jung von Matt/Neckar GmbH had this to say about the agency’s award-winning entry.“Thanks to everyone who made this success possible. It’s a great honor for Jung von Matt to win the AME Platinum Award. The Trojan horse has inspired us since the very beginning of our agency. For us it’s not only a logo but also a guiding principle. A way to surprise and engage people, allowing them to become a part of the campaign. Applying this philosophy to our client DHL and making it tangible via the Trojan Mailing—without classical communication channels or big media spendings—is something that makes us very proud.”

Leo Burnett Manila earned the AME Regional Platinum Award/Asia-Pacific and the 2015 Green Award for “Aid Couture.” The campaign addressed the issue that Red Cross warehouses were filled with clothing items inappropriate for the everyday wear for hurricane victims. Clients Ariel and Downy, in partnership with the Red Cross, sought to turn “trash into treasure” transforming discarded clothing into life essentials through Aid Couture. Donated clothes were washed with Ariel and Downy, repurposed/styled by the country’s top fashion personalities, and sold in pop-up stores with price tags and receipts reflecting the life essential equivalent for each purchase. The results: a real-time sales tracker on-site and online proved that Aid Couture raised almost Php 1.8 million (approximately US$ 40,000) from zero investment on donated clothes. And P&G earned a total media value of about Php 27 million pesos (approximately US$ 600,000) without any actual media money spent. The campaign was also recognized with an AME Gold and AME Silver Award.

Raoul Panes, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Manila Group had this to say about the success of “Aid Couture” in the 2015 AME Awards. “Over 20 typhoons hit our country every year. Up to now, some areas are still recovering from Typhoon Haiyan. So every little bit helps. We are pleased to have partnered with P&G and Red Cross for Aid Couture in helping save lives through this fashion recycling initiative. We are humbled by the recognition and more importantly, we hope that this will help spur more creative and effective solutions for natural disaster-prone areas like the Philippines.”

Spark44 USA earned the 2015 AME Regional Platinum Award/North America for “British Villains” for successfully re-energizing the Jaguar brand in the United States by casting its newest sports car as a villain and playing off the insight that the best Hollywood villains are played by Brits. The integrated campaign encouraged audiences to embrace their dark side, #GoodToBeBad. As a result, Jaguar successfully earned their way into audiences’ hearts and minds growing sales by 13%, outperforming the luxury competitive set (10%), and entire auto category (0.5%). The winning campaign surpassed social conversation and website goals, increasing total social mentions by 45% and unique visits to JaguarUSA.com by 102%. “British Villains” also earned an AME Gold Award.

“It takes a brave client to buy an idea like ‘It’s Good to be Bad’,” said Matt Page, creative director, Spark44. “So thank you to Jaguar, and thanks to the judges for this award. Everyone here at Spark44 is bursting with pride today.”

Award-winning campaigns benefiting others or championing worthy causes were in the spotlight. “LEGO. Blind Art Project” created by Serviceplan Group GmbH & co. kg earned three AME Gold Awards for client LEGO. The award-winning entry raised awareness for children without sight, offering workshops that enabled blind children to access the world of art and sighted children to access the world of the blind. Serviceplan Group also earned two AME Silver Awards for “Life Time Clock” for Fürs Leben - Für Organspende creating a sense of urgency for organ donation. Critical Mass USA earned an AME Gold Award for “Sweeper” United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS). The winning entry enlisted support for UNMAS by creating a virtual minefield using proximity-based mobile technology making it possible for New Yorkers to experience the fear of living with land mines that millions face. Jung von Matt/sports GmbH earned both AME Gold and Bronze Awards for their entry “Give Blood. Give Power.” for the German Red Cross. The award-winning entry created a positive blood donation campaign motivating Germany’s most famous football players to form a special team that helps sick children fight against their disease. The entry also earned an AME Bronze Award. Leo Burnett Melbourne was recognized with an AME Gold Award for “#SPCSunday” for client SPC. The campaign mobilized a nation to help save an iconic Australian brand and resulting in a $22 million government rescue.

Award-winning entries employed both new technology and existing technology to recruit partners, reposition brands, and increase brand identity. Beijing DDB Needham Advertising (Shanghai HuangPu Branch) Co., Ltd earned three AME Gold Awards for “I See Fries” for client McDonalds. The agency teamed up with Meitu, China’s largest photo sharing APP, to create a McDonalds’s fries finder game to increase market share for McDonald’s fries. Serviceplan Group took home two Gold AME Awards: “The Game Report” created for client Bytro Labs engaged clients via a computer game and “Soundtree” for BMW M4, M235i, X5, i3 created a mailing using recordings of BMW models engine sounds and by rotating the wave 90 degrees generated the image of a Christmas tree. “BMW Soundtree” also earned a Silver AME Award. Hemiat Germany was awarded two Bronze AME Awards for “Urban Escape Plan” for client Google Maps. The agency created a hyper-localized urban exploration platform for mobile and desktop devices using geo-targeting technology to lead people with a single click to a nearby green space on Google Maps. Additional Bronze Award winners include: TBWA Hakuhodo’s Japan“3D on the Rocks” for client Suntory Whisky. A specially designed CNC router technology was employed to create custom designed 3D-milled ice cubes for whisky lovers; and OMD USA’s “The Bioreactive Concert” for client Pepsi utilized integrated state-of-the-art wearable technology into the performance, attendees received Lightwave wristbands that monitored their heart rates, movements, and body temperatures which directly influenced the concert.

Celebrity focused initiatives were used to build brand awareness. Winning entries honored with the AME Gold include: Spin Communications Malaysia’s “Art of OLDTOWN” for client OLDTOWN White Coffee, the proprietors of the original white coffee recipe from Old Town Ipoh. The campaign turned art tourism into a medium spreading the brand’s story through collaboration with street artist Ernest Zacharevic and the Ipoh tourism board on seven unique murals which became permanent fixtures associated with the coffee brand. Other entries earning AME Gold Awards include: Zulu Alpha Kilo’s “Kringl Proof of Santa App” used an app to prove the existence of Santa Claus on behalf of client Kringl, and “British Villains” for Jaguar featured celebrities Sir Ben Kinsley, Mark Strong, and Tom Hiddleston. Bronze AME Award winners utilizing star-power include “Guitar Center Sessions,” created by Guitar Center. The campaign featured artists Peter Gabriel, Weezer, Soundgarden, Snoop Dogg, Phantogram, Alanis Morissette, and Slash; and OMD’s Falloninventions,” featured Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and kid scientists for client GE.

Campaigns engaged consumers via experiential marketing including two-time Gold AME Award winner: Ogilvy Germany for their “Mini Kiosk” for Coca-Cola 0.15L. The winning entry utilized a mini kiosk to introduce the mini Coke can with the slogan “It’s the little things in life that makes us happy”. Gold AME Award winning Leo Burnett Melbourne’s “Slurpee Xpandinator” for client Slurpee introduced a world-first invention—a clip-on device that fits on to any sized Slurpee Cup—expanding its volume by over a liter and multiplying the Slurpee experience for fans of the frozen drink. “Slurpee Xpandinator” also earned Silver AME Award.

Retailers aspiring to gain market share were center stage earning multiple Gold AME Awards. Jung von Matt AG earned two AME Gold Awards for “EDEKA Supergeil” for EDEKA, Germany’s leading premium supermarket chain. “EDEKA Supergeil” attracted a digitally driven target audience to their house brands by entertaining them via an online music video with multiple spin offs introduced on e-cards. The agency recruited lesser-known musical artist Friedrich Liechtenstein along with his music video called “Supergeil” (German slang for “super horny” or “super awesome”) to drive engagement and increase the relevancy of the brand via in store performances. TBWA London earned a Gold AME Award for “Lidl Surprises.” The campaign repositioned the discount grocery chain by persuading people that Lidl’s low prices are not at the expense of quality and that shopping there could be a symbol of shrewdness. Lidl created a pop-up farmers market to engage consumers inviting them to a taste-test sampling. Consumers, unaware that the food was from Lidl, were surprised that the delicious and value-priced food was from the discount grocery chain.  

To view the complete 2015 AME Award Winners Showcase, please click here. For more information please visit: www.ameawards.com

About the AME Awards for Advertising Marketing Effectiveness: Founded in 1994, the AME Awards^® honors international work that demonstrates ground-breaking solutions to challenging marketing problems. To earn a coveted AME Award, an entry must exhibit specific marketing goals and objectives accomplished through creative execution and strategic planning. Entries are judged by an international panel of top interactive and multidisciplinary marketers, media planners, strategy directors, social media experts, and creative directors.

About International Awards Group, LLC

International Awards Group, LLC organizes Advertising & ProgrammingCompetitions for the following brands:

AME Awards World's Best Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness℠
The Global Awards World's Best Healthcare & Wellness Advertising℠
Midas Awards World's Best Financial Advertising℠
New York Festivals World's Best Advertising℠
New York Festivals World's Best Radio Programs℠
New York Festivals World's Best TV & Films℠

Entries to each of the competitions are judged around the world by panels of peers in their respective industries. For more information, go to www.newyorkfestivals.com.