Saatchi & Saatchi takes out major gong for 2009 Outdoor Awards
Saatchi and Saatchi's Sydney office has taken out top honors for the inaugural 2009 Outdoor Awards, receiving $10,000 worth of instant scratchies and the coveted Best of Show golden pigeon trophy.
The winning team was chosen by a panel of six leading international creative directors for their Toyota Yaris campaign in which the client donated two-thirds of its billboards to a range of charities under the tag line "Uses less, gives more."
Five creative agencies were in contention for the major award, all of whom received gold pigeon trophies. In addition to the main prizewinner they were Perth's Marketforce Communications, Sydney's Public Mojo and DDB Sydney.
Nine silver and ten bronze pigeons were also awarded to a range of agencies from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
At the Award ceremony last night in Sydney, hosted by The Chaser's Julian Morrow, the Outdoor Media Association's Chief Executive, Helen Willoughby acknowledged the high standard of work received from more than 60 different creative agencies across Australia.
"We set out to build an Awards program that would capture the imagination of the creative community," Ms Willoughby said.
"With more than 220 entires received in the first year of these Awards we feel confident in having achieved this goal."
Jonathan Kneebone, Creative Director of The Glue Society, was the non-voting chairman of the judging panel comprising John Merrifield (Cannes Grand Prix Outdoor Winner & ECD TBWA Asia/Pacific), Leo Premutico (Johannes Leonardo, New York), Ewan Peterson (CHI London), Joe Staples (Weiden & Kennedy, Portland), Kitti Chaiyaporn (Publicis, Thailand) and Andy Fackrell (180 Amsterdam).
Mr Kneebone said he had deliberately chosen international judges so that all award winners could feel they had achieved "something considered worthy on the world stage."
"I hope the winners end up getting far more than $10,000 for their efforts," Mr Kneebone said.