DDB wins gold at 2023 APAC Effie Awards

DDB Group Aotearoa has taken home gold and bronze for the campaigns ‘iTest: Comparing Apples With Androids’ and ‘If You Seek’ at the 2023 APAC Effie Awards respectively.

Taking home top honours in the categories ‘Multi-Market Products’, and ‘Consumer Electronics and Durables’ was DDB Group Aotearoa and Samsung New Zealand’s ‘iTest: Comparing Apples With Androids’, a long-term brand building tool created to break through the inertia that kept iPhone users from looking elsewhere. 

The judges noted that the campaign was progressive in how it took a centuries-old technique and brought it to life in an entirely new way with cutting-edge technology – and a liberal dose of charm. 

Commenting on iTest, Charlie Lowe, Chief Strategy Officer at McCann Worldgroup SEA says: “It was such a clever way of getting people to use the Samsung Galaxy mobile operating system and it’s something that is so pervasive that Apple wasn’t able to get around, which is such a smart way to go up against a big competitor like Apple.” 

James Blair, Managing Director of Track+Tribal (part of DDB Group Aotearoa), says: “We’re thrilled to have taken home gold at the 2023 APAC Effie Awards for iTest. What started as a cheeky New Zealand switching campaign has turned into something much, much bigger. Ultimately, iTest has been a real commercial triumph for Samsung.”

Also scooping up bronze in the ‘Travel/Tourism’ category was ‘If You Seek’, an international campaign developed by Tourism New Zealand (TNZ), RUN Aotearoa, Mindshare, Stanley St Media, Sweet Shop NZ and DDB Group Aotearoa. 

With borders closed for two years due to the pandemic, Tourism New Zealand needed to stand out from the crowd to attract high quality visitors and demonstrate its commitment to ensuring tourism gave back more than it took. 

In the first week of ‘If You Seek’, traffic to newzealand.com increased +590 percent. The campaign has also contributed to record high brand preference.

Rupert Price, Chief Strategy Officer at DDB Group Aotearoa says: “The audience insight of reframing our isolation as a benefit was integral to the development of our campaign.

“Our communications strategy was to reward curiosity through media. The more you engaged, the more we’d reveal. Vistas became wider, more content unlocked, and digital experiences were served up via re-targeting. At every touchpoint, we left people wanting more… encouraging them to scan, click, scroll or complete a task, in order to discover more.

“If You Seek was designed to entice curious visitors to explore Aotearoa first-hand. And seek they did.”

Since 1968, the Effie Award has been recognised worldwide as representing the pinnacle of advertising effectiveness. It identifies the most significant achievement in marketing communications: ideas that work. Following intense deliberations, 111 entries emerged as finalists at this year’s APAC Effie Awards. The final round judging was led by the 2023 Awards Chairperson Kainaz Gazder of Procter & Gamble Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and the eight Heads of Jury – Annette Male of Meta, Anupriya Acharya of Publicis Groupe, Connie Chan of OMD China, Dennis Perez of Unilever, Sabrina Cheung of AXA Asia & Africa, Shubhranshu Singh of Tata Motors, and Yupin Muntzing of VMLY&R Thailand. 

The 2023 Aotearoa Effie Awards in association with TVNZ, which will be held at Auckland Town Hall on 26 October. 

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