British agencies picked three golds at this year’s John Caples which also saw BBH co-founder Sir John Hegarty handed The Andi Emerson Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to creativity in advertising.
Two of the UK golds went to McCann London for its Plant Drop “Smart Plants” campaign, in best art direction/design and best use of data. The activity promoted a new way to define how consumers select houseplants – not for their looks but for their smart, pollution-absorbing properties.
The third gold was scooped by PepsiCo’s in-house agency Sips & Bites, London, for Pepsico Doritos “Doritos Silent” in the gaming category. The campaign, which promoted a noise-cancelling plug-in that allows gamers to scrunch crisps noiselessly, also picked up a silver and two bronzes.
In addition, there were two UK silvers for VML London for NHS Blood & Transplant; and one for St Luke’s London for Butterkist, while other bronzes went to This is Tommy London for Netflix and Rapp London for Back Up.
In recognition of the increasing importance of in-house agencies in the creative mix, the 2024 jury was led by David Harris, chief creative officer at 368 Deloitte, Deloitte’s in-house communications specialists.
Handing Hegarty the Andi Emerson Award, Harris said: “I love the fact that even now, when he could be taking it easy, he is still curious and hungry, helping start-ups and pushing the importance of creativity within business.”
Meanwhile, the Courageous Client Award went to Rifah Qadri, head of marketing and corporate communications at easypaisa, Pakistan.
Working with Impact BBDO, she commissioned “Audio Nikahnama”, a service easypaisa offers young brides in Pakistan to help them understand the financial and other implications of their marriage contracts.
One juror wrote: “If easypaisa, the #1 payment app in Pakistan, was willing to not just poke the monster of gender inequality straight in the eye but democratise the distribution of tools for any woman with a phone to do the same, that’s bold.”
In total, some 60 jurors from 24 countries chose to award 17 golds, 23 silvers and 30 bronzes at the event, which was sponsored by WPP; other sponsors included 42Courses.com, the online training portal for advertising and marketing professionals, and Rocket Media, responsible for the website and online voting system.
The winning work at this year’s Caples Awards reflects that confluence of creative thinking and tech. The Best in Show, for instance, “WoMen’s Football” from Marcel, Paris, for telco Orange France, with its blending of men’s football with women players is an idea that could not have been affordably produced ten years ago.
Similarly, Cheil Spain’s “Impulse” for Samsung Galaxy Watches, winner of two golds, is a pure-play tech idea designed to improve the lives of people who stammer.
Making lives better was the undercurrent of this year’s show. Environmental issues were addressed by DDB New Zealand in its gold-winning “Greenprint” work for Volkswagen, helping Kiwis electrify their diesel-powered Kombis. CHEP Network also won gold with “Doctor’s Certificate”, a campaign to encourage school children to demonstrate against the Australian government’s apparent indifference to climate change.
All The Caples Awards winners can be viewed at https://caples.org/winners
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