Warc Awards announces 2020 Effective Content Strategy winners

Ash Tailor, global brand and marketing director, Legoland and chair of the jury

Campaigns for DB Export in New Zealand, Century 21 in the US, Mastercard in India, McDonald's in China and Al Tayer Motors in the UAE, are among the winners of the Effective Content Strategy category of the Warc Awards, a global search for next-generation marketing effectiveness.

Colenso BBDO in Auckland has won the Grand Prix for I'm Drinking It For You, a multiplatform campaign to launch DB Export Gold Extra Low Carb beer in New Zealand, encompassing TV, radio, print, digital, social and experiential.

Unable to launch in the summer, DB delved into drinkers' lifestyles which revealed that, whilst drinking beer is done for one's own enjoyment, drinking a healthier low-carb beer not only benefitted the drinker, but also, by default, their loved ones. Using the idea of drinking DB Export Gold ELC as a selfless act for loved ones, the campaign launched on Valentine's Day with a love song, accompanying music video and 'beer bouquets'. The campaign exceeded all objectives and delivered an ROI of 10.68:1.

This campaign also won the Best Multiplatform Award, for a content strategy that has successfully used a range of different communication channels.

A further two special awards have also been given in other specific areas of excellence:

• Smart Spender Award, for a content strategy that was effective on a budget of $500K or less, has been awarded to TBWA\RAAD for dog rehoming charity Sniff. The social media campaign Clásico Dogs turned rescue dogs into football stars to boost adoption rates in the UAE.

• Long-Term Idea Award, for a content strategy that has delivered sustained success for a brand, has been awarded to MullenLowe US for Rerank the Rich, a campaign for Nuveen. The asset management firm joined with publisher Forbes to re-rank its Forbes 400 list of billionaires to reclaim its leadership in the responsible investing space in the US.

The full winners' list, as voted by the 16-strong jury of agency- and client-side industry professionals are as follows:

Grand Prix:

• I'm Drinking It For You · DB Export · DB Breweries · Colenso BBDO · New Zealand + Best Multiplatform award
• Gold:
• Clásico Dogs · SNIFF · TBWA\RAAD · United Arab Emirates + Smart Spender Award
• Rerank the Rich · Nuveen · MullenLowe US · United States + Long-term Idea Award
• Top End Wedding · Northern Territory · Tourism Northern Territory · Atomic Media · Australia

Silver:

• Cash is no more king in India · Mastercard · McCann Worldgroup · India
• Pop Up Books · WHSmith · FP7 McCann Dubai · United Arab Emirates
• Unseen Potential · Al Tayer Motors · FP7 McCann Dubai · United Arab Emirates
• Lost Votes · The Times of India · The Times Group · Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. · India
• Chinese New Year Transfiguration · McDonald's · McDonald's China · BBDO China · China

Bronze:

• Relentless Moves · Century 21 · MullenLowe US · United States
• Engineering Reimagined · Aurecon · Aurecon Australasia Pty Ltd · in-house · Asia Pacific & Middle East
• Inspire What's Next · Emirates NBD · FP7 McCann Dubai · United Arab Emirates
• The Open Diaries · The Open University · RAPP · United Kingdom

Ash Tailor, global brand and marketing director, Legoland and chair of the jury commented:

These winners share an approach to content strategy where there's been real care invested upfront about what the most appropriate format would be for the audience being targeted. Whether they have at their core an entertaining song or film, a strong media partnership or a tech innovation, the strategies in these winning case studies show the benefits of thinking beyond the usual parameters.

The Effective Social Strategy winners, the last category to be announced, will be revealed shortly. The Grands Prix and Special Awards winners across the four categories of the Warc Awards share a $40,000 prize fund.

More information on the Warc Awards is available here.