The winners of the 45th annual AWARD Awards were announced on 15 August at the Gold Pencil Award Party, held as part of This Way Up at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
A total of 31 Gold pencils were awarded across 18 different campaigns, with a further 74 Silver and 118 Bronze pencils awarded. Special Awards were also awarded across 16 categories.
Revolver collected five golds across three pieces of work and was named Production Company of the Year. The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song, was crowned Agency Network of the Year, taking home four golds for “Play it Safe,” celebrating Sydney Opera House’s 50th anniversary, and the coveted The Grand Award.
CHEP Network also collected four golds for “Climate Doctor’s Certificate” – National Climate Strike.
Other gold winners included DDB Group Aotearoa with 3; Howatson+Company, M&C Saatchi and TBWA\HAKUHODO with 2 each; and DIVISION, The Editors, Exit Films, The Glue Society, MullenLowe Treyna, Ogilvy Australia, The Nine Shanghai, Special Australia and Special New Zealand all collecting 1.
The inaugural Best B2B Campaign, supported by LinkedIn, was awarded to Special Group Melbourne for the “Shift 20 Initiative” – The Dylan Alcott Foundation.
“The Shift 20 Initiative specifically targeted behaviour change in brands and was the judges’ favourite because it drove significant B2B effects. Its messaging was incredibly effective, motivating 200+ brands to take action and get involved – a remarkable achievement,” said Daniel Hochuli, LinkedIn’s head of content solutions APAC & China.
Sarah Cassell won the National Top Student of the Year. She was nominated ahead of more than 200 students from across Asia Pacific and received a coveted AWARD School Black Pencil. Cassell was also named the winner of the national outdoor/poster brief for creative that was derived from an incredibly simple idea, and which was visually striking.
State finalists for the National Top Student of the Year announced last week include Brooke Wiggins from New South Wales, Jess Gough from Victoria, Harrison Coates from Queensland, Albert Hopkins from South Australia, and Dominique Powe, who topped AWARD School’s online program.
Other 2024 national brief winners include Montana Hein for Film/TVC, Spencer O’Connor for Audio, and Anna Kikuno O’Leary who took out the top gong for her creative response to this year’s Social Media brief.
“Congratulations to all of you. The judges were particularly blown away by Sarah’s creative thinking across the board. Her work was not only strategic but also consistently unexpected and surprising—qualities that set her apart from the rest,” said AWARD chair Mandie van der Merwe, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi.
“Her portfolio showcased flashes of brilliance and lateral thinking, making her the clear choice for 2024’s national top student prize. She is incredibly deserving of the honour,” she added.
“Congratulations to all who picked up a Gold or Special Award at tonight’s Gold Pencil Award Party. You’ve earned bragging rights across our region with work that not only stood out but made us lean in, moved us, and spurred us into taking action,” said van der Merwe.
“A massive shout out as well to the silver and bronze winners who were recognised during the virtual announcements earlier this week. The winners this year represent the pointy end of creativity and set the bar high for the standard of work AWARD champions and celebrates in this corner of the world.
“AWARD Awards is the most prestigious creative show in our region because of our world-class judges. Heartfelt thanks to our jury president Liz Taylor, jury chairs, and our team of judges who have given their incredibly valuable time freely and debated vigorously to uphold AWARD’s exacting standards for recognising creative excellence every year,” said van der Merwe.
Individual Agency of the Year
1st – The Monkeys Sydney, part of Accenture Song
2nd – Special Australia
3rd – DDB Group Aotearoa
Agency Network of the Year
1st – The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song
2nd – DDB Group
3rd – Special Group
4th – TBWA
5th – VML
Production Company of the Year
1st – Revolver
2nd – FINCH
3rd – Collider
4th – Exit Films
5th – Scoundrel
Grand Award
Play It Safe – The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song / Revolver
National Top Student of the Year
Sarah Cassell
Creative Leader or Leadership Team of the Year
Tara Ford & Barbara Humphries The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song
Creative Director or Team of the Year
1st – Jared Wicker & Scott Zuliani – Howatson+Company
Highly Commended – James Sexton – Special Australia
Individual Creative of Team of the Year
1st – Jake Ausburn & Alex Polglase
2nd – Jacob Newton & Josep Jover DDB Group Aotearoa
3rd – Zac Blakemore & Filipe Oliveira TBWA\ Australia
Emerging Creative or Team of the Year
Riana McKenzie Clemenger BBDO Australia
Individual Director of the Year
1st – Steve Rogers Revolver
2nd – Sam Hibbard FINCH
3rd – Damien Shatford The Sweetshop
Emerging Director of the Year
1st – PHC: John Angus Stewart & Max Coles Good Oil
2nd – Max Barden The Sweetshop
3rd – Michael Hili FINCH
Indigenous Creative Talent
Nina Fitzgerald and Shaun Edwards Going North Agency
Media Agency of the Year
OMD Australia
Account Team of the Year
UBER Special Australia WINNER
Marketing Team of the Year
TELSTRA
Best B2B Campaign
Shift 20 Initiative Special Australia
Agency Producer of the Year
1st – Penny Brown The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song
2nd – Holly Alexander Howatson+Company
3rd – Sevda Cemo Special Australia
