If you’re an old crinkled millennial like me you’ll probably remember the early 2000s hit movie Bend It Like Beckham in which Jesminder defied her family’s wishes so that she could play soccer.
It is an inspirational tear-jerker of a movie (even if most of us can only relate because we defied our parent’s wishes so that we could sit and drink Goon in the local park).
There’s just something wonderfully rebellious, transgressive, and empowering about watching women thrive in a space that has traditionally been dominated by men. Perhaps this is why just so many fabulous creative moments have been birthed from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
To celebrate those moments, Seven brought together four of the biggest creative names in advertising to analyse and determine the most effective ads: Mandie van der Merwe, Chief Creative Officer at Dentsu Creative; Cam Blackley, Chief Creative Officer at M&C Saatchi Australia; Micah Walker, Founder/CCO at Bear Meets Eagle on Fire; and Nick Garrett, Global Leader – Marketing and Commerce, Deloitte Digital.
The winning campaigns were judged against criteria including innovation, creativity and cultural impact. So here’s the winners:
The overall winner for a campaign shown on Seven during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ was Adidas’ Play Until They Can’t Look Away campaign, which was praised for its impactful creativity.
Qantas was the winner of the Best Local Brand Creative with Feels Like Home Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vlv0NL6Cog
For overseas campaigns, the best overall creative was won by Orange with The Crazy Actions Of The French Team That We Have All Forgotten.
Nike was given Highly Commended for What The Football
Seven’s chief marketing and audience officer, Melissa Hopkins, said: “At Seven, we love to champion the best creative content in the country that entertains, has an influential cultural impact and unites Australians – and today is about celebrating our brand partners and agencies who mirror that excellence in their creative campaigns.
“Brands in Australia are built on mass cultural moments. I’m thrilled to see so many advertisers raise the bar during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ with captivating content that, together with Seven, drove impact, created conversations and helped shape change. My thanks to our incredible judges and congratulations to those recognised.”
Cam Blackley said: “The Adidas campaign was super entertaining in the way it delivered the message – the power of pure entertainment is often overlooked in our advertising locally. I’d encourage all marketers to be braver and aspire not just to create work that stands out in Australia, but that can stand up against the best work globally. More than ever campaigns need to grab viewers’ attention and be as good as the content that Seven is putting around it.”
Commenting on the Orange ad, Mandie van der Merwe said: “The success of this ad is that it went beyond just being paid media; it became popular culture and people started to share it with their friends and on social media. For campaigns to deliver the best results, it’s critical clients and agencies are in firm partnership on the goal of their campaigns and create the biggest impact by maximising the huge cultural moments that only TV can deliver.”
Micah Walker said: “Good creative makes the fundamental difference to a campaign’s success. It’s how you make the greatest leaps in building brand value. Make something that demands people’s attention, whether it’s funny, visual or emotive. Push past the obvious ideas to get to space where it’s worthy of your viewers’ time.”
Seven West Media chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette, said: “We are proud to be a part of delivering the massive moments of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ to millions of Australians, and we love that our brand partners got the nation pumped through powerful messages that emotionally connected and entertained millions of engaged viewers on every device, in and out of the home.
“Our coverage of the tournament and the Superbowl-style ads within it became part of the national conversation, truly shaping culture and changing behaviours. It proved once again there is nothing like fantastic creative appearing in context across total television to drive results,” he said.
