The Monkeys Aotearoa & ASB Win Gold At Clio Awards

The Monkeys Aotearoa, part of Accenture Song in partnership with ASB have been awarded a gold Clio for Use of Music, a bronze clio for Innovation and shortlisted for Partnerships & Collaboration for its work in 2023 with Kiwi musician BENEE.

The collaboration with mental health charity Youthline and leading neuroscientists resulted in BENEE’s single Bagels – a song scientifically designed to help reduce anxious feelings.

With anxiety in young people on the rise, impacting almost one in five young New Zealanders, the idea was sparked to create a free tool that could help young people ease anxious feelings.

Since its launch in May 2023, Bagels has been streamed, viewed or listened to more than eight million times across multiple platforms.

Written and produced specifically to support mental wellbeing, Bagels uses musical elements identified by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) neuroscientists to relax the nervous system, modify brain activity and ease feelings of anxiousness.

Neurological testing on rangatahi found listening to Bagels lowered levels of ‘state anxiety’, which is the type of short-term anxiety experienced in stressful situations. The track also calmed brain activity in the frontal and parietal lobes – the areas often associated with regulating emotions and the fight or flight stress response.

As a big believer in using music to cope with mental health challenges, Kiwi superstar BENEE worked with producer Josh Fountain and the AUT scientists to learn how and why music impacts anxiety to create Bagels.

The Monkeys and New Zealand animation house Assembly then produced a music video for the track, also grounded in science, to create a visual representation of the song.

An integrated creative campaign promoted the song across social media and influencer content on TikTok and Instagram, along with digital, out-of-home, radio, and PR to capture the attention of young Kiwis.

The Clios are judged by an international panel of advertising professionals and “to be awarded by our international peers, with one of the world’s most recognisable advertising accolades, for me, validates the dedication of the team that worked on creating Bagels,” says Helen Fitzsimons, chief marketing officer, ASB.

“Everyone involved in creating Bagels by BENEE believed deeply in the project and a Gold Clio represents the smarts, creativity and hard work of the people behind it,” she said.

This is a sentiment shared by The Monkeys chief creative officer, Damon Stapleton. “We set out to create a tool that would help the young people of New Zealand, but during the process, we learnt so much about how the human mind works and what we need to help calm our inner monologue in a modern world,” he said.

“We’re grateful to the amazing contributors who helped make a creative idea come to life, grounded in science and psychology”.

“To win a Gold Clio only reinforces the importance of this work, and we look forward to our ongoing partnership with ASB and Youthline in 2024,” said Stapleton.

Credits

Client: ASBChief Marketing Officer: Helen FitzsimonsBrand Experience Lead: Bianca OsborneMarketing Manager, Community Partnerships: Hannah McHughExecutive Manager, Commercial Partnerships: Mark GrahamSenior Social Media Manager: Jasmine TaggartSenior External Communications Manager: Hannah SearleSocial Media Specialist: Christienne JaureguiExternal Communications Specialist: Bisera MartinovskaAssociate Marketing Manager: Samantha Wootten

YouthlineChief Executive Officer: Shae RonaldClinical and Services Manager: Joanna MadsenPartnerships Specialist: Tiffany Eastgate

Creative Agency: The Monkeys Aotearoa, part of Accenture SongChief Creative Officer: Damon StapletonChief Business Officer: Storm DayHead of Strategy: Tom SykesSenior Strategist: Craig McLeodHead of Integrated Production: Rosie GraysonGroup Business Director: Ruth CoulsonSenior Business Manager: Olive BroughtonCreative Director: James ConnerCreative Director: Christie CooperSenior Art Director: Liz RichardsSenior Copywriter: Nick DellabarcaArt Director: Jack CloseCopywriter: Zak HawkinsDesign Lead: Lucinda Fortescue-HansenSenior Finished Artist: Lisa StowersPR Consultant: Kimberly Kastelan

Music production partnersBENEE – Songwriter/ArtistJosh Fountain – Songwriter/ProducerTiare Kelly – BVsDoug Clarke – Vocal engineerAaron Short – Mix engineerChris Chetland – Mastering engineerCampbell Smith – Manager, CRS Management

Auckland University of Technology Academic partnersDr Daniel Shepherd, Associate Professor AUTDr Mangor Pedersen, Associate Professor AUTDr Amy Kercher, Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist AUTGeet Vashista, Post Graduate Student AUT

Production partnersProduction Company: AssemblyDirector: Matt Von TrottLead Art Direction and Animation : Josh Fourt-WellsArt Direction and Animation: Frankie Principe3D Animator: Elliot StrongeMotion Designer: Will BardebesExecutive Producer: Jane OakDOP: Darryl WardPhotographer and retouching: Frances Carter, Loupe AgencyAgent: Emily Moon, Loupe AgencyDesign Agency: One DesignVideographer: Finn CochraneGrade: Pete RitchieOnline: Creature FilmsSound Mixing: Liquid Studios

Media partnersDentsu NZAcquire NZSearch Republic

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Clio Awards The Monkeys