The Monkeys Aotearoa, part of Accenture Song in partnership with ASB and Youthline have won a Grand Clio for their work “Bagels by BENEE” making them the only ANZ agency to win.
Lead Image: Storm Day and Damon Stapleton
Bagels by BENEE was created with Kiwi youth in mind as a practical tool to help young people battle anxious feelings, in addition to all the amazing work that Youthline does to support youth mental health across New Zealand.
The Grand Clio is awarded to a gold winner in each Clio category. For The Monkeys Aotearoa, ASB and Youthline, their Grand Clio win comes under the music program which recognises excellence in marketing and communications in the music industry.
The winning song and campaign Bagels by BENEE, supported by producer Josh Fountain, was created after discussions between ASB, Youthline’s principal partner, and The Monkeys in response to the growing number of young people reaching out for help with their mental health.
“Through our work with Youthline, we identified the need for a practical tool to provide young people with immediate support in those stressful moments,” said Helen Fitzsimons, chief marketing officer, ASB.
“This was a very meaningful piece of work for ASB, and we are humbled by the results and response to Bagels. It feels amazing to be recognised with this award, and we look forward to continuing to support Youthline on their mission,” said Fitzsimons.
Results from neurological testing of the song on New Zealanders aged 18 to 25 found listening to Bagels lowered levels of ‘state anxiety’, which is the type of short-term anxiety experienced in stressful situations.
The recordings taken contained more than 10 billion readings of brain and automatic nervous system changes, captured through electroencephalogram (EEG) tests, making this a highly robust and unprecedented neurological assessment of a song’s ability to manage anxious feelings.
Bagels was tested against five control music tracks, including Weightless by Marconi Union, widely acknowledged as the most relaxing song in the world, and songs like Shape of You, by Ed Sheeran.
The track was then submitted to the esteemed peer-reviewed journal Psychophysiology which declared Bagels 5.1 per cent more effective at reducing anxious feelings than the current ‘gold standard’ of relaxation music.
Bagels by BENEE also reduces brain activity in listeners, indicating the song’s ability to soothe the mind.
“We were chuffed with our gold and bronze Clio, but to take out the Grand Clio is a career highlight for the teams that worked on this project,” says The Monkeys chief creative officer, Damon Stapleton.
“When the scientific research and subsequent results proved Bagels by BENEE works and has the ability to help, we knew that if we could reduce the anxious feelings of just one young person, then it had all been worth it”.
“To know that the song has since been streamed, viewed or listened to more than eight million times, well it’s a number we can’t even comprehend,” said Stapleton.
“It’s a meaningful win for us all, the reason why we do this job and why we push for our purpose”.
