Amazing marketing campaigns win 2009 AICP Next Awards

On June 9, I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 Next Awards organized by the AICP at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Later that night, I also attended the debut of the 18th annual AICP Show, honoring the best TV commercials of the past year. As reported in this story from the editors of Creativity Magazine, Next was all about brilliant non-traditional marketing campaigns.

Personally, I was very impressed with every aspect of the Next Awards. Back in 2006, Boards Magazine reported that the AICP had added the Next committee, and that according to its chairperson, MIA Films director/president Massimo Martinotti, its goal was to “discover new horizons in marketing-related communications, identify the platforms, formats and media that are empowering consumers and lead future business models that are going to revolutionize the production industry.” I have a feeling that everyone in attendance would agree that Martinotti and the original committee members, Red Car’s Larry Bridges, Gartner’s Rich Carter, V3 at Anonymous Content’s Sylvia Kahn, Backyard’s Eriks Krumins, Furlined’s Diane McArter, Digital Kitchen’s Don McNeill, and Campfire Media’s Steve Wax, and their colleagues (including the 2008 Chair of the Next Judging Panel, BBDO North America’s David Lubars) have introduced an extremely important new paradigm to the AICP… and that Wax’s June 9 assessment that Next will likely come to “be” the AICP Show in the future, was spot-on.

The day’s presentation began and ended with extremely insightful and funny segments from the “Next Judges Films,” which were directed and edited by Anonymous Content’s Sorrel Ahlfeld. This year’s Next Judging Chair, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners’ Jamie Barrett, instantly engaged attendees and invited us to put our handheld Audience Award judging voting devices to good use… then set the stage in introducing the presentations for Viral/Web Film, Experiential, Website/Microsite and Integrated Campaign, each of which featured a Who’s Who of industry pundits as panelists to discuss the projects in contention. Moving through the categories, I learned a great deal — especially appreciating the many comments reminding attendees that intelligent public relations efforts were key to the success of every campaign presented — and also feeling honored to help determine each category’s Audience Award winner. In every case but the last one, I picked the winner.

Next Viral/Web Film
. Durex “Get It On” :30
. Environmental Defense Fund and Ad Council “Polar Bears” :69 (AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER)
. Diesel “Diesel SFW XXX” 1:20

Next Experiential
. Chambers Hotel “Chambers Video Art Piece”
. McDonald’s “The Lost Ring”
. Nike+ “Nike+ Human Race 10K” (AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER)

Next Website/Microsite
. General Electric “GE Ecomagination” (AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER in 34% vs. 33% vs. 33% voting)
. Dorito’s “Hotel 626″
. Sprint “NOW”

Next Integrated Campaign
. Haagen Dazs “HD Loves HB”
. NYC & Company, and Warner Brothers Records “Oasis Dig Out Your Soul: In The Streets” (AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER)
. NBA, TNT, ESPN/ABC “There Can Only Be One”

As part of the presentation in the Integrated Campaign category, Jane Reiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for NYC & Company, joined panelists from ad agency BBH and HSI Productions to talk about how the phenomenal campaign for Oasis came together and played out. When they came to the end and reminded the audience that the entire idea was united by music, a girl stood up in the fifth row of seats and began to play one of the Oasis songs on her flute. Slowly, other musicians (each of whom was featured in the campaign’s documentary film footage) also appeared and joined in the live performance, right there in the MoMA’s Roy and Niuta Titus Theater. It was wonderful, and although I gave my category vote to Haagen Dazs and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for their campaign aimed at doing good in the world, I have a feeling that my fellow attendees were won over by the univeral powers of music — and meaningful engagement.

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The plight of polar bears comes to the streets of New York in Tim Godsall's art piece-cum-ad which won the 2009 AICP Next Audience Award in the category of Viral/Web Film. Also featured in this post is the award-winning "Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets" project, where directors The Malloys - who have directed numerous White Stripes videos - detail their journey in following Oasis last September in the lead up to the release of their number one album, "Dig Out Your Soul."