Advertising Winners and Contenders: 2021 Gold Winner and a New 2022 Entry

It’s a given that advertisements need to be catchy and unique. If not, companies can’t spread their message and inform consumers about their product and/or service offered. We’re spreading our own message this week by showcasing a gold winner of our 2021 competition and a new entry for our 2022 competition.

The “Butterfly Campaign” (above), which won a Gold award in our Advertising Annual 2021 competition, was organized by Zack Shulze for BVK. The assignment was to share the launch of Talent Solutions, a talent sourcing and coaching platform from Manpower Group. Shulze needed a breakthrough way to describe the services and benefits of working with them that spoke to the personal growth each employee had the potential to feel. His proposition was more inclusive than others, with people in mind as opposed to focusing on the service itself. Touting a major benefit like professional and personal growth, he also wanted to bring that to life in an inspirational way. 

How could he do this? Shulze chose butterfly wings as a way to represent the type of transformation he was looking for. He shot people in their environment and rendered the wings in post-production. In the end, Shulze’s campaign was a success and was so well received by Talent Solutions that they integrated the wings into their office buildings and materials, even creating a mural of butterfly wings for employees to take photos in front of. Such creativity made its way into various other pieces of the business in the Manpower Group organization and was translated into the business globally.

“Night Sky” (above) is a one-minute video ad created by Proper Villains for the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. Designer Mariene Cole, Creative Director Jeff Monahan, Senior Designer Beth Almeida, Producer Jennifer Sargent, and Editor Kevin Moore teamed up to celebrate and honor the day-to-day grind of the scientists working to find a cure for this horrible disease. It’s no secret that 2020 and 2021 were years of pain and suffering for many, so the team used the pandemic to their advantage for their approach. The film was one of a pair that were developed in direct response to the COVID pandemic. They used stock footage, which brought with it a different set of complications. How do they help the client “own” a set of stock clips? What can they do to make this film come across with all the emotional weight of something that was custom-produced?

Working with a highly talented editor, they pulled together a theory for color grading an extensive group of clips they identified to homogenize them. A precise and detailed edit was pulled together to bring the script to life and deliver a meaningful experience. The result: the reaction from the client’s internal and external audiences was enthusiastic, and the film helped Cure Alzheimer’s Fund outperform the industry during a year most nonprofits faced great challenges.

A little more than two weeks remain to enter our Advertising Annual 2022. To do so, visit our website here, and get inspired by entries from around the world.