DDB leads the agency pack at shortlist stage of the 2020 NZ Effie Awards with 22 finalists

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DDB leads the agency pack at shortlist stage of the 2020 NZ Effie Awards with 22 finalists

The Comms Council has announced the finalists for the 2020 Effie Awards in association with TVNZ with DDB NZ leading the pack with 22 finalists, followed by TBWA with 11 finalists and Dentsu with nine.

 

Other agencies who have made the cut at the finalist stage include Saatchi & Saatchi with eight finalists, Stanley St and Special Group with seven finalists apiece and Pitchblack Partners has three finalists.

MBM, Clemenger BBDO, OMD, WiTH Collective have two apiece, whilst Hello, Energy, Goodman Fielder, TRUE, Ecostore, NZMA and VMLY&R has one finalist each.

An Effie Award is recognised globally by advertisers and agencies as the industry’s most important award and represents the pinnacle in marketing effectiveness. This is also the second year it will be focusing on the individual marketers who have inspired great work from their agencies and fought for it in their organisations.

The Effie marketers leader board will be re-calculated when judging is complete to determine the ranks of Effie marketers for this year. A panel of over 100 industry peers judged the preliminary round this year assessing a good crop of entries and selecting just over 80 finalists from the 19 Effie categories.

Says Simon Lendrum, this year’s convenor of Effies: “It’s been fantastic to see so many entries from organisations and brands that demonstrate the concrete value that great marketing campaigns deliver back to New Zealand business. In tough times, the Effies clearly illustrate the
impact of creativity on business results.”

All Gold Effie category winners will be eligible for the Grand Effie, which is awarded to the campaign that achieved the most extraordinary commercial results for its client.

This year’s highly qualified Executive judging panel include:

Michael Healy, Chief Marketing Officer at Meridian Energy, Rachel Ellerm, National Marketing Director at Lion, Suraiya Phillimore-Smith, Marketing Lead at Westpac, Jonathan Waecker, Chief Customer Officer at The Warehouse Group, Bridget Lamont, Chief Customer Officer at Loyalty, Craig Irwin, Managing Director at Iri Worldwide and Jonathan Symons, Marketing Director at TVNZ.

Noticeably absent from the list of finalists is creative agency Colenso BBDO. The agency decided not to enter this year due to the effects of COVID-19, says Scott Coldham, managing director, Colenso BBDO: “The Effies are the pinnacle of marketing effectiveness. We have supported the show every year since it started, in the belief that creativity drives better commercial outcomes. And we will continue to do so. We made the tough call in March not to enter award shows this year, but instead to protect our people, our pennies and the work. This decision does not change our belief in the power of creativity and the importance of effectiveness. In what’s been an anomaly of a year, we’re very excited to return next year with a vengeance. And we wish everyone who entered the best of luck on the night – see you there, virtually or IRL!”

VIEW THE FINALISTS