Big Ad Night for Saatchi and George Patts

It was a golden night for George Patterson Partners, Melbourne (now George Patterson Y&R) as their Carlton Draught ŒBig Ad¹ - the most talked about spot of the year - snared two very rare Gold Pencils plus four Silvers and a Bronze at the 27th AWARD Awards, held last night in Sydney.

Another highlight of the night was the inaugural presentation of Agency of the Year - awarded to current Campaign Brief Agency of the Year Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney for the best overall performance at AWARD. Including Craft,the agency¹s haul included one Silver and 14 Bronze Pencils, split betweenToyota, Olympus and Fox Sports.

Saatchi & Saatchi also won Network of the Year, beating second placed Publicis Mojo and third placed BBDO, while Foster¹s was deservedly awarded Client of the Year.

But Saatchi¹s and Patts weren¹t the only ones to have a great night out. A clutch of agencies from the three key regions - Australia, New Zealand and Asia - made more than one short walk and a handshake: including Colenso BBDO Auckland, Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, Publicis Mojo Auckland, Publicis Mojo Sydney, MTC Auckland, BMF Sydney, Arnold Worldwide Sydney and Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore.

Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand won a Silver and six Bronze Pencils, mostly online/interactive work for NZ Army; Publicis Mojo Auckland won two Silvers and seven Bronze, mostly for the Burger Rings print campaign; MTC Auckland won two Silvers and six Bronze, all for L&P; Colenso BBDO Auckland won seven
Bronze Pencils, mostly for Monaco; and Publicis Mojo Sydney won two Silvers
and four Bronze.

More Asian agencies supported AWARD this year, and the effort proved fruitful: Euro RSCG Flagship, Bangkok won the only other Gold Pencil awarded on the night, for their outdoor campaign for 11 News 1 Channel. The agency also won a Silver. O&M Singapore won an impressive four Silvers and three Bronze; Leo Burnett Malaysia won two Silvers and three Bronze; Naga DDB
Malaysia won two Bronze; Batey Red Cell Singapore won a Silver; Leo Burnett
Singapore won two Bronze; TBWA Tokyo won two Bronze; and Saatchi¹s Singapore
won a Bronze.

This year the jury system for print and tv included three judges from New Zealand, three from Asia and three from Australia. This approach was deemed by the committee to be the fairest way of recognising the increasingly regional nature of the industry and of drawing from the widest pool of judging talent possible, whilst avoiding criticism of bias or favour.

AWARD co-chairman Darryn Devlin says the inaugural AWARD Clientof the Year award was long overdue: ³This is for the standout client amongst all those
whose work has been selected. We think it is absolutely necessary to acknowledge those clients who not only believe in the link between creativity and business success, but who have backed that up by investing in their brands. All great work is a result of partnership between clients and agencies with a common goal, so when we recognise and reward the best work of the year, we should also recognise those clients who have helped make it happen.

³This year, we have a client that has produced consistently good work over recent years, but this year has delivered a truly outstanding idea. And for that, we should all be thankful.²

AWARD 2005: TOP ADVERTISING AGENCIES
1 Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney............ . 88
2 George Patterson, Melbourne........ 67
3 Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand....... 64
4 Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore.......... 63
5 Colenso BBDO, Auckland.............. 62
6 Publicis Mojo, Auckland............. 59
7 MTC, Auckland....................... 56
8 Publicis Mojo, Sydney............... 48

AWARD 2005: TOP NETWORKS
1 Saatchi & Saatchi................... 154
2 Publicis Mojo....................... 139
3 BBDO................................ 130
4 Leo Burnett.......................... 93
5 George Patterson Partners ......... . 73
6 DDB.................................. 52