Awards

Awards

Awards are a nice validation. They can also take up a lot of shelf space. I’ve kept a nice collection, but a few boxes of Vision, Omni and Silver Microphone awards had to go so I could make room for more pictures of my awesome wife and kids. In other words, I kept the ones that looked the coolest, like those gleaming Telly awards, the sleek Summits, the shiny crystal glass Communicator awards (and okay, a couple Omnis and Visions and one Silver Mic). A few have been lost, like the Moebius we snagged for our Car Cash radio campaign, and I can’t remember for the life of me what I did to win this cute Crystal Apple.

The total haul is 63 National Awards. In the past, I listed all the winners, broken down by the type of award. It was a loooong list and pretty boring to sift through. Instead, I’m going to feature some select TV and Radio spots, since they’re the most fun to watch and hear.

I chose these examples because they won big on low budgets. It’s always easier to produce high quality work with a six figure budget, but each of these ads were made for less that $50,000 (some for less than 10K) and actually won awards for best low budget ads!

Copy, concept, strategy and positioning are always the key ingredients to hard-hitting ads. With a little extra creativity and resourcefulness you can pull a rabbit out of the hat on a shoestring budget with the benefit of expeditious stock footage coupled with clever copy, great voice-over talent and outstanding music and sound design. Like these:

Bad Dream

Georges Duboeuf Wines was a successful, worldwide brand, but had never created TV ads. For our first spot, we had a $30K budget. Still tight, so we crafted a dream sequence in a white seamless void with nameless characters wearing masks based on the iconic Beaujolias Nouveau label.

Bad Dream won 2 Tellys, 3 Visions,  2 Communicators, and a Summit award.

 

Award categories: best copy/concept, editing, use of music, creativity/editing, best low budget and best food & beverage ad.

Wine Tasting

After the success of our Beaujolais Nouveau ad, we were tasked with promoting their Beaujolais Villages brand and the full line of varietal wines.

Wine Tasting was a fun goof on the pretentious lingo used by wine fanatics. The performances were hysterical and the tagline kicked ass (literally). It won 3 Vision awards, 3 Communicators and a Summit award.

Award categories: best copy/concept, editing, use of music, creativity/editing, best low budget and best food & beverage ad.

French Lesson

Romantic, seductive and playful. Wraps with our new positioning slogan: Georges Duboeuf…How the world speaks French.

A resounding commercial and critical success. Sales dramatically increased.  Distributors reported selling out their orders faster than any previous year. French Lesson won 2 Tellys. 3 Visions,  2 Communicators and 2 Omni awards.

Award categories: best copy/concept, editing, use of music, creativity/editing, best low budget and best food & beverage ad.

Fast Paced Life

B&B Pool and Spa Center was a family business. They’d never done a TV ad and had a paltry budget. We sold them on a $5,000/spot budget used for stock footage, voice work, public domain music and studio time.

Fast Paced Life won 2 Tellys, 3 Visions and a Summit (best low budget).

Award categories: best copy/concept, editing, use of music and best low budget.

You’re Due

The two remaining ads in our first campaign for B&B Pool and Spas utilized the same stock footage, voice actor and opera music, but the concept and copy added two new slants to the same theme: You Deserve it!

You’re due won 3 Visions, 2 Omnis and 3 Communicator awards.

Award categories: best copy/concept, editing, use of music creativity/editing, creativity/ writing, best commercial ad, best cable ad.

Water Rights

I must admit, I just love the concept and copy for this. No spoilers, just watch and enjoy, because hey, you’ve earned the right!

Water Rights won 2 Tellys, 2 Omnis and 3 Vision awards.

Award categories: best copywriting, best concept, editing, use of humor and best in product category.

Neighbors Will Talk

This spot is probably the lowest budget ad we’ve made, combining stock footage and product stills with location shots. But the real star is that tagline!

Neighbors Will Talk won 1 Telly. 2 Visions and 2 Communicators.

Award categories: best copywriting, best concept, editing, use of humor and best in product category.

Are You in Bali?

The second spot in the new campaign added a dash of sex sizzle and hedonistic abandon. Why not have a resort vacation in your own backyard?

Are You in Bali? won 2 Visions and 1 Communicator.

Award categories: best copy/concept, best, editing, best in product category.

Car Cash Radio Campaign

I love radio. The theater of the mind. Creative opportunities are only limited by ones imagination and studio savvy.

Car Cash was a Tristate Business that paid “Cash for Cars.” We ran the spots on two of the best drive-time slots at the time: Imus and Howard Stern. Our concepts were geared to provoke anxiety about the problems people faced when selling their cars.

We worked with incredible voice actors who turned in amazing performances. We also took our time in the studio, creating all the layers of sound design and FX to fully immerse our listeners in the fantasy of every scene. Listen up!

 

The Car Cash campaign won three Silver Microphones, a Moebius and a Summit.

Pretty Shiny Awards

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