Big awards 2009 the Gold winners' roll call

The beauty of the big tent that is the Big Awards, and its six (count 'em) carefully delineated categories, is, of course, this: it shines a light on the year's best creative practice both within media and across them. A crude read on this year's vintage? TV and digital strong, radio and direct more patchy, print and posters somewhere in between. This (admittedly glib) state of the nation might yet be challenged by the passage of time, but seems to be true to the rumblings of the industry shopfloor right here, right now. Creative attention would seem to be cleaving to both the heavy lifting of broadcast (the prematurely discredited TV, in particular) and the myriad new possibilities afforded by t'internet (which for now we strip out as "digital"), rather than pursuing the one at the expense of the other.

So while this year's media headlines might belong to Twitter and Spotify, the creative era we are living through is perhaps best described as the era of "and" rather than "or". Of Coronation Street and YouTube. Of paid-for media and social media. Of advertising and of advocacy. (Insert your own "and" here.) Certainly some of the best ideas we saw had a habit of popping up in more than one category. It seems a more visceral form of campaignability - an idea's mobility, motility even - is the modern advertiser's best friend.

Digital, somewhat inevitably, was the category not just with the richest, least easily sized ideas, but the one stretching its tentacles beyond its official borders, into outdoor and direct most obviously. It's already clear that at some point in the future the Big Awards will boast redrawn category lines (or perhaps no lines at all?). Until then we have the Arden Award, introduced to reward innovative or ground-breaking thinking in commercial communication regardless of media or spend. A peek at the longlist speaks to our industry's newly enlarged creative canvas: with runners and riders as diverse as Fiat eco:Drive, T-Mobile "dance", the Carling Cup Final digital posters, Queensland Tourism's "The best job in the world" and The Natural Confectionery Company's "trumpets".

It's tough - greedy, even - driving for creative excellence at the same time as exploring new media turf. To keep the bar high while the goalposts are moving. Tougher still in "le crunch". But the Big Awards show that it's still possible and in this respect, if this respect only, greed is good.

The Big Book 2009 is published on 9 November. To purchase copies, contact Steven Lewis on (0)20 8267 4042 or e-mail steven.lewis@haymarket.com

GOLD
INDIVIDUAL PRESS
INDIVIDUAL OUTDOOR
OUTDOOR CAMPAIGN
Titles: Wallace In Paul Smith & Gromit In Duchamp, Wallace In Alexander
McQueen & Gromit In Paul Smith, Lady Tottington In Alexander McQueen
Client: Harvey Nichols
Agency: DDB London
Art director: Grant Parker
Writer: Grant Parker
Photographer: Giles Revell
Typographer: Pete Mould
Model-maker: Aardman

GOLD
TV & CINEMA CAMPAIGN
DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
Titles: Aleksandr, Jingle, Sergei (TV); Compare The Meerkat (Digital)
Client: Comparethemarket.com
Agency: VCCP
Art director: Clement Woodward
Writers: Richard Connell, Matt Lloyd
Production company: Passion Pictures
Director: Darren Walsh
Post-production: Passion Pictures
Designer: VCCP Digital
Programmer: VCCP Digital

GOLD
INDIVIDUAL TV & CINEMA
THE ARDEN AWARD
Title: Trumpets
Client: Cadbury Trebor Bassett
Brand: The Natural Confectionery Company
Agency: Fallon London
Art director: Dirk van Dooren
Writer: Matt Keon
Production company: MJZ London
Director: Tom Kuntz
Post-production: The Mill

GOLD
INDIVIDUAL DIRECT
Title: Ardbeg Blasda - A Tricky Game Of Tipple Toppling
Client: The Glenmorangie Company
Brand: Ardbeg Blasda Single Malt Whisky
Agency: Story UK
Art director: Dave Mullen
Writers: Rebecca Wood, Olivia Jones

GOLD
PRESS CAMPAIGN
Title: LoveHate
Client: Unilever
Brand: Marmite Snacks
Agency: DDB London
Art directors/writers: Graeme Hall, Noah Regan, Hunter Somerville
Typographer: Pete Mould
Illustrator: Al Murphy, Pocko

GOLD
INDIVIDUAL DIGITAL
Title: eco:Drive
Client: Fiat
Agency: AKQA
Art director: Richard Baxter
Writer: Andy Cutbill
Lead creative developer: Rick Williams
Senior creative developers: Harald Krefting, James Hay

GOLD
INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN
Titles: Fall, Tunnel, La Nouvelle Smooth - Brunette, La Nouvelle 4% -
Piano, La Nouvelle 4% - Seaplane, La Nouvelle Smooth - Blonde, Smooth
Originals
Client: ABInbev UK
Brand: Stella Artois 4%
Agency: Mother
Art directors/writers: Gustavo Sousa, Augusto Sola, Rodrigo Saavedra,
John Cherry, Johan Baettig, Lars Holthe
Illustrators: Jose Luiz Benicio, Robert McGinnis
Production companies: Transparent/Landia, Sonny London, Rattling Stick
Directors: Agustin Alberdi, Fredrik Bond, Ringan Ledwidge
Post-production: The Moving Picture Company, The Mill

This article was first published on Campaign