The campaign itself also received a Campaign Gold in both the Data Driven Campaign and Integrated Campaign categories, a Campaign Silver in the Digital Integrated Campaign and Media Innovation – Media Campaign categories, a Craft Gold in the Digital Crafts – Writing category, and a Craft Certificate in both the Digital Crafts – Use of Technology and Film Crafts – Writing categories, contributing to a total of 11 Loerie Awards for Ogilvy Johannesburg this year.

I interviewed CCO Pete Case to find out what makes this particular campaign stand out and what the win means to them…

Why are you proud to have won a Grand Prix for Kimberly-Clark’s ‘The World’s First Baby Marathon’ in the film communication category?
It was such a lovely surprise for a number of reasons. Firstly, we didn’t have an enormous budget. In fact, compared to most traditional, big-budget TV commercials, we had a very small pot of cash that needed to stretch really far in order to shoot enough content to cover an entire marathon (albeit a teeny-tiny marathon for bambinos).

In South Africa, we’ve also always traditionally held up the 60-second ‘TV ad’ as the epitome of film craft. It’s good to see things changing and other forms of film content being recognised.

It was also wonderful that people really seemed to enjoy the film pieces that we made, as we believed right from the beginning that this would be the secret to turning an interesting idea into something truly memorable. Yes, of course it’s fascinating to see how much distance a seven-month-old can actually cover, but, let’s face it, no one really wants to watch 10 whole minutes of crawling babies, unless it’s extremely entertaining.

And, of course, we were also up against some really great ideas, all of which were beautifully produced and crafted, so, yes, it was a real honour to be awarded the Grand Prix.

What does this win mean to you/for the agency?
Our goal is to make the very best work we possibly can on our real, day-to-day briefs. This was one such brief. As a team, it took us about 18 months of perseverance, but we never gave up. We protected and nurtured the idea (both on client and agency side) through the global approval process, and then we worked really hard to produce it as well as we possibly could.
“The key to getting it done: Bravery, trust and a true partnership between agency and client.”

Why do you think this campaign was deserving of such a win?
Our hope was always that people would find the campaign both thoroughly entertaining and extremely interesting, insightful and relevant to the brand.

Over the last few years we’ve seen a lot of social experiments and ideas that have been shot documentary-style. As this campaign was technically a scientific experiment (to see how far babies can move in a day), we too could’ve executed it in this typical, serious documentary tone. We, however, purposefully chose to frame it in a more entertaining way because firstly, the campaign needed to feel warm and human like the Huggies brand, and secondly, we wanted to create something completely unique.

Tell us a bit about the thinking behind the idea?
We needed to convince moms that Huggies has the best diapers for moving babies. The idea started as all the good ones do, with a great insight: Babies move way more than their parents realise (over 3km a day according to New York University).
We decided to bring this to life in the form of ‘The World’s First Baby Marathon’ – a highly engaging and entertaining visualisation of a group of 7- to 11-month old babies’ real-time movement data. Data that made the impossible possible: a 21km, real-time, online race between four babies in the comfort of their own homes. An execution which ultimately led to a 28.9% increase in diaper sales.

Which Loeries win(s) did you personally feel to be most deserving, and why?
#Rightmyname was a huge favourite on both nights. It’s a real local insight that stares us all in the face every day, but Nando’s and M&C Saatchi turned an annoyance into a beautiful integrated campaign. We really loved how every element in the campaign was so carefully thought through and considered. From the tactical use of newspaper to the T-shirt designs, everything was done with a lot of love and disciplined simplicity.

Looking beyond the two award nights, share your Loeries Creative Week experience with us.
Some members of our team judged for the first time this year.
“It’s a valuable experience and it shows how important it is to package your work in a way that will break through the clutter. Making the work is half the job, packaging it is the other. As an industry of advertisers and marketers, we also need to lighten up and fight against boring and mediocre ideas. If we don’t fight it, no one will. Stop boring the consumers. Just stop it.”

What was your main takeout from Loeries 2018?
South Africa is blessed with one of the most diverse advertising industries. Our strength is in our differences and it showed in the work that was awarded this year. However, we have a long way to go.
“We’re waiting for the day we see a black female ECD walk up on stage to collect her award. But it’s up to all of us to find talent, to nurture talent and to ensure that there’s equal creative opportunities for all.”

Comment on the current creative landscape in South Africa and how this compares globally?
There is a big push for true diversity. Here and around the world. We are slightly ahead of other countries, but we need to continue to drive the agenda of creating an advertising industry that reflects the country’s consumers. This will give us the ideas and insights that will truly resonate with the market and lead to iconic work that will make a difference.

What’s next?
As an agency, we will continue to fight for interesting, insightful, cross-discipline ideas that grab consumers’ attention, change behaviour and sell our clients’ products and services.

For more info, go to Behance.net, Kimberly-Clark.co.za, Ogilvy.co.za, and follow @OgilvySA on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Article published on bizcommunity.co.za