Press Release:
TBWA\Whybin – the New Creative Power House Down Under
Agency caps off remarkable year with further global recognition, 3rd place ranking in the world, and feat that is
unmatched by any other local outfit
Thursday, June 22nd, 2006: The most important international festival in the advertising world has seen fit to award
local advertising agency TBWA\Whybin with 3 Gold Lion accolades, making it arguably the best performing creative outfit
in the country on the global stage. In addition, TBWA\Whybin’s direct arm, Tequila, was voted third best direct agency
in the world, further reinforcing its unique position as a provider of fully integrated solutions.
A staggering 24,000 advertisements from 81 countries have been showcased at the Festival, held for the 53rd time in
Cannes, in the South of France. The awards related specifically to the adidas ‘Be the Ball’ initiative, which
transformed Auckland’s reverse bungee into a giant football, and the ‘Stand in Black’ campaign for the DHL 2005 Lions
Rugby Tour. Furthermore, the festival judges will acknowledge adidas later in the week as international client of the
year for its creative and consumer led advertising, on the back of another TBWA\Whybin client, Playstation, winning the
award the previous year.
Andy Blood, Creative Director at TBWA\Whybin, says the win at Cannes has propelled TBWA\Whybin right to the forefront of
New Zealand advertising creativity and innovation. “It’s been an unbelievable year for the agency in terms of the
reception our work has had internationally and the successful platform we’ve delivered for adidas. No other local agency
can credibly claim to have won at every significant advertising awards event in the world, as we can in 2006,” he says.
The TBWA\Whybin performance in the six categories at Cannes (Lions Direct, Promo Lions., Media Lions, Outdoor, Radio
Lions and Press) included:
Direct:
-Gold for ASB ‘Bootscraper’
-Bronze for ‘Snowman’
-Finalist for Nissan 'Torn'
Promo Lions:
Gold Lion for adidas ‘Be the Ball’
Gold Lion for adidas ‘Stand in Black’
-Finalist for ASB 'Bootscraper'
Finalists – awards pending:
Multiple Sclerosis was a finalist for 'Eyes' (in print) and ‘Bladder’
Lion adidas ‘Be the Ball’ in Outdoor (Ambient stunts and live ads)
Media Lions;
Gold for ‘Be the ball’-Best use of Ambient
‘Be the Ball’-Best use of special events and stunts.
ENDS
TBWA Worldwide (www.tbwa.com), Advertising Age magazine’s 2004 Global Agency Network of the Year, is one of the world’s
fastest growing top ten agency networks. TBWA creates disruptive ideas for global clients, including Absolut, adidas,
Apple, Beiersdorf, Häagen-Dazs, Henkel, Masterfoods, McDonald’s, Nissan and Sony PlayStation. In 2005, TBWA was
recognized Most Awarded Agency Network in the World by The Gunn Report. TBWA has also been recognized, in 2005, as the
most awarded network at the Clio Awards and for the second year in a row, as the most awarded network at Cannes, The One
Show and AdFest. TBWA has 239 offices in 75 countries, and approximately 8,300 employees worldwide.
TBWA Worldwide is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com http://www.omnicomgroup.com/). Omnicom
is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous
specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public
relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.