Our revamped ‘ad of the season’ format might have promised more campaigns and higher stakes, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the drama. With the industry poll lead chopping and changing until the bitter end, plus the results of our RAM readers poll waiting in the wings, we had no idea who was going to take the crown. However, we now have a winner… arise our ‘ad of the winter’ champions — OMD UK and Channel 4!
OMD UK and Channel 4’s multiplatform campaign with the Guardian brought its hard-hitting documentary on dirty rivers to readers, whichever platform they accessed content.
Gabi Schuman, Channel 4 marketing manager, commented on the campaign, saying: “This is exactly the kind of work that Channel 4 exists to make. Not just to tell important public service stories but to make them impossible to ignore.
“‘Dirty Business’ shines a light on a complex, systemic issue and through our partnership with The Guardian and OMD we were able to take the story beyond the programme and firmly onto the national agenda — sparking conversation and outrage.
“It’s a brilliant example of what happens when editorial credibility and creative ambition come together to drive impact at scale. We’re incredibly proud of what this marketing campaign achieved and what it stands for.”
Annie Jarvis, OMD UK creative partner, added: “This scandal has been hiding in plain sight for decades — our marketing campaign for Dirty Business made it front page news. By harnessing the power of the Guardian, we dominated the news agenda and drove real conversation around the issues raised in the programme.
“Our partnership was designed to ‘pollute’ the news. We infiltrated every element of The Guardian’s formidable ecosystem with print takeovers, audio ads, in-depth survivor interviews, and a satirical cartoon that tipped the marketing campaign into culture after actor David Thewlis shared it with his Instagram following.
“It was a pure labour of love — and outrage — from OMD, Channel 4 Marketing, 4 Creative and The Guardian — rewarded by winning this incredible award!”
It’s not just a cause for celebration for OMD UK and Channel 4. In our ‘ad of the season’ format, the top three campaigns from each vote go through to our Newsworks Awards ‘ad of the year’ shortlist. Well done to Bountiful Cow and People’s Pension and EssenceMediacom and Tesco — we’ll be seeing all three of you again in November.
There’s one final bit of admin to clear up… our winner of the £100 Everyman cinema voucher prize draw! Congratulations to Adam Bahloul from Medialab Group.
Look back at all 12 shortlisted campaigns for this year’s ‘ad of the winter’.
