WEBBY AWARDS 2012
The results for the 16th annual Webby Awards have been announced. We take a look at some of the winning work.
Image: Draw a Stickman by Hitcents, Kentucky.
Considered by many as the online equivalent of the Oscars, the international Webby Awards are presented each year by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), recognising the best work for websites, interactive advertising, online film and mobile apps.
Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) was named Agency of the Year, presented to the agency earning the most Webby Awards across all categories. BBH garnered nine Webby wins for their work on four different projects, including Google Music, Google Chrome’s "Dear Sophie" campaign and Asos "Urban Tour". Here is a selection of winners from the Interactive Advertising awards:
Created by BBH, New York and Google Creative Lab, Google Chrome’s “Dear Sophie” won both the Webby and People’s Voice awards for Best Online Commercial. Themed “the web is what you make of it”, the commercial shows a father documenting the life of his daughter using Google platforms including Chrome, Gmail and YouTube.
Akestam Holsts, Stockholm’s “The Sound of Football” took the Best Use of Augmented Reality Webby. The app, created for the Swedish Pepsi Refresh campaign, aimed to help blind people “hear the sound” of football, enabling them to gain the ability to play.
View the full list of winners and nominees here. The awards ceremony will be broadcast on 21 May at 4.30pm ET on WebbyAwards.com.
The Augmented Reality People’s Voice was awarded to “Model Pick Up” by Space 150, USA for fashion retailer Forever 21. The digital Billboard installed in Times Square featured ‘giant’ models interacting with passers by, including picking them up and turning them into a frog with a kiss.
The Best Use of Online Media People’s Voice award went to Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam’s “Back 4 the Future” for Nike. Starring Bill Hader, Christopher Llloyd, Tinker Hatfield, Donald Fullilove and Kevin Durant, the web film is about the most famous shoes never made (as seen on Marty McFly), in an effort to support the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research. It also won the People’s Voice and Webby in the Corporate Social Responsibility category.
Wieden + Kennedy received seven honours, which also included the Best Use of Social Media People’s Voice for Old Spice’s "Mano a Mano in el Baño". The online campaign starred international model Fabio embarking on a quest to become the new Old Spice guy, debuting his very own ads touting products on TV, online and social media platforms.
The Viral Marketing category saw Hitcents, Kentucky get the People’s Voice award for its “Draw a Stickman” app, which demonstrates interactive animation on web and mobile devices using JavaScript. The Webby in the same category went to BBDO, Toronto for Skittles’ “Cat”. You may remember oddly placing your finger in the middle of your screen and watching, as a cat licked it.
Academy judges like Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone, Arianna Huffington and mobile phone inventor Martin Cooper selected The Webby Award Winners while the online public around the world chose the winners of the People's Voice awards with a Webby record of nearly 1.5 million votes cast from over 200 countries. Also voting were IADAS members including R/GA founder Bob Greenberg, AKQA creative chief Rei Animoto and Suzanne Applebaum.
