45th AWARD Awards: Celebrating the Year’s Most Creative Campaigns

The winners of the 45th annual AWARD Awards were announced last night during the Gold Pencil Award Party, which took place at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney as part of This Way Up. A total of 31 Gold pencils were distributed across 18 distinct campaigns, with 74 Silver and 118 Bronze pencils also awarded. Additionally, Special Awards were presented in 16 different categories.

Revolver stood out with five Gold pencils across three separate projects and was named Production Company of the Year. The Monkeys, a division of Accenture Song, were honored as Agency Network of the Year, securing four Gold pencils for their ‘Play it Safe’ campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House, along with the coveted Grand Award.

CHEP Network also made a strong showing, winning four Gold pencils for their ‘Climate Doctor’s Certificate’ campaign linked to the National Climate Strike.

Other Gold winners included DDB Group Aotearoa with three Golds; Howatson+Company, M&C Saatchi, and TBWA\HAKUHODO, each with two; and DIVISION, The Editors, Exit Films, The Glue Society, MullenLowe Treyna, Ogilvy Australia, The Nine Shanghai, Special Australia, and Special New Zealand, each receiving one Gold pencil.

The first-ever Best B2B Campaign award, supported by LinkedIn, was given to Special Group Melbourne for their ‘Shift 20 Initiative’ benefiting The Dylan Alcott Foundation. Daniel Hochuli, LinkedIn’s Head of Content Solutions for APAC & China, highlighted the initiative’s focus on behavior change in brands, noting its substantial B2B impact and its effectiveness in motivating over 200 brands to engage and act.

AWARD Chair Mandie van der Merwe extended congratulations to all the Gold and Special Award winners, praising their exceptional work that not only shone brightly but also inspired action. She also acknowledged the Silver and Bronze winners, who were celebrated in earlier virtual announcements, for setting a high standard of creativity.

“AWARD Awards remains the most prestigious creative event in our region thanks to our world-class judges. Our deepest thanks go to our jury president Liz Taylor, the jury chairs, and the entire judging team for their invaluable contributions and rigorous debate in upholding AWARD’s high standards of creative excellence,” van der Merwe concluded.