How good is Australia @ digital?
Last week’s IAB awards showcased some of the best of Australia’s digital output but how good are we compared to the rest of the world? Megan Reynolds investigates in a piece that first appeared in Encore.
Last month McCann Melbourne’s Dumb Ways to Die campaign for Metro Trains saw the biggest Cannes whitewashing in the festival’s 59-year history. So when the work was not entered in this year’s IAB Awards, agencies across Australia breathed a collective sigh of relief. This was a chance to show that Australian digital agencies are more than a one-trick pony. Among the campaigns allowed to shine was The Most Powerful Arm created by digital agency Reactive, a literal mechanical arm built to sign a petition for people with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy that called on the Australian government to fund research into the disease. Also in the spotlight, a campaign by Leo Burnett Melbourne that called on media owners to volunteer ad space to promote volunteering opportunities through the website Seek Volunteer. It won three IAB awards.
Best in show was GPY&R Melbourne’s Mobile Medic campaign for Defence Force recruiting which also won in the IAB’s mobile category. The campaign – an app which applies the latest augmented reality technology so medical students can scan posters of Defence Force patients and test their diagnostic skills – while eclipsed by Dumb Ways to Die, was one of the most awarded Australian campaigns at Cannes. Russ Tucker, chair of judges at the IAB Awards and national digital creative director at Whybin\TBWA Digital Arts Network, said on the night that the campaign ticked all the boxes the judges were looking for in a well-executed digital idea – bravery, participation and effectiveness. “In digital, a good idea is something that can travel and be passed around, whereas in other channels, it’s more about whether people are going to absorb that story. The core of a great digital idea is that there’s an element of participation in it,” he said.
It’s one thing to choose a best in show from the Australian pool of digital entries but how does Australian digital output actually stand up on the world stage? Of the winners from the IAB Awards, several have already been recognised abroad. Reactive won a bronze Cyber Lion for The Most Powerful Arm, and The Monkeys’ Reverse Robberies – a campaign created for Oak flavoured milk with production house Jungleboys involving balaclava-clad men charging into shops and shoving other brands off the shelves to stock them with Oak – was shortlisted at Cannes in the branded content category under promo and activation.
