BREAKING NEWS: Winners of the Inaugural D&AD Impact Awards Announced

NEW YORK – Tonight at The PlayStation Theater in New York City, the winners of the first ever D&AD Impact Awards were announced in front a crowd of business leaders, campaigners, philanthropists and awarded advertising and design practitioners from around the world.

20 Brands and companies were awarded a D&AD Impact White Pencil, the premier accolade for creative projects that have benefited society as well as a business’ bottom line.

The D&AD Impact Black Pencil, widely regarded as the gold standard for excellence in creativity and business, was awarded to just two projects. The Black Pencils went to French Supermarket chain Intermarché and their agency Marcel for Inglorius Fruits and Vegetables, a campaign that encouraged the purchase of imperfect, more natural produce and campaigning group Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, whose powerful Taking Aim At Corporate America campaign by Grey Canada made a powerful case to a deeply divided nation.

In total, 87 D&AD Impact Pencils were awarded, with the traditional Graphite and Wood Pencils celebrating work that the judges considered best in class across the twelve categories.

D&AD Impact’s mission is to identify and celebrate great, transformative, creative ideas that have had real impact and, ultimately, contributed towards a better, fairer and more sustainable future for all. The objective of the award is to demonstrate the value of purpose to profitability, and elevate projects and businesses that have made a genuine contribution to society and the planet.

Global brands like Unilever, Microsoft, Mastercard, Burger King and Honeymaid have proved that the power of a world-changing campaign is real and measurable. It wasn’t just the big brands that have been rewarded with a D&AD Impact Pencil however, with charities and local campaigns like the Aland Index by the Bank of Aland also celebrated, they are all united by the goal of using creativity for good.

D&AD Impact is the result of a partnership between D&AD and Advertising Week. A D&AD Pencil is widely regarded as the top Award of the creative industries. Advertising Week create events around brands, agencies, media, technology and startup communities to curate a hybrid of thought leadership and special programs worldwide.

Some of the world’s most prominent business people volunteered to judge the awards. Jamie Oliver and Richard Curtis led juries that included David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman, Droga5; Anthony Casalena, CEO, Squarespace; Alex Dimiziani, Airbnb Head of Marketing EMEA; Andrea Bastiani Archibald, Chief Girl Expert, Girl Scouts of America; Kate Robertson, Founder, One Young World and numerous others to lend their support to the awards.

The juries awarded D&AD Impact Pencils based on three criteria: an original and innovative idea at its core; clear and measurable impact in its chosen category; and relevance to the business’s commercial needs. The breadth of Jury Presidents and Judges is indicative of the campaign Impact aims to create. The Jury crosses all industries, and meets in the middle, where they have a set of shared beliefs; belief in the need for businesses to have purpose beyond profit; belief in the power of creativity to create change and be a force for good; belief in the crucial role of brands and business in creating a better, fairer more sustainable world.

The awards were hosted by cultural critic, futurist comedian and How To Be Black author Baratunde Thurston. Sting lent his support to the project by performing to the jubilant crowd of winners.

The D&AD Impact Black and White Pencil winners were:

D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay said: “We’re in a post-CSR environment in which businesses are now acutely aware that consumers are demanding ethical, as well as financial, value from their products and services. Tokenistic projects no longer hold any weight for customers: global industry cannot afford to neglect the imperative that their bottom line must now be driven by purpose as well as profit. The sustainability of business and the planet relies on this shift in attitude and behaviour, at every level of business. D&AD Impact is designed to highlight and celebrate examples of creative excellence that we can admire and emulate – the winners are case studies for creating a better future.”

Matt Schekner ‎Executive Director at Advertising Week – ‎Stillwell Partners said: “Our shared goal is to shine a light on great work which has real impact on our lives and on the generation that follows. We have met and exceeded that goal, the work is just extraordinary and we couldn’t be more proud. In particular, we are encouraged by the humanity of major brands like Intermarché, REI, Unilever, Samsung and P&G…And we are thrilled to see Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence in America take home a Black Pencil, such a timely and important campaign…It’s a testament to what is possible when creative minds come together for good.”