The 2011 NNI Press Ad of the Year awards took place this evening at Dublin’s Four Seasons Hotel, with the overall prize going to a campaign for Slimsticks entitled ‘Kill Your Cravings’. The winning ads were created by the Boys and Girls agency, in association with media partner Mediavest.

This year’s awards were judged by Neil Dawson, Executive Creative Director of BETC (London), who described the winning Slimsticks campaign as “genuinely insightful, a really fun way of addressing the issue”. The colourful ads show a series of sugary snacks and sweets that have been ‘killed’ by the Slimsticks weight-loss products.

“Ads for slimming products are a well trodden path, there’s been a multitude of them,” said Mr Dawson, himself one of the most decorated advertising creatives in the industry. “However, I haven’t seen ones like these before. This is a really fun way of addressing the issue while keeping it relevant.

“The ‘Kill Your Cravings’ campaign is a clean, simple, engaging idea that made me laugh out loud,” he said. “The agency has come up with something very new here and for that they get the top prize.”

Two-in-a-row for Ogilvy, Publicis QMP

The NNI Best Copywriting and NNI Best Art Direction categories were notable in producing second consecutive awards for Ogilvy & Mather – who led the way in 2011 with four monthly winners – and last year’s overall winning agency, Publicis QMP.

In this year’s Best Copywriting category, an ad for TV3 created by Ogilvy & Mather caught the eye of self-confessed history buff Neil Dawson. ‘Family Home’ tells the remarkable story of a house on Henrietta Street in Dublin, which in 1911 was home to 19 poverty-stricken families and no fewer than 104 people.

“I thought this ad was really well written with some quite extraordinary facts aboutDublin in the old days,” said Neil Dawson. “I love the construct of the ad, the way the numbers go out and then come back and tie the thing up. Very emotively written, it’s an ad that’s really worth reading. Very poetic.”

The 2011 award for NNI Best Art Direction, as last year, went to Publicis QMP for an eye-catching series of ads on behalf of TG4 entitled ‘Scéalta Átha Cliath’. The campaign features teaser-style images associated with some of Dublin’s most iconic characters including Molly Malone, Ivan Beshoff and Bang Bang Dudley with the tagline “Cad é an scéal?”.

Commenting on the Publicis QMP campaign, Neil Dawson said: “These ads are great to look at. They give a real taster for three different stories and an aspect ofDublin that not many people know about. They’re well done, lots of nice typography to suit each one, with a nice campaign feel.”

This year’s prize for NNI Best Local & Regional ad, meanwhile, went to Irish International for an ad on behalf of the Road Safety Authority highlighting the danger of driving under the influence of cannabis. The ad, simply entitled ‘Cannabis’ was described by Neil Dawson as “a simple but alarming visual that graphically demonstrates how drugs can impair your ability to drive.”

In addition to the main category winners, judge Neil Dawson also awarded a distinction of Highly Commended to a total of 13 finalists.

“Bright and unexpected” work

“It was a very interesting competition to judge and a lot of the work was really bright and unexpected. Some of it even made me laugh out loud, which doesn’t happen all that often,” said Mr Dawson.

“There is still something special that the printed media has over TV,” he went on. “It’s still a tougher challenge. Creating an ad, you have to start with the mindset that nobody in the world cares. If you assume that anyone does care, you can end up making assumptions. Those assumptions could mean you lose the reader. It’s also about trying to be reductive, making sure you don’t have anything in there that doesn’t need to be there.”

Intellectually engaging, aesthetically pleasing ads

The press advertising theme was taken up by NNI Chairman, Matt Dempsey, who hailed the winning ads and congratulated their creators.

“It’s important that your clients see and understand what newspapers can deliver in advertising terms,” said Mr Dempsey, addressing the audience of agency chiefs and creatives at the Four Seasons. “The work on show tonight is a perfect example of what can be achieved through the press medium: ads that are intellectually engaging and aesthetically appealing; advertising with an intelligent smile.

“We provide the canvas for these ads and, as the latest JNRS shows, we also deliver the audience,” Mr Dempsey went on. “4 out of 5 Irish adults are still regular newspaper readers while 2 out of 3 of our readers spend more than three hours a week reading their newspapers.

“Those three hours are generally put aside for the purpose of reading,” he said. “It’s quiet time in which a person is relaxed, receptive and immersed in the environment of their newspaper. In other words, perfect conditions for good advertising to have its effect.”

Mr Dempsey added that the latest JNRS shows that newspapers’ overall reach is extending, chiefly as a result of online and e-newspaper availability. “There’s a simple reason for that – content,” he said. “When it comes to original, quality journalism, newspapers will always lead, and others will follow.”

For more information please contact Ann Marie Lenihan Tel: 086 816 2764 / 01 668 9099