2012 has already produced three worthy winners in NNI Press Ad of the Month competitions.

The January competition went to McCann Erickson and Clear Blue Water for their ad, The Lucky One, for the Health & Safety Authority (HSA). The Lucky One draws attention to the deaths and injuries that occur on farms in Ireland.

Laurence O’Byrne of Ogilvy & Mather and Mary Murray of OMD acted as judges for the NNI Press Ad of the Month January competition.

Laurence highlighted the ad’s successful use of black and white photography and said that for him, this is what helped the ad to stand out as the strongest piece of print for the month.

Mary said: “A very memorable ad, made stronger for being a real farmer.”

February was won by Irish international and Carat for an ad called Rugby Pass, created for Guinness. Speaking about Rugby Pass, judge Paudge Donaghy of DDFH&B said: “Good print ads are simple really.”

Ken Nolan of Mindshare (also a judge) said: “An instantly engaging execution that makes best use of the format.”

Curious, an ad by Boys and Girls and Vizeum for Brancott Estate (Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard) won the March competition for an ad that used a QR code in a very creative manner.

The judges of the March competition were Maxine Hands of Zenith Optimedia and Cathal O’Flaherty of Javelin.

Maxine said that the ad piqued her curiosity and commented: “I loved the idea of actually using a QR code as the ad rather than just tagging it on.”

Cathal said: “A nice, fun idea, well executed.”

Meanwhile, the April competition is open for your ads. Enter your best ads published in an NNI title in April here.

All of the ads shortlisted in the monthly competitions will go forward into the NNI Press Ad of the Year competition.

See every winner, every month on our Facebook page.