The Addy Awards is a three-tiered system. After winning 33 Addy Awards at the local Addy awards where cmb competed against other agencies in the region, the advertising agency was automatically entered into the district level of competition and also qualified for the national level where the agency will be vying against top agencies from across the US and the Caribbean. Gold winners always go through to the next round of competition.
One ad in particular caught the attention of the judges. A dramatic and emotive ad, that opens with police officers and civilians jostling and shouting.
As the scene builds in intensity in the “I am Citizen” ad, instead of a crime scene everyone is playing basketball. For this ad for the Citizens Security Programme (CSP), cmb has been getting significant recognition.
At the regional Addy Awards, cmb won the Judges Choice Addy Award, Gold in TV, Gold in Public Services, Silver Addy in audio visual, Silver Addy for the CSP Basketball and the CSP Walls ads. For that ad, cmb was also nominated for the Charlie Award.
The CSP ad also garnered cmb recognition at the recent Angel Awards which honours the very best in public service advertising. The Angel Awards, hosted by the American Advertising Federation Fourth District, was held on April 13, celebrated ads that addressed community issues in Florida and the Caribbean.
Mark White, cmb’s managing director, recently attended the American Advertising Awards District Gala on April 14 in Orlando, Florida. He said the agency only submits “real work” ie material developed based on a client brief that is aired or published as part of a strategic campaign. So, Addy Awards are a manifestation of advertising discipline—namely strategic pinpointing—as the starting point of effective communication.
The awards, to him, are about much more than trophies and bragging rights.
“Ours is an exacting but not exact science, at least not yet. Until such time as bots write better creative than we do, human subjectivity prevails.”
