Warc announce Effective Channel Integration winners

Grand Prix winner, Channel 4's coverage of the 2016 Rio Paralympics through the 'Media that can!' campaign.

Eleven campaigns for brands including Ariel, Channel 4, Extra Gum, Fanta, Ford, and Gillette, are winners of the Effective Channel Integration category of the global Warc Media Awards 2017, recognising communications planning which has made a positive impact on business results.

One Grand Prix, two Golds, three Silvers and five Bronzes as well as three Special Awards for particular areas of expertise, have been awarded in the Effective Channel Integration category, which sets out to show how sophisticated communications architecture helped boost campaign effectiveness.

’Media that can!

UK broadcaster Channel 4's promotion and coverage of the 2016 Rio Paralympics through the inspirational campaign 'Media that can!' (aka 'We're The Superhumans') has won the Grand Prix. As the official UK broadcaster of the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Channel 4 needed an integrated promotional campaign that would create a groundswell of support. The marketing focus offered the opportunity to start a conversation about disability and to change public attitudes towards it.

Agencies OMD and 4creative created Channel 4's most accessible campaign, pushing media partnerships to their limit and a smart cross-platform video strategy, from Facebook AI technology delivering Facebook ads for those with sight loss to audio-enabled posters and a Snapchat filter used by over 250,000 young British people. The inclusive campaign got one in every two British people tuning into Paralympic sports and is studied in UK schools as an example of best-in-class diversity marketing as well as used by the United Nations as part of an international initiative for persons with disability.

Commenting on the Grand Prix winner, jury member Dominique Touchaud, global brand strategist and associate brand director, Procter & Gamble, said: "It created emotions beyond results that even surpassed the London 2012 'Meet the Superhumans' campaign that had already set such a high standard. From a media strategy standpoint, I truly appreciate how they thought of the context (focused on the parathletes' disability) to pick up the media and design the creative."

Diverse selection of winners

One Gold has been awarded to Energy BBDO, United States, for 'Unwrapping a love story' for Mars Wrigley's Extra Gum, which accelerated its growth in the US by building emotional equity through a short film.

The second Gold went to FP7/DXB, UAE, for 'The dullest ad in history for the least active kids in history' a provocative campaign about the importance of outdoor play for children created for Unilever's laundry detergent brand OMO to increase sales in the Middle East.

Commenting on the winners, jury chair Charlie Chappell, head of media at The Hershey Company said, "This diverse selection of winners from across the globe represents the most effective channel integration strategies that we have ever seen through the Warc awards. These campaigns are paving the way for the future and continue to drive change and conversation across the media landscape."

The winners of Effective Channel Integration category are:

Grand prix

• Media that can! · Channel 4 · OMD, 4creative · United Kingdom + Cross-Channel 

Measurement Special Award

Gold

• The dullest ad in history for the least active kids in history · OMO · Unilever · FP7/ · United Arab Emirates + POE Special Award

• Unwrapping a love story · Extra Gum · Mars Wrigley · Energy BBDO · United States

Silver

• Made Possible By Melbourne · University of Melbourne · McCann Melbourne · Australia

• Fanta Relaunch · Fanta · Coca-Cola Company · UM Sydney, Ogilvy · Australia, New Zealand

• The Bic 4 Colour Champenships · Bic · McCann Melbourne · Australia, New Zealand

Bronze

• Using integration to win the game of snakes and ladders · Ford KA+ · Ford · GTB · Europe + 

Path-to-Purchase Special Award

• Finding the Party-Tray People · HORMEL Gatherings ® Party Trays · Hormel Foods · Barefoot Proximity · United States
• Bachelor of Shaving · Gillette India · Procter & Gamble · MediaCom Communications India · India
• The Great "Hand Me Up" · Ariel · Procter & Gamble · Mediacom Connections Israel, Stern Ariely Communication · Israel
• Declaration Descendants · Ancestry · Droga5 · North America

To see the winning case studies in the Effective Channel Integration or for more information on the global Warc Media Awards please view here.

The winners of the Effective Use of Tech, Effective Use of Partnerships and Sponsorships and Best Use of Data categories will be announced shortly.

Warc will be holding a free-to-attend 'Lessons from the Warc Media Awards' event in London on 6 February, where attendees can hear from winners and judges. Register here to attend.