This year we have a new category replacing the generic “Mobile” category that we see at awards everywhere. Why did we do this? Well, because mobile itself is no more than a default platform at this point. Why should something that has nothing to do with mobile specifically win a “mobile” award merely for existing on mobile? Why in that case do we not have a “Laptop” category? What we aimed for in re-working this category was to place complete emphasis on the use of the devices, the technologies and platforms to deliver something that could not exist without mobile, but which is surprising, ingenious and creative in both thought and execution.
To that end I must thank a wonderful jury of Tom Barker (MediaCom), Yazminca Woodward (AKQA) and Johan de Keulenaer (Wunderman Thompson) for fully embracing the intent of this new definition and in bringing further clarity to it with their insights and good grace.
The awarded work displays great ingenuity and cleverness in using elements of mobile technology to achieve a given goal: sometimes with complex development such as Kantar’s use of AR; sometimes by the ingenious appropriation of mobile spaces such as “A New Beginning to an End Tone” and sometimes by turning expected behaviours on their head and surprising their audiences with impactful simplicity, such as “United Against Abuse”.
Our ultimate award, the Cremé de la Cremé, went to a piece of work that used mobile technology in a fairly standard way, but which then subverts the whole exercise by effectively hacking a competitor’s advertising in order to do it. Progressiveness here is not complex, but is highly creative, and ultimately rewarding.
Finally, my thanks to everyone who entered work into this new category, and congratulations on producing work that you were confident enough to enter - it sets a great benchmark. My ultimate congratulations to the Highly Commended, to the Winners and to our Cremé de la Cremé award winner. Well done all, I hope we’ll see more progressive use of mobile from all at WPP in 2020.