GLOBAL – MAY 2011 – From the development of the telegraph to the discovery of networking computer systems, the world slowly became an online community – everyone got connected and the rest was history.
In celebration of these achievements in communications, The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences launched the Webby Awards in 1996 during the web’s infancy.
On its 15th year, the Webbys continues to look back and give honor and perhaps some bragging rights to over a hundred Website, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile & App categories.
By giving away two honors for the best in each category – The Webby Award and The People’s Voice Award – the Webbys acknowledges the contribution of the online community to the tremendous growth of the internet.
Through creative websites, the impossible was broken to be possible. Real time updates, graphics, animation, and interactive interfaces have turned previously unappealing content to the young generation such as museum walks, activism, and social awareness into engaging topics of discussion on the online community.
No wonder, advertising agencies did not let this trend off the hook, as a good number of Webby awardees are works of distinguished agencies.
Wieden + Kennedy (W+K) tops the tally, receiving six Webbys including the coveted Agency of the Year, four of these for the humorous and witty Old Spice "Smell Like a Man, Man" Integrated Campaign, but more so for the “Responses” campaign, which won in the Best Use of Social Media, Viral Marketing and Best Writing categories.
W+K London’s “The World’s Smallest Stop-motion Character Animation” was People’s Voice Winner in the Animation category. Dot, as the character is called, gave W+K London and Aardman the chance to do what was once impossible by making a microscopic film with a Nokia N8 and Prof. Daniel Fletcher’s CellScope, giving the audience a unique experience of the new technology.
Other agencies also displayed interesting campaigns. Real-time updates had Blast Radius/b-reel win a Webby in the Beauty and Cosmetics category for “Boss Bottled Night” campaign that lets visitors experience a real time scan of the world where nightfall has already reached and see real time stats of people preparing for the night using Fermi calculations.
Instant mobile solutions landed R/GA a Webby for Converse in the Augmented Reality category, integrating the capabilities of mobile phones to simulate a virtual fitting room for shoes, and social media platforms to share the experience.
Les 84 and faberNovel on the other hand did a good job on transforming the Monet 2010 Grand Palais Exhibition into a virtual and interactive art gallery creatively involving visitors in viewing the impressionist paintings, winning for them a Webby in Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics, while Goodby, Silverstein & Partners created a breakthrough by putting up a virtual digital media museum giving them the Webby award in the Art category.
Agency winners include DDB Paris, TBWAVancouver, Publicis Modem, Proximity Colombia, TBWA Media Arts Lab, BBH New York and BBDO New York, among others.
