The Womb, McCann, Taproot, Zapr in WARC Awards’ Innovation shortlist

Campaigns from Royal Caribbean International, Adidas, and Nissan are among the 21 from around the world that have been shortlisted for the WARC Awards’ Effective Innovation category. The Effective Innovation category recognises innovative thinking that has transformed a business or disrupted category conventions to deliver tangible results. 

Countries with the most shortlisted entries are the US with seven (including North American campaigns); India with four; Thailand and the United Arab Emirates have three each. 

Among agencies, BBDO Bangkok leads the shortlist with three entries. With two apiece, Manning Gottlieb OMD and TBWARAAD follow. MullenLowe also have two entries by from separate offices in the US and UK. 

The panel of 15 innovation judges, chaired by Christopher Yu, Vice President, Integrated Marketing Strategy, Innovation and Technology at US Bank, has selected campaigns from around the world with papers from the US, the EU, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, India, and Australia. 

In India, sportswear giant Adidas launched a campaign to support disabled athletes during the 2016 Brazil Paralympics by producing pairs of shoes for amputees – either with two rights or two lefts – to eliminate waste. The Adidas Odds campaign has been done by Taproot Dentsu. 

The Womb’s campaign for Saregama Carvaan has also been shortlisted for WARC Awards Innovation Category. The agency collaborated with the client to create a viral product, Carvaan, that created a new substantial revenue stresm for Saregama India to cash in on its old assets. 

The ‘Bank in a Box’ campaign done by McCann Worldgroup for IDFC Bank has also made it to the shortlist. The campaign used an intuitive understanding of rural India to design an effective, ergonomic and socially viable tool as an alternative to the bureaucratic banker. 

Zapr Media Labs created a TV campaign for Club Mahindra Holidays that was aimed at upwardly mobile Indian professionals who planned extensively for holidays but often shelved their vacation plans. The campaign used enticing visuals to trigger a vacation planning impulse with call to action using the viewers’ mobile phones. 

One of the shortlisted entries from the US, by holiday company Royal Caribbean International, used social media to broadcast rarely seen underwater locations to promote its holidays as an adventure into the unknown to US consumers. 

Elsewhere, car manufacturer Nissan showcased the capabilities of its new SUV model in the UAE by creating a new measurement for desert conditions: Camelpower. Along with the official effort to establish the new metric, the brand also produced an 11-minute documentary to tell the story; year-on-year sales of all Nissan off-road models increased. 

The aim of the WARC Awards’ Effective Innovation category is to recognise innovative thinking that delivers tangible results. There is $10,000 prize fund for the best papers and the winners will be announced in late May.