The Cresta Awards 2020 has delivered another triumph to BBDO, adding to its steady run of top awards in the last two awards seasons. BBDO Worldwide has won Network of the Year at the Cresta Awards 2020. AMV BBDO has won Agency of the Year.

David Lubars, chief creative officer of BBDO Worldwide, commented: “Creative excellence year in and year out is one of our highest priorities, we never ‘take a year off’. So it’s an honour to be named both Network and Agency of the Year at Cresta for the second year in a row.”

AMV BBDO’s new work for the Essity brand, Bodyform/Libresse, #wombstories, outperformed even last year’s highly awarded, Viva La Vulva, with a collection of awards that included 4 Grands Prix. Jury chair, Oriel Davis-Lyons, creative director at Spotify, gave the campaign a special mention, commenting, “For the bravery in storytelling. So many brands and agencies would be too scared to do this but this team didn’t shy away from anything and the result is spellbinding.”

BETC achieved Network of The Year Runner-Up, with 1 Grand Prix and 17 Gold awards across its Paris and Sao Paolo offices.

72&Sunny Los Angeles won Agency of The Year Runner-Up, with a large cluster of awards for Tinder Swipe Night.

Serviceplan Group won Independent Network of The Year with a haul of winners including 16 Golds.

The Jury Award, chosen personally by jury chair, Oriel Davis-Lyons, was given to two of the gold winners, Akestam Holst NoA and its entry, Maurten Unofficial for sports brand, Maurten, and Casanova McCann, with its entry, Second Chances, for Donate Life California.

The President’s Award is a new honour, was given by the leadership team, Lewis Blackwell and Alan Page. The award is designed to highlight a special contribution to creativity by a company, an individual or a client. It’s first recipient is Dentsu.

Alan Page, Cresta president, stated, “In this, its first year, we have chosen to honour Dentsu with this award, and in particular its offices in Japan. I was fortunate in visiting Tokyo earlier this year, just before the worst of the lockdowns swept across the globe. The city was quietened by the threatened pandemic, but far from closed.

“I was struck, as so many are, by Japan’s contradictions. Its modernity seeming to clash with a reverence for traditions. Its orderliness at odds with an underlying cultural vibrancy. Its delicate aesthetic sensibility a contrast to its industrial might. Then when I reviewed entries arriving from Dentsu there was the country – its past, its present and perhaps its future, all melded into one extraordinary body of work for a wide range of hugely differing clients.”

Summary: Cresta Awards 2020 Of The Year Honours:

• Network of the Year: BBDO Worldwide
• Network of the Year Runner-Up: BETC
• Agency of the Year: AMV BBDO
• Agency of the Year Runner-Up: 72andSunny, Los Angeles
• Independent Network of the Year: Serviceplan
• The Jury Award: Maurten Unofficial (Akestam Holst) & Second Chances (Casanova McCann)
• The President’s Award: Dentsu