Qantas wins inaugural OMA Creative Collection Grand Prix

Qantas’ Welcome Home campaign has triumphed over 200 campaigns from Adshel, APN Outdoor, Executive Channel Network, goa, JCDecaux, oOh!media, Paradise Outdoor Advertising and TorchMedia, to win The Outdoor Media Association (OMA)’s first annual Creative Collection Grand Prix.

The creative agency was Lawrence Creative Strategy. Media agency, OMD.

Honourable mentions went to:

Lexus, This is the New Lexus. Creative agency: M&C Saatchi. Media agency, The Media Store

Melanoma Institute of Australia Stop the Spread of Melanoma. Creative agency: Disciple. Media agency, direct (Melanoma Institute of Australia)

Sony Pictures The Walk. Creative agency: The Job. Creative/media agency: UM

Entries were judged against six criteria:

A simple idea that is flawlessly executed within a single glance
Visual impact and strong creative appeal
Encourages people to think and/or generates an emotional response
Clear and obvious branding
Complements/strengthens other mediums (online/digital, mobile, radio, etc.)
Contextually relevant

The judges were:

Jane King, senior marketing director, APN Outdoor
Matthew Byrne, director, ROVA Media
Julie Faktor, creative director – Yonder Creative
Adam Rose, executive creative director & founding Ppartner,AJF Partnership Sydney
Lazrus Simons, creative group head, McCann Australia

Chris Dewey, creative director at Lawrence Creative Strategy, commented, “I love that Qantas understands what an important role Outdoor still plays in reinforcing its emotional connection with so many of us. These posters relied almost solely on capturing the essence of ‘coming home’ and the genuine spontaneous moments of a very real family re-uniting.

“Photographer Paul Blackmore has well and truly proved that a picture, and in this case a poster, can indeed be worth a thousand words. This award is a fitting tribute to Neil Lawrence, the architect of the Welcome Home campaign, and a friend who is sorely missed. It is also in recognition of the Qantas marketing team who have been so passionate in driving every aspect of their campaign.”

Judge, Julie Faktor, added, “We had quite a debate around who should take the Grand Prix and it really was a close call. The execution of the Qantas work was flawless, because of its ability to say so much in the time frame of a glance which just nudged it ahead. The candid nature of the Qantas photography evokes a very immediate and emotional response, which really hits home in an outdoor environment.”

The quarter 4 winners were also judged on the day. Those results are: