Showpony Advertising wins Gold Chair at 42nd AADC Awards; Mark Evans wins President’s Award

Australia’s longest, continually running industry body, the Adelaide Advertising and Design Club, held its 42nd annual awards at the National Wine Centre in Adelaide tonight.

The most coveted award for most outstanding Idea in the entire exhibition, the Gold Chair, was awarded to Showpony Advertising for SA Health’s integrated campaign for Flu Prevention.

On presenting the Gold Chair, chair of judges, Nancy Hartley of Rumble Creative said: “I loved the immediacy of the idea – a strong insight reframing the deadly impact of the influenza virus, brought to life with power and clarity.”

In addition to the Gold Chair, Showpony received a Craft Award for Copywriting and an Integrated Campaign Award for its client, Green Industries and 16 finalists for clients including Green Industries, SA Health and reachforthefacts.com.au

The President’s Award, a silver watering can, was donated by Adelaide & Wallaroo Fertiliser after use in a television commercial by Clemenger Adelaide in 1978 and is awarded each year for outstanding contribution above and beyond the call of duty to the local advertising industry and the AADC.

The recipient of the 2019 President’s Award was director, Mark Evans. With a career spanning 5 decades, Evans began working as an assistant cameraman for Channel 7 in Adelaide in 1972, then moving onto Pro Image Studios and later becoming a freelance director at Great Southern Films before creating his own company.

Says James Rickard, AADC president: “Mark is one of the most positive, versatile and resilient professionals I have ever come across. As the industry has undergone change, rather than moan and hanker for the halcyon days, he has adapted when many others were unable.”

In addition to a wide variety of creative awards, Evans is the recipient of the Australian Cinematographer Society’s Gold Tripod and Ron Winton Contribution Award.

The Master’s Chair for best Craft entry was awarded to Kent O’Halloran of KWP for Art Direction for Tourism NT’s Military History Campaign of which Nancy Hartley said: “I appreciated the commitment to craft by the Art Director; the authenticity of type and illustration style, and that it was carried through in every aspect of the printed work.”

KWP! also received 11 finalists for clients including the Motor Accident Commission (MAC) Tourism NT and Hospital Research Foundation.

Other major winners on the night were The Rowdy Group with a haul of 7 Awards for MAC, National Pharmacies and Meals on Wheels, and 10 finalists for the same clients and TAFE SA.

TBWA/Adelaide took home 3 Awards and 3 finalists for its work on South Australian Tourism Commission.

The winner of last year’s Master’s Chair, Heesom Casting, received 2 Awards and 1 finalist for casting for Coopers Brewery and the Hospital Research Foundation.

Single Awards went to KOJO (and 10 finalists), Simple Integrated Marketing (and 7 finalists), Influx Creative (and 1 finalist) and Scott Illingworth (and 1 finalist).

The AADC would like to acknowledge the continued, generous support of its sponsors:

Technology Partner: Adstream
Platinum Sponsors: Cutler Brands, KOJO, Peach and The Rowdy Group
Gold Sponsors: KHQ Lawyers, NewsCorp and Showpony Advertising
Silver Sponsors: The Audio Embassy, Mattrixx and Merlin
Corporate Sponsor: KWP!

Full list of winners

Showpony Advertising – Gold Chair, 3 Awards, 16 Finalists
KWP! – Master’s Chair, 11 Finalists
The Rowdy Group – 7 Awards, 10 Finalists
TBWA/Adelaide – 3 Award, 3 Finalists
Heesom Casting – 2 Awards, 3 Finalists
KOJO – 1 Award, 10 Finalists
Simple Integrated Marketing – 1 Award, 7 Finalists
Influx Creative – 1 Award, 1 Finalist
Scott Illingworth – 1 Award, 1 Finalist
Black Sheep Advertising – 8 Finalists
Floodlight/Faction Co – 6 Finalists
Welbourn O’Brien – 4 Finalists
The Audio Embassy – 3 Finalists
Fuller Brand Communication – 3 Finalists
Culture Crop – 3 Finalists
Matin Jafari – 2 Finalists
Astbury Audio – 2 Finalists
Klik - 1 Finalist
Passel Media – 1 Finalist
Richards Rose – 1 Finalist