On October 3rd, I attended the 2019 Signature Awards as part Manitoba Public Insurance’s (MPI) creative team. This year, we received seven nominations in five award categories. Our Keep your keys safe, We all pay and Save the 100 campaigns were all award finalists. In two categories, our campaigns were competing against each other!
If you’re unfamiliar with the Signature Awards, it’s an annual industry event that’s put on by the Advertising Association of Winnipeg. The event honours the best creative and advertising work in the city from the past year. To prevent bias, the Judges Panel consists of creative agencies from other parts of the world.
I have attended the awards night with MPI before, but this was the first year I was there to represent my own work. It was also the first year most of the team was in attendance (usually it’s just me and one other colleague!). We were also welcome to invite family, so it was all very exciting!
As the awards came to a close, we found ourselves walking away with an armful of hardware. We snagged four awards (or five if you count my dad winning a door prize) and this was the closest I’ll ever get to feeling like Taylor Swift.
Save the 100 won Broadcast over $20,000 (Single or Series).
Then Save the 100 won again for Design Miscellaneous.
And then again for Judges Choice.
And then again for CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR (at which point, I nearly fell out of my chair)!!
While I felt like an underdog at this event (competing against the biggest ad agencies in the city!!!), we had a small inkling that Save the 100 was going to walk away with something. Earlier in the year, we learned that after evaluating campaigns across Canada, the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) had selected us to receive the Road Safety Award for our work with Save the 100. The campaign had been well-received – but among the advertising industry to this extent? Wow. It had definitely exceeded my expectations.
There were many people involved who worked so hard to create Save the 100 and make an impact. We owe big props to our friends at FRANK Digital and DACAPO Productions Inc. and to the Advertising Association of Winnipeg for hosting such an enjoyable evening. As a concept developer and writer for this campaign (and in the entirety of my career, honestly!), I have never felt more proud of work I’ve done or validated in my abilities.
What a night!
Slay it in writing 