Four insights into our Grand Prix Nominees

A coat that produces oxygen, an app that assists people with an advanced ALS diagnosis to talk, a new sea creature named to raise awareness about plastic pollution or an international flag redesign to highlight the worldwide climate emergency.

These are the four stories that together with #wombstories, the final Grand Prix winner, got best-of-gold consideration during the jury of the 2021 ADCE Awards. We have reached out to the creative directors of these four campaigns to get some insights into their creation and what it means to them to have been nominated to be recognised as the very best of the best.

CO2AT
Category: Design
Creative Directors: Filipe Mesquita (This is Pacifica) & Miguel Durão (Stream and Tough Guy)
Favourite moment of creating this campaign. When we learned of the first major retailer that wanted to implement the technology, after being impacted by the CO2AT.
Something you learned through the process. We all learned so much throughout this process… Everything was uncharted territory for us. Knowing that we could actually make a piece of clothing “breathe” was incredible, but learning that we could actually revive the microorganisms after they “perished” was, well... breathtaking.
Every campaign is a huge team effort. Would you like to give a special shout-out to someone else in the team for their contribution to it? I don’t think this project could’ve been any more collaborative. From creation to implementation. Coming up with the idea to create this piece of clothing from the future wasn’t even half of the battle. We needed to make it technologically astonishing and craft and design was paramount, as this would be a direct marketing piece that would be in the hands of potential clients. So the commitment from Bernardo Lago Cruz from Azgard9’s, the genius from Post Carbon Lab and the craftsmanship and drive from This is Pacifica was indispensable to make this happen.
What does it mean for you to be an ADCE Grand Prix Nominee? It’s a tremendous honor for all of us involved in the project. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Film Jury this year and learning that we would be competing with the likes of #wombstories for the Grand Prix was amazing.
Meltdown Flags
Category: Print & Outdoor
Creative Director: Michael Wilk (Serviceplan Germany)
Favorite moment of creating this campaign. Since the topic is so vast, we decided to consult specialists like Dr. Heide Sevestre (Glaciologist). Watching her speak so passionately about glaciers reminded us of why we were doing this in the first place.
Something you learned through the process or about a particular topic because of it. You never expect to go into work and learn so much about a topic as specific as glaciers. It’s always a new topic, so you learn to open yourself up and become a sponge to information.
Every campaign is a huge team effort. Would you like to give a special shout-out to someone else in the team for their contribution to it? A campaign as big as this would not have been possible without people of different disciplines coming together across different companies and countries. A special shout-out to the person whose idea started it all—Jan-Matrin Hopf.
What does it mean for you to be an ADCE Grand Prix Nominee? We’re extremely honored and humbled to have been chosen. This project means a lot to us, and what matters most is that this recognition amplifies awareness for glaciers.
Tallk
Category: Interactive & Mobile
Creative Director: Alejandro di Trolio (Cheil Spain)
Favorite moment of creating this campaign. The most important moment was when we realised that after months of work and tests the app really worked. This moment was unforgettable because we saw the draft come to live with patients.
Something you learned through the process or about a particular topic because of it. That we can’t give up on an idea, especially when it’s a good cause. We went over covid issues, tech problems and hard deadlines, but we decided to keep focus on the importance of the project and continue no matter what.
Every campaign is a huge team effort. Would you like to give a special shout-out to someone else in the team for their contribution to it? This project was a complete team effort. We created a great synergy with developers, Samsung clients, NGOs, and media to create more than a campaign, a product that helps ALS patients. All of them pushed for their specific areas to make this project real.
What does it mean for you to be an ADCE Grand Prix Nominee? It’s incredible, not only for the importance of the ADCE in the ad world but also because it’s a recognition of the effort of many workers of companies and NGOs that have all put their hearts in this project.
Eurythenes Plasticus
Category: Brand Experience
Creative Directors: Christian Korntheuer and Andy Wyeth (BBDO Germany)
Favorite moment of creating this campaign. When the scientific paper on Eurythenes plasticus was published and we knew that we had made history.
Something you learned through the process or about a particular topic because of it. It may seem obvious but still it was alarming to learn that plastic waste – once it’s in the ocean – just won’t go away. Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean that it’s not there.
Every campaign is a huge team effort. Would you like to give a special shout-out to someone else in the team for their contribution to it? Our shouts go to: Christian Korntheuer and Bernd Rose for sparking the initial idea. Dr. Alan Jamieson and Johanna Weston for being patient with us and supporting our idea with their scientific knowledge and weeks of hard work. Theresa Reis at the WWF for being brave and amazingly collaborative. Kat Wyeth for convincing Dr. Alan Jamieson to help us. Hans-Christoph Schultheiss and Sehsucht for helping us to tell the story in lifelike CGI.
What does it mean for you to be an ADCE Grand Prix Nominee? It’s a great honor for us. To have an idea that’s considered the best in Europe is not only humbling but it gives this important topic a platform that we hope will soon be supported on a governmental level to make a real impact for our oceans.