VOLVO TRUCKS’ CAMPAIGN TRIUMPHS AT WORLD’S TOUGHEST AD CONTEST – WINS COVETED BLACK PENCIL
The Live Test campaign for Volvo Trucks’ new truck range received a ‘Black Pencil’ and three ‘Yellow Pencil’ awards at the revered D&AD Awards – the world’s toughest advertising competition. The honours are the latest accolades for the campaign which also received ‘Best in Show’ at The One Show and ‘The Black Cube’ award at the ADC Awards advertising competition.
At a ceremony held yesterday (May 22nd) in Battersea, London, Volvo Trucks’ Live Test ad campaign took home top honours at the D&AD competition including a ‘Black Pencil’ in the Online Branded Films category and ‘Yellow Pencil’ awards in the Integrated, Online Branded Films and Cinema Commercials categories. D&AD’s awards are recognised throughout the world as setting the standard for creative excellence.
Judged over five days by 200 of the world’s leading creative minds, entries at the D&AD Awards are put through three rounds of deliberation making it one of the most rigorous competitions in advertising. The Black Pencil is reserved for truly ground-breaking work within advertising and design. Each year only a few entries are awarded with the prize, if any.
“The strong competition and thorough judging process make D&AD’s Black and Yellow Pencil awards among the most difficult prizes to win in advertising, so we are naturally delighted that they decided to honour the campaign in this way,” said Amanda Hiatt, Marketing Communications and PR Director for Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland.
The campaign includes six Live Test videos for YouTube, which demonstrate innovative features in Volvo Trucks’ new truck range in different spectacular ways, but also a range of other material to support the campaign, including print ads and an interactive website. In total, the campaign has been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube.
“The truck industry is not usually represented at events like this, so that makes this win doubly exciting. It shows that the Live Test campaign really was successful. Through it we have been able to reach and engage not only truck drivers and our customers, but everyone else as well,” added Amanda Hiatt.
On 9th May the campaign won nine ‘Pencil’ awards including six golds and the ‘Best in Show’ prize at The One Show in New York. This year the campaign has also won eighteen awards in the ad competition New York Festival and three ‘Golden Egg’ awards at the Golden Egg gala, a top Swedish advertising competition. The campaign also earned the prestigious ‘Black Cube’ award at the ADC Awards in Miami, another prestigious global ad competition.
“When surveyed, nearly half of the truck buyers who have seen the live test films indicate that they would be more likely to choose a Volvo the next time they buy a new truck. For us this is another strong sign that the campaign has been successful,” says Per Nilsson, Director Public Relations at Volvo Trucks.
