Creative agency DDB wins top ad award

The staff of DDB Group Singapore and DBS Bank who worked together for the “DBS Private Bank” campaign which bagged the top Grand Prix Prize. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
The staff of DDB Group Singapore and DBS Bank who worked together for the “DBS Private Bank” campaign which bagged the top Grand Prix Prize. -- PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Creative agency DDB Group Singapore bagged top honours at one of the biggest advertising award events yesterday.

Its print advertising campaign "DBS Private Bank" - which featured handwritten notes from the bank's bosses - beat 351 other entries to the top Grand Prix award and an $8,000 cash prize.

It also helped DDB take home the Creative Agency Of The Year award.

The prizes were given out at the annual SPH iink Awards, held at the St Regis Singapore hotel last night. The annual event recognises the best ads featured in Singapore Press Holdings media channels.

Awards were given out in nine categories, including print campaign, print classified, digital and radio ads.

Winners were selected by a judging panel made up of 15 advertising veterans.

One, Mr Chris Chiu - founder of local ad firm Ren Partnership, said the DBS ads which ran in SPH newspapers The Straits Times and Business Times stood out due to their simplicity and personalised touch.

For example, one of the ads had a message handwritten by DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta which said "Every private bank says trust us. We say test us" .

Another featured a note from managing director and group head Tan Su Shan who wrote "If your private bank isn't networking for you, it's not working for you. Let's connect".

DDB associate business director Joshua Lee said his agency got DBS leaders to front the campaign as it wanted to move away from using models.

"It was a good way to instil trust in consumers by showing them who are the people managing their money," he added.

Another big winner was OMD Singapore, which was named Media Agency Of The Year.

ameltan@sph.com.sg

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