The finalists in Strategy’s 1998 Agency of the Year competition were asked to submit five advertising ideas representing work done for five different clients.

The five ideas could be anything the agencies wished to include – from a single, selected item such as a television commercial to a full-fledged campaign in multiple media. The only restriction was that the work had to have appeared for the first time at some point during the 12-month period from Oct. 1, 1997 to Sept. 30, 1998.

The strategic and creative judging panels were both asked to evaluate the product of each agency as a body of work. Their judgments were to be made on the basis of an agency’s ability to work in different product categories and in different media – that is, on the basis of both versatility and consistency.

On these pages appear brief summaries of the submissions from all 10 competing agencies.

AMMIRATI PURIS LINTAS

1. Labatt Blue

‘Blue, Labatt’s flagship brand for more than 30 years, needed to be revitalized and made relevant to youth.

‘We began by exploring ways to capture the ultimate beer category benefit: fun. Research revealed that, to our consumer, the best kind of fun is spontaneous fun. Out of this came the brand strategy – ‘A whole lot can happen out of the Blue.’

‘The entire Labatt company embraced the new campaign. ‘Out of the Blue’ has evolved beyond advertising, and is now rooted in the Labatt corporate culture.’

2. John Labatt Classic

‘John Labatt Classic was increasingly trapped between microbrews, imports and mainstream beers.

‘As premium beers go, Classic was seen to be more approachable and genuine. This presented a unique opportunity to marry the virtues of a premium beer with the unpretentiousness of a mainstream. The print campaign positions Classic as a beer to celebrate everyday triumphs.

‘Despite competition from well-entrenched micros and trendy imports, John Labatt Classic remains the number one domestic premium beer in Canada.’

3. CI Mutual Funds

‘How can you stand out in a category where everyone is promising either prosperity, safety or both?

‘For CI Mutual Funds, the distinctive strategy we settled upon was ‘No Regrets.’ The idea is that we all have done some things in life that we regret – but our financial planning shouldn’t be one of them.

‘The first tv script featured an older woman recounting her regrets about the men in her life. The board was sent to production houses for quotes, where it was seen by world-renowned British director Tony Kaye. He was enamoured by the concept, and wanted to shoot the commercial, which he did.’

4. Habitrol

‘Nicotine patches were first launched in Canada as a prescription product in 1992. Most provinces now permit patches to be sold over the counter.

‘We found during research that today’s skeptical, socially ostracized smokers needed to be spoken to in a very special manner. We had to talk to them from a smoker’s point of view, and our voice had to convey that we understood the difficulty of their struggle to quit. Moreover, we had to demonstrate substantively the benefit of the patches within the context of a complete support system, recognizing that this would be a lifelong journey, not just a quick fix.’

5. Compaq Canada

‘The world of high technology is viciously competitive. When you’re Compaq, the world’s leading pc manufacturer, you become everyone’s target.

‘Given Compaq’s positioning as the maker of user-friendly products, its advertising had to translate complex technology and terminology into a consistent, approachable corporate personality.

‘The advertising for Compaq has made the company’s complex product story accessible, thus providing consumers with a strong, rational reason for consideration. By the end of the first quarter of 1998, Compaq Canada had achieved an impressive milestone – clear leadership of the pc market in Canada.’

BBDO CANADA

1. Pepsi-Cola Canada

‘In 1998, we opened two ‘fronts’ against Coke. Our arsenal included Coke’s traditional cola rival, Pepsi, and the original cola alternative, 7Up.

‘Positioned as the cola choice of GenerationNEXT, Pepsi was used to capture teens into the Pepsico franchise. The creative was based on the strategic idea that the spirit of youth is all about the freedom to choose.

‘Historically, 7Up had been positioned as the alternative to our competitor’s mainstream cola. However, in recent years, the brand had become a bit staid and mellow. We believed that a fresh reinforcement of its ‘maverick’ relevance was needed.’

2. Molson Breweries

‘How do you advertise a brand of beer without alienating its drinkers, who see advertising as little more than bovine fecal matter?

‘That was our challenge with Rickard’s Red in bottles. The brand enjoyed a wide and loyal following as a draught beer in Ontario pubs. It had the status of a ‘discovery’ or word-of-mouth brand. The absence of any real advertising was actually a strong image attribute among its drinkers.

‘That said, we knew we had a strong product story to tell. The key was to frame the message so we didn’t defile the brand’s self-effacing, non-advertising personality.’

3. Federal Express Canada

‘Increasing parity among products and messages was forcing the three major players in the courier shipping industry toward a bland homogeneity, with price as the only real differentiator.

‘FedEx’s strength has always been its superior reliability – an issue of overriding importance for small business managers. In their minds, they are their business, and every package they send out is a direct extension of their reputation.

‘In re-establishing reliability as the key measure in choosing a courier, we set out to cast the brand in a more human light. Rather than measure reliability in terms of planes, trucks and systems, we focused on the character of the delivery guy on whom our customers depend.’

4. Campbell Soup

”One more bowl’ became the clarion call at Campbell’s late last year: If we could only get Canadians to consume one more bowl of soup a year, we would realize huge volume gains.

‘We needed a campaign that would communicate the benefit of Campbell’s Red & White line both as a soup and as an ingredient, in addition to offering the flexibility to carry both equity-building and ‘new news’ messages.

‘Through the planning process, we learned that r&w ‘fills empty places’ both emotionally and rationally. From this insight, we devised a multi-faceted campaign that addressed each of our challenges.’

5. Chrysler Canada

‘Family life in Canada changed forever when Chrysler invented the minivan in 1984.

‘Today, a new dynamic is looming in the market. Increasingly, owners view their minivan as an unsexy necessity. And, as the boomer generation ages, there are fewer new families coming along.

‘We needed to find new ways to persuade people about Chrysler minivans. Our strategy is three-pronged: 1) Keep talking to growing, young families; 2) Soften the stigma of owning a minivan for fathers by positioning the vehicle as a kind of status symbol; 3) Create room for existing owners to stay and new buyers to enter the category by demonstrating how the need to carry things doesn’t end when the kids leave home.

‘In other words, sooner or later everybody needs a minivan.’

COSSETTE COMMUNICATION-MARKETING

1. Nike

‘The Nike Air Minot, the world’s first high-performance winter running shoe, is geared toward the guys who are actually out there running in January, while the posers are inside eating junk food.

‘These guys see most Nike products as trendy and not for them. So how do you break this perception? We did it by positioning the Air Minot in a way that would let the consumers know that Nike really understands them – with an outdoor campaign that embodied the passion of the true hardcore Canadian runner.’

2. Dairy Farmers of Canada

‘Over the years, the creative strategy for butter has been to portray it as a taste-enhancer. Today, however, most Canadian households have both butter and margarine in their fridges. The present strategy, therefore, is to acknowledge the presence of margarine, while reminding our core target why they should choose butter.

‘Strategically, we introduced a comparative element to the campaign. Because consumers believe that the taste of margarine has improved, we need to keep margarine at bay by reinforcing butter as the best-tasting spread.’

3. Bell Mobility

‘The fight for market share in the wireless world is intensifying. Our challenge: to break through the clutter and differentiate ourselves from our competition. We needed to demonstrate that Bell Mobility uniquely understands the many different needs of consumers, and can provide wireless solutions to divergent users – businesses, moms and teens, to name a few. All executions are built around our strategic platform of providing solutions that allow our customers to work better and live smarter.’

4. Saturn

‘Saturn’s overall strategy is to create a company personality unlike that of any auto manufacturer – friendly, human, honest, understated, intelligent and dependable. The Saturn communications philosophy is simply to hold a mirror to the company and the product, reflecting back all those positive attributes.’

5. Canadian Mental Health Association

‘People in our society who have experienced mental illness are often met with prejudice and ignorance. A stigma surrounds mental illness – and those of us who perpetuate this stigma are reluctant even to acknowledge its existence. We like to think we treat all people equally.

‘The strategy behind the advertising for the cmha was: (a) to address this stigma head-on, by demonstrating how our perception of people can change once we discover they have a mental illness, and (b) to show that having a mental illness isn’t a life sentence; there is hope.’

LEO BURNETT

1. Trimark Investment Management

‘There are few categories as clogged and cluttered with advertisers as mutual funds. Our first challenge with Trimark was to break through. But we also needed a motivating message that would differentiate Trimark from the rest. To this end, we decided to reshape and restate the brand’s essence. The new campaign uses visual analogies to demonstrate the benefits of the Trimark ‘way’, taking common-sense truths and applying them to investing in a bold and entertaining fashion.’

2. Kellogg Canada

‘Kellogg’s has been at the core of children’s breakfasts for almost a century. Recently, the company has made children’s growth and development a corporate priority.

‘The ‘We the Children’ commercial communicates a core philosophy of Kellogg – one founded on the notion that kids need emotional as well as physical nourishment. It is a philosophy closely matching that of the target audience. The surprise is that the message is delivered via a toddler – a charming and disarming way to connect with parents watching tv.’

3. Pillsbury Canada

‘Pizza, in all its forms, is the utopian teen food – it’s filling, it’s tasty and it’s messy. We’ve appropriated these benefits for the Pizza Pops brand, ‘romancing’ the fact that the product is jam-packed with the stuff teenage boys find appealing. The campaign we developed two years ago firmly entrenched the brand as the one that delivers ‘more stuff’ (by using side-by-side comparisons with the competition). This year, we’ve moved away from comparisons, but retained outlandish demonstrations of how much delicious stuff is present in a Pizza Pop.’

4. Visa Canada

‘The task for advertising was to predispose current regular card owners toward a Visa Gold Card, while reassuring existing owners that they’d made the right choice. The approach had to be ‘corporate,’ since every Gold card offered by a participating Visa financial institution has different functional benefits.

‘We found emotion to be a key selling point in the acquisition of gold cards. There is a widely held belief that the cards are a public signal that one has achieved a certain prestigious status. We appropriated the central benefit of the category for the Visa brand, by communicating the message in the brand’s tone of voice – aspirational, yet attainable.’

5. Cadbury Chocolate Canada

‘The Fusion bar’s uniqueness lies in the juxtaposition of caramel and crisps, which come together to form a new and distinctive texture/taste delivery. ‘Surprising combination’ was the brand’s essence, and our advertising approach had to nourish and energize that essence. To that end, we created a ‘spokesperson’ who represented an equally unusual combination to pitch the bar.’

MACLAREN MCCANN

1. GMC Sierra

‘In research, we learned there were remarkable perceptual differences between gmc and Chev trucks. In gmc, consumers saw a higher level of product, and a more aspirational driver. While Chev was associated with the regular working man, gmc was the foreman’s truck.

‘The improvements to the new Sierra weren’t significant enough on their own to sound like a big deal to consumers. But by leveraging the ‘foreman’s truck’ equity in the gmc brand, we could credibly lay claim to having introduced the new benchmark in pickups.’

2. Durex Condoms

‘While a big brand in other parts of the world, Durex was unknown in Canada. The mission: make it big here, too. (Who said size doesn’t matter?)

‘Over time, condoms had become synonymous with sermons about avoiding risk. Our research, however, found that consumers were tired of the preaching; they got the message. It was time for sex to be fun again.

‘Rather than preach about risks, Durex would be the brand that celebrated sex. It would infiltrate the social urban culture, in a manner designed to reinforce the contemporary mindset that the brand hoped to own.’

3. Molson Canadian

‘Over the years, Molson Canadian’s advertising has helped the brand become the top-selling beer in the country. So what do you do next?

‘Our research into the hearts and minds of young adults was beginning to reveal a new attitude. We knew they were proud to be Canadian. But now we were discovering a new Canadian confidence. By championing this confidence, Molson Canadian could enhance its spiritual bond with them.’

4. Turtles

‘Turtles had lost a lot of the top-of-mind awareness it once enjoyed, when it dominated the airwaves of Christmases past with the memorable ‘I love Turtles’ jingle campaign. (Everybody together now: ‘Turtles, Turtles, rah rah rah. Mmmm, I love Turtles.’)

‘We learned, however, that desire for the brand was easily rekindled. In fact, it wasn’t even necessary to show the product to prompt desire for it.

‘The brand’s historic advertising still played in the target’s mind. (You remembered it, right?) By leveraging this equity in a new and unique way, we could make our message resonate loudly.’

5. National Post

‘Here’s something that doesn’t happen every day. You get to launch Canada’s first new national daily newspaper in 154 years.

‘The research told us that, without any advertising at all, the public already had begun to form opinions about the new national daily. Unfortunately, consumers had distorted views of what the paper might be like.

‘We needed to reposition a product that had not even hit the market yet. The advertising had to do more than just announce that the paper was coming – it needed to help people understand the kind of paper it was going to be and to pique their interest in discovering it when it arrived.’

OGILVY & MATHER

1. Pond’s

‘Bioré had successfully launched nose strips in 1997. Pond’s wanted to take a bite out of Bioré’s territory. Among teens, however, Pond’s was perceived to be a brand for older women.

‘Listening to girls in the 15-17 target helped us talk to them in their own language. They don’t like crap on their skin, so we showed them how to ‘strip away crap.’ Learning that they aren’t big tv watchers helped us decide where else to talk to them: the subway, clubs and cafés, restaurant washrooms. We wanted to get into girls’ faces, literally. And we did.’

2. Timex Canada

‘In 1996, Timex launched a successful television and print campaign that showed the distinctive Indiglo nightlight feature as a blue dot tracking the motion of Canada’s Olympic athletes in the performance of their events.

‘The goal now was to further increase awareness, and to make consumers see Timex Indiglo as the perfect Christmas gift. We suspected that the Blue Dot could continue to burn for some time to come. So the style and character of the advertising remained the same – only the cast changed. In tv, we put Indiglo nightlights on Santa’s reindeer. In print, we added the spins of Karen Kain and the guitar strums of Stompin’ Tom Connors to the sweeping arm of speed skater Nathalie Lambert.’

3. Zellers

‘For 57 years, no one could beat the prices or the value of Zellers. Until Wal-Mart arrived.

‘Zellers has traditionally skewed to women, but like most department stores, has tried to be all things to all people. The key to reinventing Zellers lies in taking dead aim against their best customer: Mom.

‘The advertising had to say more than just ‘Zellers is Mom’s store.’ It had to develop an emotional link demonstrating Zellers’ understanding and commitment to her. That link? Relief. To those who do the job of Mom, Zellers is relief.’

4. Midas Canada

‘While Midas offers full-service car care, car owners continue to see it as a muffler place.

‘Ultimately, the car repair business is about trust. Car owners are suspicious of mechanics they don’t know. So the advertising was designed to appeal on a grassroots level, by depicting the community foundation of Midas shop owners; it turns them into neighbours who offer friendly service.

‘These commercials tell small-town stories, but because of the many places Midas operates, the message is a national one.’

5. Robin Hood Multi-Foods

‘At any given time, 91% of Canadians will have all-purpose flour in their pantries. Most people see no need for specialty flours.

‘It was into this environment that Robin Hood introduced its line of Best For…Flours: Best For Bread in 1997, Best For Cake & Pastry in 1998.

‘This year we’ve faced the tough task of continuing the growth of Best For Bread, and introducing Best For Cake & Pastry. As the campaign has evolved, we have found charming new ways of demonstrating the benefits of higher-rising breads and cakes.’

PALMER JARVIS DDB

1. Richmond Savings Credit Union

‘Over the past few years, Humungous Bank has become part of the vernacular in b.c.

‘Research told us that despite all their rhetoric to the contrary, the big banks had made few inroads in improved service perceptions. And for many customers, the recent mergers would lead to even worse service levels.

‘Our strategy was to take advantage of this mounting frustration, while at the same time offering an easy solution. The campaign focuses on big bank customers who have actually left Humungous Bank, and are liberated by the experience.’

2. Dominion

‘Our campaign for Dominion is first and foremost factual – every tv spot, for instance, is crammed with ‘fresh facts,’ revealing areas where Dominion has a unique freshness advantage. Humour is used to make these facts memorable.

‘This was never just an ad campaign, though. Every aspect of the brand communications was redesigned to fit with the freshness focus, from price labels to washroom signs. The advertising was used to set a standard for internal store performance.’

3. A-Wear

‘Our consumer has a complex relationship with fashion.

‘They read Harper’s Bazaar and Details religiously, and can instantly tell a Gucci from a Prada. Yet they also recognize that fashion – and fashion advertising in particular – can be ridiculous. Our campaign addresses this contradictory attitude head-on, simultaneously mocking and celebrating high fashion.’

4. TV12

‘Research consistently shows that people tune into shows, not stations. So doing a generic image campaign for TV12 was ruled out – we needed to build audiences for specific shows and create a five-day-a-week viewing habit.

‘The creative is unusual in that it admits what our audience already knows – that much of our programming is light and mindless. TV12 offers guilty pleasures and is proud of it.’

5. Pacific Press

‘Informal research showed that media people tend to give trade ads a cursory look at best.

‘The series of ads we created for Strategy and Marketing were intended to signal a new era at Pacific Press, and to start building relationships with the Toronto ad community. Light on information and heavy on humour and attitude, they made a simple point: There’s a new attitude at Pacific Press, with new presses, editorial content and circulation numbers to go with it.’

ROCHE MACAULAY & PARTNERS

1. Eaton’s

‘The advertising that we developed for Eaton’s in 1997 was designed to re-earn consumer faith with the promise of a change to come. This year, we had to stop promising change, and begin demonstrating it.

‘The future lay in positioning Eaton’s as the fashion destination in Canada. Two major multi-media campaigns were created. The first, with its theme ‘Times have changed,’ was aimed at women. Our focus was on proving that Eaton’s is no longer the store where only our parents and grandparents shop.

‘The second effort is for a new store-within-a-store called diversity, which caters to young adults. Research into this age group revealed the ‘tribal’ nature of their peer groups. All of these tribes are very accepting of one another – and we tried to capture that spirit.’

2. Mercedes-Benz Canada

‘In 1998, Mercedes-Benz faced the ongoing task of making its marque more accessible.

‘Aggressive sales targets for the entry-level C-Class led to a multi-media approach, in order to deliver the reach and frequency necessary to interest our largest potential audience in an ‘affordable Mercedes-Benz.’

‘With the top-of-the-line S-Class, the job was to build and maintain interest in one of the world’s finest sedans, without contributing to the ‘snootiness’ often linked with the brand. The desire to own this car had to be rooted in the engineering and quality of the drive.

‘The job of launching the new M-Class sport utility vehicle posed the opposite challenge: Consumers had to be assured that this was, first and foremost, a Mercedes-Benz. Our goal was to raise the bar of expectation within the sport utility category.’

3. The Sony store

‘The Sony store chain is in a challenging position, in that its competitors are some of Sony’s best wholesale customers. To protect those relationships, the Sony store cannot compete in a predatory way. Our task was to help map out a strategy that would allow it to compete on a basis other than price, while taking a leadership role in a cluttered, confusing-to-the-customer category.

‘The proposition is a retail ‘experience’ unique to the consumer electronics marketplace: a venue to see, hear and touch the latest electronic innovations in a warm and comfortable environment, with knowledgeable, low-pressure sales associates and the widest selection of Sony product available anywhere. The tag line ‘It’s not just a store. It’s a Sony’ leverages positive perceptions of the mother brand, and portrays the store as yet another in a long line of Sony innovations.’

4. Reebok Canada

‘The athletic footwear business has long been a balancing act between fashion statement and technological innovation.

‘Launched in 1997, Reebok’s DMX 10 represented the first true advance in air cushioning technology since Nike’s Zoom Air. In 1998, Reebok followed up with the DMX 6, intended as both athletic wear and street wear. Research with teenagers, the group who would buy the shoe for fashion, revealed that they use technology as a rationalization for purchase. Promoting dmx on the basis of advanced technology alone, we created an innovative cinema spot centred on a dramatic product demonstration.

‘In contrast to the dmx, the Reebok Classic line is about fashion. Our task here was to launch Classic into the Vancouver market, with the core message that ‘Classic is cool.’ Of course, since nobody wants a corporation telling them what’s cool, the advertising had to take a less direct route, building a relationship with the target by proving that the brand understands where they’re coming from.’

5. Standard Broadcasting

‘Canadians are listening to less radio. Standard Broadcasting, owner of Toronto’s Mix 99.9 and cfrb, faces a dual challenge. With more stations chasing fewer listeners, how do two very different stations, targeted to different audiences, keep growing their ratings in key demographic segments?

‘The Mix positions itself as a reinvention of the Adult Contemporary format. Advertising for the station works in two ways. An image campaign is used to put a contemporary spin on the time-honoured ‘something for everyone’ strategy, while a promotional campaign drives trial of the station by giving listeners an immediate reason to tune in.

‘cfrb continues to dominate the talk format in Toronto. Advertising helps defend that position by communicating cfrb’s two great strengths: giving immediate coverage of today’s events and providing a platform for listeners to express their point of view on those events.’

TAXI ADVERTISING & DESIGN

1. Salon Selectives

‘There’s a general sentiment among consumers that hair care ads are all the same. More hair. More promises.

‘That’s why on Salon Selectives, we went inside the heads of our loyal followers. With 32 different mix-and-match product skus, Salon Selectives puts the woman in control, letting her customize her hair style her way. And the brand made an even stronger connection with women when we revealed their other customization fantasies.’

2. Covenant House

‘Our job was to get people to see beyond negative stereotypes, and feel the loneliness, despair and helplessness of street kids.

‘Since most of us had it pretty good growing up, our idea of ‘hardship’ tends to be pretty trivial compared to the daily agonies endured by street kids. By juxtaposing these everyday worries with the real tragedies street kids face, the Covenant House campaign puts a new and motivating perspective on why we should help them.’

3. Clearnet PCS Phones

‘Clearnet PCS was the fourth entry in the fiercely competitive wireless communications market in 1997. In the first year, our objective was to remove the complexities and perceived barriers to owning a wireless phone, by positioning Clearnet as the affordable, user-friendly service provider.

‘In year two, the race intensified, with competitors leveling the playing field on many features, basic offers and prices. To compete in this new arena, we advanced by focusing on the most competitive aspects of our offering, without compromising our personality-rich approach.’

4. Mike

‘Since its launch into the business world two years ago, Mike has become the perfect wireless communication tool for people who work in groups. As Mike became more entrenched in the on-the-road-and-in-the-trenches blue collar work force, our next opportunity was to expand the business base by moving up the scale of sophistication to white collar professionals. To this end, Mike was positioned as the ultimate ‘toy for boys’ – the cool tool for intelligent power players and technology junkies.’

5. WonderBra Silky Resistance Pantyhose

‘Last year, WonderBra ran a transit campaign featuring Silky Resistance. The campaign communicated the product benefit – run-resistant pantyhose that can stand up to anything – in a way that captured the confidence of women. To push the impact of the campaign one step further, WonderBra launched national tv and cinema advertising to dramatize the fact that WonderBra Silky Resistance pantyhose are indeed surprisingly strong.’

TBWA CHIAT/DAY

1. Healthwatch

‘The Healthwatch brand, which unifies a number of existing Shoppers Drug Mart pharmaceutical services and products under a single, consumer-focused ‘umbrella,’ has proven itself effective in helping people cope with conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease. But we knew that the perceived value of the brand was contingent upon people realizing that such commonplace afflictions are extremely dangerous. Using startling visual analogies, we reawakened Canadians to the ever-present danger of these ailments – and conveyed how an equally potent brand has helped people manage them.’

2. Billy Graham

‘Having shattered attendance records at SkyDome two years earlier, world-renowned preacher Billy Graham called upon us once again to promote his 1998 Mission in Ottawa.

‘The mandate involved not only promoting the event to believers, but also appealing to non-believers. We used a tongue-in-cheek attitude to explore the volatile combination of religion and politics. After all, Jesus himself mingled with tax collectors, prostitutes and thieves. So Dr. Graham’s appearance in Ottawa was true to the tradition of taking God to the places where God is needed most.’

3. Panasonic Canada

‘The size and scope of Panasonic’s business makes it exceedingly complex; the consumer electronics division is actually six companies in one. We set out to establish a consistent look and tone for the advertising, so that consumers would begin to see the Panasonic ‘personality’ through its individual products. Taken all together, it made a single statement: Panasonic is a modern company dedicated to product innovation that lets you have fun.’

4. Nokia

‘While demand for cell phones is rapidly growing, the hardware has become reduced to a disposable commodity. Research showed that consumers were increasingly indifferent to brands of cell phone.

‘The challenge for Nokia was to make the features of their phones relevant to this increasingly diverse user. At the same time, we had to create advertising that explored the notion that Nokia cellular phones complement one’s individuality. The strength of the campaign was achieved by leveraging product features in the context of user individuality.’

5. Nissan Canada

‘Our sister office in l.a. created Nissan’s ‘Life is a Journey – Enjoy the Ride’ brand campaign for use across North America. The advertising was designed to build empathy for the brand by entertaining people.

‘As the campaign entered its second year, the u.s. abandoned the approach, and we would no longer have the luxury of u.s.-produced material. For us, however, this was also an opportunity.

‘We were determined to maintain the established brand strategy in tandem with strong product and retail messages. The end result is a campaign that complements the existing brand work seamlessly, while adding a whole new retail dimension.’

Also in this report:

– Roche Macaulay claims Strategy’s Agency of the Year title p.B4

– Roche Macaulay: It was a very good year: With the turmoil following the Lowe merger well behind now, the agency has spent the past 12 months focusing on what it does best – great advertising p.B24

– BBDO comes up smelling like roses: Despite some rocky moments in 1998, the agency is on a roll, with choice new accounts and new chief creative officer p.B31

– Palmer Jarvis keeps it humble: Canada’s top creative shop spreads the credit around p.B31

– The Strategic Judges p.B46

– The Creative Judges p.B47

– The Process p.B50

– Breakdown by Panel p.B50

– Previous Winners p.B51