The only Canadian agency to be recognized at this year’s International AME (Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness) awards held in New York, DDB took home one of only three Regional Platinum prizes, as well a few Medallions.

The agency won the judges votes for its work on the “Canada. Keep Exploring.” campaign for the Canadian Tourism Commission, taking home the Platinum award (North America) as well as a Gold and Silver Medallion. The campaign revolved around consumer participation, asking Canucks to document their travels around Canada to be used in marketing material to promote the country.

The program resulted in a boost in the Canada brand and the reversal of a decline in international visitation to Canada.

The agency’s digital arm, Tribal DDB Vancouver was also applauded for its social media work for Best Buy Canada, earning a Bronze Medallion for the “Pass the Present” Facebook app. For this, the brand put a “modern twist on the classic game,” inviting people to pass a virtual present to their loved ones during the holiday season for the chance to win all 13 of Best Buy’s hot list gifts.

Other big winners of the night included Tribal DDB Germany, winning the AME Grand Award and AME Regional Platinum Award (Europe) for its “Don’t Make Up and Drive” campaign for client Volkswagen AG. The campaign demonstrated the dangers of applying make-up while on the road by showing a tutorial by online make-up star Nikkie go horribly wrong when her car suddenly crashes.

The 2013 AME Awards gave out a total of 17 Gold prizes, 20 Silver and 23 Bronze to entries received from 27 countries around the world. According to a release on the winners, “celebrity-focused brand interaction” as well as “contests where the consumer or the ideas would be the star” were prominent trends in the entries submitted this year.