Listening to the Marketing Awards jury talk about BBDO’s “Parkscapes” campaign for the Regent Park School of Music, it’s easy to see why they awarded it a Public Service Best of Show title.

“We just couldn’t pick this campaign apart… that’s the crux of what wins a Grand Prix,” says Advertising juror Jenny Glover of Juniper Park/TBWA.

Before the live judging even began, co-chairs David Rosenberg of Bensimon Byrne and Lg2’s Marilou Aubin created a guide for jurors to reference in the Zoom chat when deciding what takes a Bronze (it had to be “exceptional or impactful”), a Silver (defined as a “national bar-raising idea in Canada”) and a Gold (“world-class calibre creative” worthy of recognition on the global stage).

But it was the very best of the best that had to be “something that absolutely set a new standard for the industry creatively,” says Rosenberg of “Parkscapes,” which was a “brilliant business solution applied to a pressing social issue.”

For the program, BBDO collaborated with producer Frank Dukes to compose an 11-track album with instruments and vocals by the Regent Park School of Music’s students. The agency then targeted musicians, asking them to sample tracks from the album in their own music, which resulted in royalties and residuals for the school every time the artist’s song was listened to. Taylor Swift happened to be one of those musicians.

The work also picked up three Golds, as did campaigns from agencies Rethink, FCB, Wunderman Thompson and Lg2 in the Public Service category, while Zulu Alpha Kilo and FCB/Six picked up Golds in PR.

For the first time, as a result of physical distancing due to COVID-19, Marketing Award winners were revealed in a virtual show. The chairs and some jury members shared their thoughts on this year’s portfolio of entries, followed by a reel of the winning work below.

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The full list of winners can be found on the Marketing Awards website.

Remember to check back tomorrow for the second round of winners in Advertising, which includes the Branded Content, Digital, Direct, Film, Integrated Campaign, OOH, Press, Radio and Self-Promotion categories. And in case you missed it, here are the Design, Multicultural and Craft winners that were revealed earlier this week.