BBDO Canada wins Agency of the Year at The One Show

BBDO Canada was the big winner at this year’s One Show, being recognized as Agency of the Year for its work correcting a cultural narrative that has been contributing to the injustices facing Indigenous people.

In addition to 14 Pencil wins last week, the agency’s “Missing Matoaka” campaign also won Best of Discipline in the Experiential & Immersive and Radio & Audio categories at the final event of 2023 Creative Week of Friday, the best results among all agencies this year.

The campaign, created for Muskrat Magazine, aimed to more accurately tell the story of Matoaka, the girl more commonly referred to in history and culture as Pocahontas. It involved creating an alternative audio track for the animated film that corrected romanticized depictions of Pocahontas that has shaped false narratives about Indigenous women and obstructed real-world events and harms, such as the Highway of Tears or the fact that Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than any other demographic group.

TA2 Sound+Music, which worked with BBDO on the campaign, was also recognized as Music & Sound Company of the Year.

Another big winner was Performance Art, which was recognized with Best in Interactive & Mobile Craft for Black & Abroad’s “Black Elevation Map.” The campaign involved the creation of an interactive map that visualized over 330 million points of data on population distribution, Black-owned businesses and cultural institutions. The map helped deliver on Black & Abroad’s goal of curating Black-centric travel experiences, while also giving travellers a tool to help them support Black-owned businesses and attractions while on their journeys. The campaign also won three Gold, two Silver and two Bronze Pencils.

FCB Toronto was one of two winners given this year’s Penta Pencil, awarded to the agency and brand who have created outstanding creative work for the last five years. The agency was recognized for its work with the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, which has aimed to break stereotypes about people with Down syndrome and educate the public about how they live their lives. Over the years, campaigns have included efforts towards answering parents’ most-searched questions, correcting people who say “sorry” to new parents of children with Down syndrome, working with Google to revamp voice algorithms to better recognize those with atypical speech and launching a global study to investigate the benefits of excercise for people with Down syndrome, a historically under-researched area.

“‘Never Finished’ brands are built through partnerships where we and our clients can be brave together,” says Shelley Brown, FCB’s chief strategy officer, referring to the agency’s creative philosophy. “Our relationship with CDSS is built on trust and respect, with a shared ambition to push the boundaries of typical disability advocacy work. We have never lost sight of the fact that the true experts are the people living with Down syndrome themselves. The end result is bold, impactful work that empowers a community to create lasting change. Awards like the Penta Pencil matter because they set the standard for great, long-term work. Great ideas deserve to be famous. And the clients and agencies that made them deserve to be famous too. Awards make it easier for both clients and agencies to attract, and retain, the best talent. So, we can go on creating amazingly impactful work.”

The other Penta Pencil was given to VML&YR Kansas City, along with Spark Foundry New York and Ketchum Chicago, for their ongoing work with Wendy’s in the U.S.

Elsewhere at the show, Apple was awarded Best in Show for its campaign “The Greatest.” The tech company’s in-house agency, which created the accessibility-focused campaign, was recognized as In-House Agency of the Year, while Apple itself won Brand of the Year. Ogilvy won Network of the Year, while BBDO parent company Omnicom won Creative Holding Company of the Year.