Best TV Commercial 2010 for Saatchi & Saatchi and T-Mobile at British Arrows Advertising Awards
18 MAR 2011
Saatchi & Saatchi and T-Mobile take home Best TV Commercial of 2010 for the second year in a row at this year’s British Arrows Advertising Awards
Saatchi & Saatchi has won the top award at the BAAAs for their T-Mobile ‘Welcome Back’ campaign. The win for Best TV Commercial of the Year is a second accolade in a row for the agency and T-Mobile, winning the same award for T-Mobile ‘Dance’ at last year’s awards. Welcome Back also scooped 2 golds for Best Over 90 Second Ad and in the Telecoms Category.
The night secured a run of award wins for Saatchi and Saatchi, with PGA European tour ‘Clay Pigeon’ winning Silver in the Leisure and Tourism Category and a further two bronzes for Visa ‘Football Evolution’ in the European and the Financial Categories.
‘Welcome Back’ is the fourth iteration in the ‘Life’s for Sharing’ campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi for T-Mobile. The TV ad saw Heathrow T5 arrivals being greeted by a 300 strong crowd spontaneously bursting into song, giving the weary travellers a welcome back they would never forget.
‘Clay Pigeon’ is the second in a series of incredible golfing stunts that aim to test even the most experienced golfing pros. Four professional golfers met in the 35 degree searing heat of the desert in Dubai. Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world gave a stunning backdrop as each of the golfers attempted to hit clay pigeons that were fired through the air. The viral had zero paid-for media, but was passed on through blogs, journalist reports and word of mouth. The YouTube film currently has 1.8 million hits.
Visa 'Football Evolution' features a passionate fan who, seeing his team score at the tournament, leaps from his seat and runs the length of the entire African continent to join the celebration. The campaign saw Visa transactions rise by 70% on average by international visitors in South Africa during the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Both the T-Mobile and PGA European Tour campaigns were created by Rick Dodds and Steve Howell.
Paul Silburn, Creative Partner at Saatchi & Saatchi London says: “Oh my God I can’t believe it, we’ve never won two Commercials of the Year in a row before”
This recognition from the British Arrows follows a number of accolades for Saatchi & Saatchi’s T-Mobile work, including 10 awards in the last 2 years at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival.
Notes to editors
‘Welcome Back’s uniquely talented crowd consisted not only of ‘traditional’ singers, but of a ‘vocal orchestra’ - vocalists using their voices to recreate the sound of instruments including guitars, violins, cello, flutes and drums.
The arriving passengers were greeted personally by members of the eclectic crowd, performing songs taken from a tracklist compiled specifically for welcoming travellers back home.
The tracklist performed by singers in acapella and accompanied by the ‘vocal orchestra’, included ‘At Last’ by Etta James, ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ by Mel Torme, ‘Return of the Mack’ by Mark Morrison, ‘I am the Passenger’ by Iggy Pop and ‘I Knew You Were Waiting (for me)’ by George Michael & Aretha Franklin.
‘Dance’ was Saatchi & Saatchi London’s first advert as part of the T-Mobile ‘Life’s for Sharing’ campaign and saw 350 dancers break into a choreographed routine in Liverpool Street Station. The event was described by the Sun newspaper as ‘an epidemic of joy’.
‘Dance’ was followed up by ‘Sing-along’ and ‘Josh’s Band’, with each chapter progressively handing more control of the campaign over to fans of the brand.
With ‘Sing-along’ Saatchi & Saatchi created an event that was even more authentic than ‘Dance’, inviting people through texts, YouTube and facebook to take part in the next ‘Life’s for Sharing’ event. On the day, 13,500 people turned up at Trafalgar Square in the centre of London to belt out karaoke classics.
‘Josh’s Band’ saw Saatchi & Saatchi and T-Mobile follow the efforts of Josh, a genuine customer and amateur muscian, to create a superband with T-Mobile’s ‘Free texts for life’ offer.
‘Josh’s Band’ had social media firmly at its heart. Everyone featured in the ads were friends and acquaintances of Josh who had become involved either by receiving a text from Josh, or by getting in contact via his MySpace page or on Twitter.
For the culmination of ‘Josh’s Band’, Saatchi & Saatchi released a three minute TV commercial, which aired on the one year anniversary of ‘Dance’, bringing the Life’s for Sharing campaign full circle. The ad featured the song ‘Come with me’, written and performed by Josh’s 1107 superband members. What’s more, the song was released as a single by Universal Records.
The British Television Advertising Awards began in 1976 to recognise and reward the best television and cinema commercials made by British advertising agencies and production companies.
About Saatchi & Saatchi (SSF Group)
Saatchi & Saatchi London is known for its strength in creating Loyalty Beyond Reason for its clients’ brands, creating powerful and profitable relationships by improving the quality and quantity of conversations that take place about these brands. Saatchi & Saatchi's clients include T-Mobile, Visa, Guinness, Carlsberg, Lurpak, Wall's and Head & Shoulders.
The Saatchi & Saatchi network has 140 offices in 80 countries and 6,500 employees. Saatchi & Saatchi London is part of the SSF Group, a mini group within the Publicis Groupe that unites Saatchi & Saatchi and Fallon in the USA and the UK.
