Like the previous 21, the 22nd John Caples International Awards presentation on Feb. 24 had its share of surprises. Among them were the choices of some first-place winners and the shadow of the death of a young and promising Caples winner.
The sad note came from the death of Ben Guice, a copywriter for Clemenger Direct Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia, who was hit and killed by a car about a month before his agency was notified that two of his entries were Caples winners. Guice and his agency took third place in the Collateral/Alternative – Business, and Direct Mail Standard categories for Pacific Access and Telstra, respectively. Guice was 25, and in the last few months of his life had racked up eight marketing awards, including the 1999 Winged Messenger, presented by the Australian Postal Service for the most creative use of direct mail.
And now, the other Caples winners. This year’s Andi Emerson Award for innovation and strategic vision went to Pam Larrick, executive vice president and North American regional director at McCann Relationship Marketing, New York. She was cited for being among the first to combine interactive and strategy-based relationship marketing, to establish an interactive unit within her agency, and to help set the trend for branded direct marketing in conjunction with telecommunications.
The Irving Wunderman Award was given to Chris Jones, creative director and founding partner of Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel, London. This is the first time the award has been given to an art director/designer as well as someone from outside the United States, according to the Caples committee. Jones was cited for an outstanding body of work over the course of two decades.
Dialogue Marketing Communications, Dublin, Ireland, took the Max Sackheim Best in Show for its “Touchstone – Hello? Erm…Yes” campaign for Telecom Eireann. Des Columb was listed for copy and creative director, Stephen Doogan for art and Frank Byrne for production. The entry was also the first-place winner in the Direct Mail Standard – Business category.
No Frills Funerals took the Courageous Client Award with a campaign titled “Ash Brochure.” A first-place winner in the Direct Mail Dimensional – Business category, the campaign was created by Saatchi & Saatchi, The Flocks, Australia. The creative director was Michael Newman. Copy was by Jay Furby and art by Steve Carlin.
The Caples have long been notorious for categories with no first-place winners and a slew of winners placing third. This year, there were two ties for first place.
One tie was in the Television – Consumer category. Both entries came from OgilvyOne, New York, and both were for Ameritrade Online Brokerage. The winners were “Language School” and “Let’s Light This Candle.” OgilvyOne’s team included Bruce Lee, creative director; Todd Heyman, copy; and Julie Lam, art.
The same team’s “Tales of Ameritrade” campaign took a first in the Campaign/Single Medium – Consumer category.
The other tie was in Direct Mail Standard – Consumer. Creative director Carol Worthington Levy’s “Cars Prepare for Extinction” campaign for American Isuzu Motors included copy by Otis Maxwell and art by John Espinoza and Robert McKim. The agency was M/S Database Marketing, Los Angeles. The other winner was the ubiquitous first-placer, The Martin Agency, Richmond, VA, for “Wanderlust” for Saab Cars USA. Creative director Kerry Feuerman’s team included Randy Belcher and Gary Herman for copy and Constance Eisele and Aurica Green for art.
DP&A, London, took first place in the Electronic Interactive – Consumer category for “Wildfire.” (For more on the campaign, see DIRECT, Sept. 15, 1999). The campaign for Orange PLC was developed by Dan Douglass, creative director; Lou Hart, copy and Andy Glynn, art. Orange and DP&A also won a first for Direct Mail Retention – Consumer with “Let’s Do Lunch.”
The first-place winner for Print – Consumer went to Mammotome Breast Biopsy/Ethicon Endo-Surgery for “Tiny Breakthrough” from McCann Relationship Marketing. Richard Eber was the creative director. John Stenhardt wrote the copy and Herb Passberger provided art.
McCann also took a first for its pro bono campaign for the 1999 Echo Awards Call for Entry, which may be one of the few times one awards group awarded the campaign of another awards group. The category was Campaign/Multimedia – Business, and Eber and Passberger were supported with copy by Larry Laiken and Gary Scheiner.
A Chevrolet campaign called “Chevrolet Corvette Conversations” took first place in Direct Mail Dimensional – Consumer. The team from Campbell-Ewald, Warren, MI, included copywriter Anne Moore and artist Joe Pas. Moore and Sue Logar were creative directors.
The Shop-o-Matic Holiday Catalog for Levi Strauss & Co. took a first in Direct Mail Catalog – Consumer for Miller/Huber Relationship Marketing, San Francisco. Paul Huber was creative director. Copy was written by Alexandra Tyler and art was created by Don Lucchesi.
An FCB Direct campaign, “Will to Win Athlete Program,” won a first in Collateral/Alternative – Consumer. The team from the Chicago shop included Ken Muir, creative director; Dan Von Der Embse, copy; and Mark Myers, art.
FCB also scored a first in Campaign/Single Medium – Business with the “Blue Highway” campaign for Goodyear Card; SPS Payment Systems. The winning team here was Derek Moore, creative director; Pam Spence, copy; and Cory Kammer, art.
The final first-place winner was Barraclough Hall Woolston Gray, London, for Direct Mail Standard – Business/Nonprofit. The campaign for Persil & BHWG Fundraising for Comic Relief was called “Paint the Town Red.” Chris Lapham provided copy and Debbie James, art. Nick Moore was creative director.
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