Editor’s choice: The DADI Awards 2019 calling out for the best in digital

The Drum Awards for the Digital Industries (DADI’s) is back for 2019 and we’re looking at the most effective digital strategies over the past year.

Phil Jones, founder of Podge Events will return as chair of the judging panel and his carefully selected panel of industry experts.

2018 saw winners from LADbible’s Trash Isles, Essence and OMD UK’s work with Google on the Pixel 2, the Kindred Agency for The National Crime Agency’s campaign ‘Invisible People’ and WAT Consult’s work for Project Nanhi Kali on #Powerlessqueen.

The Drum’s deputy editor, Cameron Clarke tells us what he liked about these powerful campaigns.

WATConsult and Project Nanhi Kali: Powerless Queen

WATConsult introduced the world’s first mobile chess game with a powerless queen via an app and website where visitors would play with a powerless queen (no moves allowed) against the computer which had a powerful queen.

In India, 20 million girls are denied education each year due to the deep-rooted misogyny in Indian society. WATConsult and Project Nanhi Kali took the game of Chess and rolled #PowerlessQueen, a challenge to the nation where people had to try and win. As people lost, the agency prompted users to share the message and to donate to the cause so that they can empower a girl child with an education.

“The symbolism is so strong,” says Clarke. “But it wouldn’t have made a difference without the right execution. It’s easy to get people to sympathise about an injustice, but much harder to get them to do something about it.

“That’s what makes the rigged game concept so clever. It tempts the player to participate. Then it frustrates them. And finally, it shows them what unfairness really looks like. Powerful, in every sense.”

LADbible Group, AMV BBDO and The Plastic Oceans Foundation: Trash Isles

In the North Pacific, an increasing area of plastic trash has formed to the size of France, polluting the ocean. In some places, it has become so impenetrable that it has started creating landmasses. Governments had ignored it and by 2050 it’s predicted that there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

In response, LADbible Group, AMV BBDO and The Plastic Oceans Foundation launched The Trash Isles, a major social responsibility campaign to empower young people to lobby the United Nations to acknowledge the plastic in the oceans as a country, in order to force the issue to be addressed.

As a result, 200,000 people became citizens and the campaign reached half a billion people.

“A problem as big as this – a floating island of rubbish as big as France, for god’s sake! – requires a big idea to fix it, and this one is massive,” exclaims Clarke.

“Registering all this flotsam and jetsam as a country? Ingenious. Convincing Al Gore to legitimise it? Inspired. As well as bringing mass attention to a major problem, the campaign has done wonders for LadBible’s own once trashy image. No wonder it cleaned up at all the industry award shows.”

Essence and OMD UK and Google: The Chain Google Pixel 2

Essence and OMD UK partnered up with Google to introduce The Chain, a digital chain letter. It took 10 fashion icons, 10 days, and 1 phone to document the world of fashion.

The agencies curated all of the content in real-time to publish 46 articles, three videos and a 32-page magazine. Rather than relying solely on standard media spaces, they created a new media platform entirely with the product at the centre.

“A phone’s technical features matter, but there’s something more intangible that determines whether a handset will catch on or not,” Clarke explains. “Is it cool? By that measure, Google’s devices have suffered next to Apple’s.

“This campaign, however, finally makes you think different (to borrow Apple parlance) about the Pixel range. It doesn’t just tell you that you can take some great photos with it; it shows you how people you admire are taking great photos with it. That’s the difference-maker.”

Kindred Agency and The National Crime Agency: Invisible People

Slavery in the UK, to some, might, not appear to be a major problem. It is assumed that 13,000 modern slaves exist in the UK, however, the real number is much higher. Modern slavery is ever-present in our society and is a crime where the most vulnerable humans are abused for criminal profit.

The Invisible People campaign was designed to make the unseen, seen. Reaching out to the public to teach them the signs of slavery; opening their eyes to see what they’ve been looking at for years. It literally freed people from slavery.

“You can’t do something about a problem you can’t see,” says Clarke. “Thankfully, this work does a remarkable job of bringing a harrowing hidden issue to light, and in doing so makes us all more aware of what we should be looking for.

“The best thing about it, though, is that it is delivering results – truly humbling results. This campaign has literally freed people from slavery. It deserves every bit of praise it gets.”

The DADI Awards are now open for submissions. The awards are open to digital agencies, creative agencies, media owners, in house teams or clients who work within the digital field and based anywhere in the world. Get your entries in before 21 June and receive a discounted rate on your application. These awards are sponsored by UKFast.