Iggy Pop Orcon ads score NZers top award

TOP HONOURS: Iggy Pop's global internet jam session for Orcon has helped a Kiwi ad company score a top award.

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Television ads which featured rock legend Iggy Pop leading a band of Kiwis via a live internet link from the US have pulled in a prestigious Grand Prix Award for direct marketing at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France.

Independent Auckland advertising agency Special Group was responsible for the musical collaboration which appeared on television and laptop screens late last year to promote internet provider Orcon.

Special's creative director Tony Bradbourne says the award "exceeds all we'd ever wished for".

"It's funny because you think winning a gold at Cannes would be fantastic, but you don't really think about winning the Grand Prix because basically that means it's judged to be the very best piece of work in the entire world."

He says the event is the advertising equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival and only four other Kiwi campaigns have ever won Grand Prix Awards before. The category had over 1500 entries from around the world.

The "Together Incredible" campaign sought to demonstrate the power of Orcon's broadband network and succeeded in getting huge exposure online and through the news media.

It also picked up a gold award in the same category and two bronze awards in the Promo & Activation category.

Bradbourne says he had heard people were "dancing in the aisles" at the presentation.

His team opted not to travel to Cannes because the relatively small agency has too much work on the go at home.

"We've got a couple of pitches this week and a lot of big campaigns we're trying to get out there and a big new TV campaign we're finishing up tomorrow. We're really just heads down concentrating on business at the moment."

Special Group also picked up a swathe of awards for the campaign at the local Axis Awards in March.

The campaign is up for further awards in the integrated advertising category later this week.

- © Fairfax NZ News