McCann New York's "Field Trip to Mars" for Lockheed Martin, which earned 19 Cannes Lions across 11 categories last summer, won the top prize, the Grandy Award, at the 53nd International Andy Awards.
With a total of 23 Andy Awards this year, McCann Worldgroup was named Agency Network of the Year, while McCann New York was dubbed agency of the year, winning nine Andys, as well as the Grandy.
"Field Trip to Mars," created with the help of the virtual reality experts at Framestore, transported a group of kids from an ordinary school bus ride to an out-of-this-world VR experience to the Red Planet.
The Andy Awards are presented by the Ad Club of New York to recognize creative excellence in advertising.
Gina Grillo, president and CEO of The Ad Club of N.Y. and The International Andy Awards, said the show is often a predictor of what will win subsequent awards shows, not an echo of prior awards, but that "Field Trip to Mars" was so worthwhile that the jury "couldn't pass up on the opportunity to laud it once again." (The campaign also missed the deadline for the Andy Awards last year but was eligible for Cannes.)
"When a piece of work does something that is new and innovative and not only that but touches the human spirit, it has that feel of magic that 'Field Trip to Mars' has," said Grillo.
This year, the Andy Awards identified 10 campaigns and agencies that it believes could be big winners in this year's major upcoming award shows. Grillo said the show has been making such picks internally for years but has now decided to make its predictions public.
Among the 10 frontrunners, she said the theme of storytelling and the craft of direction really stood out.
The ones to keep an eye on, according to the Andy Awards, include My Mutant Brain from MJZ; Ikea's Cook This Page, Leo Burnett, Toronto; Midnight, TBWA Media Arts Lab; The Line Up song, FP7/CAI; Come Together, Adam & Eve DDB; The Box That Keeps Giving, McCann New York; Time Is Precious, Wieden & Kennedy Portland; Gravity Cat, Hakuhodo Inc./Tohokushinsha Film Corporation; Burger King Burning Stores, David; and The World's Biggest Asshole, The Martin Agency.
David Buenos Aires won the Richard T. O'Reilly Award for Outstanding Public Service for its "MANBOOBS4BOOBS" campaign for MACMA, which became the most-viewed and shared breast cancer self-examination video.
The Bravery Award, which was introduced three years ago and recognizes marketers for courageous ideas the move the industry forward, went to P&G India for "Dads #ShareTheLoad" campaign.
Top agencies walking away with multiple awards include Leo Burnett, which is walking away as the show's second largest winner with 18 Andys, and Adam&Eve DDB with 15 awards. Leo Burnett was awarded Golds for its work on Ikea's "Cook This Page" and Airbnb's "Van Gogh BnB."
