Awarding Outstanding Ideas in Advertising, Digital, Events.

The Golden Award of Montreux only hands out Gold prizes – there are no silvers or bronzes – because only the best work shines through, and this year’s Ad of the Year was presented to the CANAL+ commercial, ‘The Secret of Wakany‘. Created by BETC Paris and directed by Partizan’s Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, a brilliantly humorous take on TV shows with disappointing endings.

Also celebrated was Havas Paris’s ambient campaign ‘Anne de Gaulle’ which picked up golds in the Creative Use of Media and the Spatial Communication categories. The campaign saw the Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport renamed as Paris-Anne de Gaulle for one week last December in honor of de Gaulle‘s disabled daughter and in support of the Anne de Gaulle Foundation. It picked up its wins in the Best Use of Integrated and Temporary Brand Communication sub-categories.

In the Digital & Interactive category Serviceplan Group was also awarded two golds for its outstanding film ‘The Rift‘, for German supermarket Penny. Directed by Seb Edwards through ANORAK Film, its strong message about using words to heal the rifts in our society, instead of confrontation and ignorance, won in the Online Video and Sound Design sub-categories. Serviceplan Group was also awarded Agency of the Year for 2023, while Havas was announced as Network of the Year.

“The winners were not only entertaining and engaging but also contribute meaningfully to the culture of our times, while also driving brand growth,” said Associate Creative Director at Ogilvy Health New York, Eduardo Basque, one of this year’s jurors.

“The ad industry has immense potential to positively influence culture.“

Juror Jeannette Liendo, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications added: “I am excited to honor those who have made significant contributions to shaping our world through their exceptional work which recognizes the industry’s immense potential to positively influence culture.”

India had a successful year, with five Gold Medals, which may have come as a surprise to some, though not to juror Ajay Chandwani, Managing Committee Member at The Advertising Club India, and President & Creative Director at Percept H India. „Advertising in India is appearing in every space imaginable, from traditional billboards to handheld devices,” Chandwani commented. “As a result, India’s advertising market is the world’s fastest growing. Even in creativity, India is a rising powerhouse.“

In total 42 Gold Medals were awarded across six categories; Digital, Media, Print, Film, Design and Event, while a special focus for the Golden Award of Montreux is also the Talent Award. With more than 300 students participating from advertising and film schools in countries including the USA, the Republic of Korea, Germany, Spain and Brazil, juror Christo Kaftandjiev, Professor for Semiotics at the University of Sofia, was very impressed: “The entries were very inventive in the student category. In fact, some of the work was brilliant because it was so simple. It had us thinking, ‘why didn’t anyone think of that before?’.”

The 2023 Golden Award of Montreux jury, a collection of inspirational individuals from 20 different countries, reflects the broad field of communication. Among them are CEOs of advertising agencies, creative directors, global marketing and communication managers of international clients, and university professors.