Banana Balloon Shenzhen takes out Boutique Agency of the Year honours at ADC 103rd Awards: Asia awarded 4 Best of Disciplines and 22 Golds

May 15 2024, 8:00 pm | BY Kim Shaw | No Comments

Agencies, studios, and independent designers in APAC had a strong showing at the ADC 103rd Annual Awards ceremony, held this evening at Gotham Hall in New York during The One Club for Creativity’s Creative Week 2024.

 

The region is home to four prestigious ADC Best of Discipline winners this year:

• Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design: PILLS Beijing “Wu Jian’an Solo Exhibition” for Silk Road International Art Exchange Center and CAFA Art Museum
• Illustration: Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “My Japan Railway” for JR Group
• Product Design: TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc. Tokyo with Quantum Inc. Tokyo and Robot Communications Tokyo “Shellmet” for Koushi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Sarufutsu Village
• Publication Design: Weiwei Zhou Nanjing “Cuban Chinese” for Nanjing University Press

In addition, Banana Balloon Shenzhen was named ADC 103rd Annual Awards Boutique Agency of the Year, based on cumulative points for all awards won this year.

Dentsu Inc. Tokyo led APAC in ADC Gold Cube wins with eight, including five for “My Japan Railway” on behalf of JR Group.


APAC’s 22 ADC Gold Cube winners, by country/region, are as follows.

Mainland China (7 Gold Cubes)
• Banana Balloon Shenzhen with Linkfilms Shanghai “Answer Me” for Tencent/Tencent Sustainable Social Value for in Brand-Side/In-House, Design for Good – Brand-Side / In-House
• Banana Balloon Shenzhen with Linkfilms Shanghai “Answer Me” for Tencent/Tencent Sustainable Social Value for in Brand-Side/In-House, Motion / Film Craft – Direction
• Yiyao Da Changzhou “City Wanderer” self-promotion in Illustration, Personal Project – Series
• Mint Design Beijing “Matisse’s Journey Picture Book” for UCCA in Publication Design, Books – Children’s
• PILLS Beijing “Wu Jian’an Solo Exhibition” for Silk Road International Art Exchange Center and CAFA Art Museum in Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design, Exhibition Design – Museum Exhibition
• The Nine Shanghai “Magnificent” for Yotkan Ancient City in Xinjiang, China in Photography, Travel/Tourism
• Weiwei Zhou Nanjing “Cuban Chinese” for Nanjing University Press in Publication Design, Books – Limited Edition/Private Press/Special Format

Japan (12 Gold Cubes)
• Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “My Japan Railway” for JR Group in Interactive, Digital Craft – Art Direction
Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “My Japan Railway” for JR Group in Illustration, Book – Single
• Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “My Japan Railway” for JR Group, in Brand / Communication Design, Promotional – Wildcard
• Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “My Japan Railway” for JR Group in Brand / Communication Design, Branding – Branding Systems / Identities – Integrated
• Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “My Japan Railway” for JR Group in Illustration, ILT-106: Branded Identity – Series
• Dentsu Inc. Tokyo with NTT Tokyo “Project Humanity” for With ALS in Experiential Design, Innovation
• Dentsu Inc. Tokyo with Shoei Inc. Tokyo and Woil Inc. Tokyo “Reach for the Summit” for The Hokkoku Shimbun in Brand/Communication Design, Posters – Traditional – Series
• Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “The Sacred Dirt” for Asahi Television Broadcasting Corporation in Brand / Communication Design, Posters – Traditional – Series
• Yoshihito Katata Niigata “Tojiro Knife Gallery Tokyo” for Tojiro Co., Ltd. in Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design, Interior Design – Retail / Restaurant Interiors
• SIX Inc. Tokyo with good design company Tokyo “A Train of Memories” for Sotetsu Holdings in Motion/Film Craft, Craft in Motion / Film – Visual Effects
• TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc. Tokyo with Quantum Inc. Tokyo and Robot Communications Tokyo “Shellmet” for Koushi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Sarufutsu Village in Apparel/Accessory/Footwear Design, Sustainable/Eco-friendly Fashion
• TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc. Tokyo with Quantum Inc. Tokyo and Robot Communications Tokyo “Shellmet” for Koushi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Sarufutsu Village in Product Design, Innovation


Macau SAR China (1 Gold Cube)
• Indego Design Macau SAR China “Gummies” for Naughty Roll in Publication Design, Books – Image-Driven

Malaysia (1 Gold Cube)
• Michael Lim Petaling Jaya “Hermès – Interludes” for Hermès in Illustration, Animation – Series

A complete showcase of all ADC 103rd Annual Awards Cube and Merit winners can be viewed here.

Globally, this year’s prestigious ADC Black Cube for Best of Show was awarded to McCann New York for “ADLaM”, done on behalf of Microsoft. The work also won Best of Discipline in Typography, and the coveted ADC Designism Cube for the entry that best encourages positive societal and political change.

Based on cumulative points for all awards won, FCB New York was crowned ADC 103rd Annual Awards Agency of the Year. The agency won a total of three Best of Disciplines, nine Gold Cubes, three Silver, three Bronze, and four Merits.

This year’s ADC 103rd Annual Awards “of the Year” winners are:
• Agency of the Year: FCB New York
• Boutique Agency of the Year: Banana Balloon Shenzhen
• Brand-Side Agency of the Year: Google Brand Studio San Francisco
• Design Team of the Year: The New York Times Magazine New York
• Boutique Design Studio of the Year (tie): OlssønBarbieri Oslo, and PILLS Beijing
• Network of the Year: FCB Global
• Production Company of the Year: Helo West Hollywood
• Music & Sound Company of the Year (tie): Citizen Music New York, and DaHouse Audio Los Angeles
• Brand of the Year: AB InBev, Michelob ULTRA
• Non-profit Client of the Year: Digital Public Library of America
• Freelancer of the Year (as selected by The One Club and Working Not Working): Michelle Watt Brooklyn
• Members’ Choice Award: TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles “Fuzzy Feelings” for Apple

ADC 103rd Annual Awards Best of Discipline winners are as follows.

• Advertising: VML Colombia Bogotá with Grey Colombia Bogotá “Life Extending Stickers” for Makro Colombia
• Apparel/Accessory/Footwear Design: Serviceplan Germany Munich “AIZOME ULTRA  An innovative method to create textiles with lasting health benefits” for AIZOME
• Architecture/Interior/Environmental Design: PILLS Beijing “Wu Jian’an Solo Exhibition” for Silk Road International Art Exchange Center and CAFA Art Museum
• Artificial Intelligence: FCB New York with 456 Studios New York “Dreamcaster” for AB InBev, Michelob ULTRA
• Brand/Communication Design: VML Colombia Bogotá with Grey Colombia Bogotá “Life Extending Stickers” for Makro Colombia
• Brand-Side/In-House: Squarespace New York with Superprime Los Angeles “Marty & Francesca Make A Website” for Squarespace
• Experiential Design: FCB New York with 456 Studios New York “Dreamcaster” for AB InBev, Michelob ULTRA
• Gaming: Google Mountain View with Google Brand Studio San Francisco “Google Search Playground” for Google
• Illustration: Dentsu Inc. Tokyo “My Japan Railway” for JR Group
• Interactive: FCB New York with 456 Studios New York “Dreamcaster” for AB InBev, Michelob ULTRA
• Motion/Film Craft: HeimatTBWA\ Germany Berlin with Revolver Sydney and Tony Petersen Film GmbH Berlin “The Square Meter” for Hornbach Baumarkt AG
• Packaging Design: OlssønBarbieri Oslo “Avamposto Gin” for Avamposto Gin
• Photography: The New York Times Magazine New York for its own “A Boy’s Life on the Front Lines”
• Product Design: TBWA\Hakuhodo Inc. Tokyo with Quantum Inc. Tokyo and Robot Communications Tokyo “Shellmet” for Koushi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Sarufutsu Village
• Publication Design: Weiwei Zhou Nanjing “Cuban Chinese” for Nanjing University Press
• Typography: McCann New York “ADLaM” for Microsoft

The ADC Fusion Cube, established in 2021 along with The One Show Fusion Pencil as the industry’s first global award to recognize great work that best incorporates underrepresented groups in both the content of the ad and the team that made it, went to FCB Chicago with 456 Studios Chicago for “Banned Book Club” on behalf of Digital Public Library of America.

FCB New York led this year in ADC Gold Cube wins with nine, all for AB InBev, Michelob ULTRA “Dreamcaster”.  That was also the entry to win the most Golds.


A total of 11,309 pieces were entered from 62 countries and regions in the ADC 102nd Annual Awards.  Agencies, studios, freelancers, brands and production companies in 38 countries were awarded a total of 92 ADC Gold Cubes, 130 Silvers, 184 Bronze and 363 Merits this year.  

ADC 103rd Annual Awards winners were announced in the middle of Creative Week 2024 in New York, May 13-17.  

Now in its 15th year, Creative Week is a premier annual gathering for the advertising and design industries to come together and celebrate the creative excellence showcased in four of the club’s leading global awards shows, and discuss the latest creative trends and issues.  

In addition to the ADC 103rd Annual Awards event, Creative Week 2024 includes the Young Ones Student Awards ceremony at Sony Hall on May 13, Type Directors Club TDC70 Best of Discipline winners and exhibition on May 14, exclusive Executive Creative Summit-New York on May 16, and The One Show 2024 awards ceremony on May 17.