New York Festivals Torch Awards Announces the 2015 Grand Winner, Dentsu Japan’s Team Ohayo
New York Festivals® Torch Awards announced the 2015 Grand-Winning Team at the New York Show℠ held at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City. Charlotte d’Amboise, Broadway star and triple threat performer, presented the Torch Award to Team Ohayo for their creative 60-second spot campaign “Origami Paper” for the nonprofit The Project Solution.
Team Ohayo, Dentsu Japan members include:
Aya Hamada – Copywriter/Planner
Mikou Sakamoto – Copywriter/Planner
Teru Tsujinaka – Copywriter/Planner
Naoya Kudo – Copywriter/Planner
Rodger Beekman, executive creative director for BPG/Bates Dubai and 2015 New York Festivals Executive Jury member mentored the award-winning team. Rodger had this to say about the team’s pitch and campaign, “The Dentsu team won the Torch award because their concept was so pure and so in the heart of the essence of the brand, than it was hard for the jury not to let them win. Next to that they showed a high level of crafting skills, and how to translate the concept to other media platforms. For a team so young we were all very impressed by their level of thinking and their strategy. I am very proud to be their mentor.”
“The simplicity, beauty, and tone of Team Ohayo’s ‘Origami Paper’ entry really captured the spirit of The Project Solution’s mission, and we can’t wait to see this inventive 60-second spot come to life,” said Alisun Armstrong, executive director, Torch Awards.
The 2015 Grand Winning Team, selected from five Finalist Teams from Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, the Philippines, and Vietnam, was chosen from entries submitted by teams of 18-25 year old creatives from around the globe. The Torch Award Team Finalists convened in New York City on May 20th at the Omni Berkshire Place Hotel and worked with their mentors to perfect their pitch for their campaigns created to promote the mission of The Project Solution .
NYF’s Torch Award mentors were recruited from the 2015 Executive Jury, comprised of chief creative officers and executive creative directors from the world’s most-awarded agencies. This year’s mentors include: Rodger Beekman, executive creative director, Bates/BPG Dubai; Duan Evans, international creative director, AKQA UK; Pancho Gonzalez, chief creative officer/co-founder, Inbrax Chile; Melvin Mangada, managing partner/chief creative officer, TBWA SMP Philippines; and Masako Okamura, executive creative director, Dentsu Vietnam. In addition to judging this year’s Torch Awards, these prominent creative executives assembled in New York City for five days to judge the 2015 Shortlist across all mediums and choose the World’s Best Advertising℠.
The five Torch Awards Finalist Teams presented their campaign before a panel of judges including New York Festivals Executive Jury members Vida Cornelious, EVP/chief creative officer, Walton Isaacson, USA and Gaston Legorburu, worldwide chief creative officer, SapientNitro USA, along with Tara Bracco and Joe Gonzalez, co-founders of The Project Solution.
The 2015 Torch Awards Jury determined the Grand-Winning Team based on the following criteria: relevance to and understanding of The Project Solution brand and mission; a clear demonstration of campaign goals and strategy; adherence to the brief, including scope and budgets; and creative idea.
The Torch Awards, launched in 2014 to champion young creative talent, encourages creatives from the ages of 18-25 to take part in a unique competition that explores a creative challenge and offers mentor training on how to pitch their idea.