On the 24th May Channel 4 launched a new annual competition offering £1million of the broadcaster’s commercial airtime for the best ad campaign featuring diversity.
The inaugural Channel 4 Annual Diversity in Advertising Award is a long term commitment from Channel 4 to improve diversity in advertising every year until at least 2020.
Channel 4 has now revealed their shortlist:
The seven finalists are:
- Bose – Grey London
- BT – Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
- Ford – GTB
- Lloyds Bank – Adam & Eve/DDB
- Marks & Spencer – Grey London
- Panasonic – Brave
- Volvo – Grey London
The seven finalists will pitch their ideas to a specially selected juding panel on 19 July. The competittion got a wide variety of entrants, and more than 50 great campaigns , with ideas ranging from non-visible disabilities such as depression, autism, deafness, Alzheimer’s and obsessive compulsive disorder.
The judging panel is chaired by Channel 4 sales director Jonathan Allan, and also includes many luminaries from the industry including:
- Campaign’s global editor-in-chief Claire Beale
- 4 Creative’s group business director Matt Berry
- Channel 4’s chief marketing and communications officer Dan Brooke
- Thinkbox chief executive Lindsay Clay
- Credos director and AA head of strategy Karen Fraser
- Head of membership of the Marketing Society Alex Ricketts
- Head of diversity at the IPA Leila Siddiqi
Jonathan Allan, sales director at Channel 4 told The Drum:
“The ideas submitted this year were so compelling it emphasises just how important this award is, £1m of airtime definitely helps brands really think about the way they approach their campaign strategies and the commercial success Maltesers’ winning ads experienced last year is a clear testimony to the power of putting diversity front and centre of the creative idea. I can’t wait to see this competitive shortlist pitch for the prize alongside my fellow judges to help select the winner.”
