Volkswagen and Ogilvy win big at the 2022 Loerie Awards
October 2022
- Volkswagen was the most awarded vehicle brand at the annual Loerie Awards
- The Polo ‘Game On’ campaign was Volkswagen’s most awarded work with eight Loeries won
- The Loerie Awards are regarded as the highest accolade for creativity and innovation in Africa and the Middle East
Volkswagen and advertising agency, Ogilvy South Africa, won 11 awards at the 2022 Loerie Awards which were held in Cape Town last week.
First held in 1978, the Loerie Awards are widely regarded as the highest accolade for creativity and innovation in South Africa. Now in their 44th year, the Loeries recognise, reward and foster creative excellence in advertising and brand communication across Africa and the Middle East.
Volkswagen was the most awarded vehicle brand at this year’s ceremony, winning awards for the Polo ‘Game On’, Golf ‘Power of GTI’ and Taigo ‘Let’s Go’ advertising campaigns. Volkswagen won a total of five gold awards, two silver, three bronze as well as a Craft certificate.
“We are ecstatic about the wins at the Loeries and we’re exceptionally proud of the Polo ‘Game On’ campaign because we took a large leap of faith to ensure that Volkswagen was the first brand in South Africa to have a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) brand campaign and also have the world’s first adv featuring NFTs. The Polo ‘Game On’ campaign is testament to Volkswagen’s eye on the future, not only in the innovation of our vehicles but in embracing the passions of our fans,” said Bridget Harpur, Head of Marketing for the Volkswagen Passenger Car Brand.
“We’re immensely humbled by these wins. With the Polo ‘Game On’ campaign, we were able to create an integrated campaign using multiple media in parallel, to entice a hard-to-reach audience to engage for record levels of time with the brand, alongside record levels of vehicle sales. Thank you to the judges for recognising the power of this work and a very important thank you also to Volkswagen for believing in us and for partnering to create these bold campaigns,” said Pete Case, CEO and Creative Chairman of Ogilvy South Africa.
Inspired by the virtual realm and gaming trends, the Polo ‘Game On’ commercial portrayed the innovative new Polo navigating through a futuristic and gamified version of Mzansi – the Mzansiverse – with digital avatar characters to match.
The advert offered fans a window into a future South Africa like they have never seen it before. Inspired by the metaverse and powered by the new Polo with IQ.DRIVE, Volkswagen created a real-meets-virtual world where anything is possible. To celebrate the game-changing arrival of the new Polo, Volkswagen created five unique collections of NFTs and dropped them into the television commercial to gamify the fan experience. For five days (18 to 22 March 2022), Polo fans hunted for the hidden NFTs in the commercial and stood a chance to win one of 100 NFTs.
In addition to the Loeries wins, the Polo ‘Game On’ campaign also won coveted awards at the annual Bookmark and New Generation Awards. At the Bookmark Awards, Volkswagen won six awards as well as being announced as ‘Digital Brand of the Year’, alongside Ogilvy, who were awarded ‘Best Digital Agency’ for excellence in digital creative and execution. At the New Generation Awards, the Polo ‘Game On’ campaign won eight awards as well as the sought-after New Generation Digital Brand of the Year award.
List of Volkswagen and Ogilvy South Africa’s 2022 Loeries Awards:
Category | Campaign | Award |
|---|---|---|
Film: Online Film - above 30 seconds | Taigo “Let’s Go” | Gold |
Digital: Social Media | Polo “Game On” | Gold |
Film Crafts: Animation | Polo “Game On” | Craft Gold |
Digital Crafts: Use of Technology | Polo “Game On” | Craft Gold |
Film Crafts - Production Design | Taigo “Let’s Go” | Craft Gold |
Film: Online Film - above 30 seconds | Polo “Game On” | Silver |
Design Mixed-Media Campaign | Polo “Game On” | Silver |
Film: TV & Cinema Commercials - up to 90 seconds | Golf “The Power of GTI” | Bronze |
Innovation: Single Medium | Polo “Game On” | Bronze |
Intergrated Campaign | Polo “Game On” | Bronze |
Film Crafts: Use of Technology | Polo “Game On” | Craft Certificate |
Film: Online Film - above 30 seconds
Digital: Social Media
Film Crafts: Animation
Digital Crafts: Use of Technology
Film Crafts - Production Design
Film: Online Film - above 30 seconds
Design Mixed-Media Campaign
Film: TV & Cinema Commercials - up to 90 seconds
Innovation: Single Medium
Intergrated Campaign
Film Crafts: Use of Technology
