Adzact Awards 30/04/24
Adzact convened a distinguished panel of B2B marketing leaders to evaluate the most exceptional ads from the past year. This selection was carefully curated from submissions by over 300 B2B marketing professionals who shared their top picks. The panel's review focused on multiple critical aspects: the effectiveness of early messaging, the capability to establish an emotional connection with the audience, precision in audience targeting, the creativity of the execution, and the overall impact of the strategy in delivering measurable results. The aim of this review was to spotlight those advertisements that not only captured attention but also excelled in achieving their intended marketing goals.
Hosts
Tom Gatten and Flora McPhail were joined by marketing experts to discuss the topic.
Judging Panellists
Vicki Scheele, Product Marketing Director - Visa
Nikki DuBerry, Senior Manager, Customer Marketing, EMEA - IBM
Jonny Colclough, Digital Demand Generation Manager - Scandit
Sharon McClintic, Senior Content Marketing Lead - Lumar
Scott Stockwell, Senior Brand Strategist - IBM
Hannah Cartwright, Senior Partnership Activation Manager - Economist Impact
Debbie Hage, Senior Field Marketing Manager, Dynatrace
Max Klatt, Content Marketing Director, Tyk
Rebecca Lillywhite, Social Media Manager, Evelyn Partners
Tamas Shewry, Senior Marketing Specialist, CCH® Tagetik – Europe North, Wolters Kluwer
The Nominated Ads
Dragonfly AI
Imagery and Impact: Flora McPhail appreciated the ad's rich imagery, noting that it provided fresh insights with each viewing—a testament to its layered creative approach.
Message Clarity and Audience Relevance: The ad’s message is praised for its clarity and relevance. However, as Nikki DuBerry suggests, it could benefit from including specific job titles to enhance personal relevance and engagement. Hannah Cartwright noted that while the ad targeted creative professionals, the design and messaging appeared more tailored towards marketing managers or digital analysts. This mismatch could lead to confusion about who the ad is meant to engage. Max Klatt suggested adding explicit explanations of graphical data to enhance the ad's informative quality. This adjustment could help viewers understand the value and implications of the data presented more clearly.
Content Depth and Call to Action: Jonny Colclough and Scott Stockwell suggest providing more background on how the product works, preventing potential customer uncertainty and enhancing the ad's effectiveness. A more distinct call to action would guide engaged viewers on what steps to follow next.
Engagement Strategy: Vicki Scheele appreciates the campaign's strategy on LinkedIn, noting its effectiveness in sparking interest to drive traffic to the website and fulfilling its purpose of leading viewers to the next stage of engagement.
Targeted Communication: Tamas Shewry felt the imagery was consistent and professional, and recommended pinpointing the ad's intended audience more distinctly to optimize its impact.
Deel
Emotional and Creative Appeal: Nikki DuBerry and Vicki Scheele commend the ad for its emotional impact and straightforward narrative, clearly outlining the challenges and solutions relevant to the target audience.
Relevance and Clarity: Sharon McClintic and Debbie Hage praised the ad for effectively communicating to HR managers through well-crafted, relatable scenarios, demonstrating strong audience relevance and engagement.
Memorable and Practical Impact: Scott Stockwell notes the ad's memorability and practicality, emphasizing its clarity on who the product is for and its potential integration features, enhancing the viewer's understanding of its use. Rebecca Lillywhite and Max Klatt were impressed by the ad's innovative use of a popular meme, which skillfully captured attention and enhanced the ad's overall appeal.
Grammarly
Use Case Clarity and Engagement: Sharon McClintic praises the ad for showing various use cases, suggesting that leading with the impact on professional success could further enhance message effectiveness. Debbie Hage and Max Klatt suggested that reducing the ad's complexity could improve clarity. Focusing more directly on the product's benefits would help viewers better understand and appreciate the tool's functionality.
Conciseness and Focus: Nikki DuBerry, Jonny Colclough and Rebecca Lillywhite recommend tightening the narrative to maintain viewer interest throughout the ad, focusing on key messages like improving professional tone to ensure clear communication.
Creative Elements and Audience Engagement: Vicki Scheele enjoys the creative elements like the 'glittery ketchup' scenario but feels the ad could streamline its focus to improve emotional connection and message delivery.
Nice Systems
Clarification of Benefits: Sharon McClintic and Vicki Scheele suggest the ad could better articulate how its features drive growth and protect brands, reducing jargon to enhance understanding. Max Klatt and Tamas Shewry agreed that the ad could benefit from clearer language to better communicate how its features promote growth and protect brands.
Production Quality and Content Balance: Jonny Colclough and Hannah Cartwright commend the high production value but note a clearer explanation of the product’s functionality. Vicki Scheele appreciates the musical element and suggests timing the climax with key product information could make the ad more compelling.
Collaborative Themes: The panel recommended emphasizing themes of teamwork and collaboration more prominently to resonate with businesses focused on collective success.
Remote
Value Proposition and Engagement: Sharon McClintic advises starting with a clear value proposition to immediately communicate what the company offers, enhancing initial engagement. Max Klatt and Debbie Hage recommended adding dynamic elements to increase the ad’s memorability and engagement, making it informative and captivating.
Creativity and Functional Clarity: Sarah Kelly, Scott Stockwell, and Rebecca Lillywhite noted that while the ad is functionally informative, incorporating more creativity could help distinguish it from similar content.
Practicality and Actionability: Jonny Colclough and Scott Stockwell appreciate the ad’s practical approach. They recommend highlighting the benefits early on to capture attention more effectively, especially in environments like paid social media, where viewer retention is challenging.
And the Winners Is…
We are excited to announce that the Deel advertisement has triumphed as the overall winner of this Adzact Community Ad Awards. Garnering the highest scores across all categories—Audience Relevance, Creativity & Originality, Emotional Impact, and Message Clarity—Deel set an exemplary standard for effectiveness and engagement in digital advertising.
Deel's ad excelled by delivering a compelling and relatable message and distinguished itself through its creative use of visual and textual elements that resonated deeply with its target audience. Its clear and immediate communication of job titles and challenges faced by HR professionals exemplified its deep understanding of audience needs, helping it connect emotionally while providing practical solutions.
Congratulations to Deel and all the ones submitted!
