Host/Havas wins Award's Agency of the Year honour

Host/Havas has been revealed as the Agency of the Year at the annual Award Awards event held in Sydney tonight.

More than 400 execs attended the event, which celebrates creative excellence across APAC, and a record number of golds were presented.

Held at Carriageworks as part of the Semi Permanent festival, the ceremony delivered 48 gold pencils, and awarded a further 99 silver and 143 bronze awards.

Host/Havas scored seven gold pencils for their humanitarian focused campaigns Palau Pledge and The Bottom 100 winning across Craft In Advertising - Print, PR, Direct Marketing, and Creativity For Good.

Colenso BBDO followed with five gold awards. CHE Proximity, Revolver/Will O’Rourke and Ogilvy & Mather New Zealand all received four gold awards.

Three gold awards were awarded to DDB New Zealand. Airbag, BMF, Assembly, The Sweet Shop, Cummins&Partners and Goodoil Films were all awarded two gold awards.

Thirteen & Co, FINCH, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, Clemenger BBDO Wellington, VML, Alt.vfx, McCann Worldgroup Philippines, Y&R Brisbane and ARC EDIT were all honoured with one gold pencil each.

Network of the Year went to BBDO. Client of the Year was awarded to ALDI Australia. Production Company of the Year was presented to Revolver/Will O’Rourke.

Best in Show was awarded to entrants Cummins&Partners, Revolver/Will O'Rourke and Arc Edit for their collaboration on Stop The Horror for client Go Gentle Australia.

This year’s AWARD chair of judges, Susan Hoffman, co-chief creative officer of Wieden+Kennedy, also awarded her Chair’s Choice to Stop The Horror by Cummins&Partners, Revolver/Will O'Rourke and Arc Edit for Go Gentle Australia.

“This was a hard decision - I based my decision on which campaign stayed with me the longest. My choice, “Stop the Horror”. It was exactly what the media said, it was 'unwatchable'," Hoffman says.

"The film did a great job in getting the viewer to truly understand the truth of what a terminally ill patient goes through and the need to allow voluntary assisted dying. The “stop the horror” button and landing page brought it all home. Nice job.”

Recognising the most prolific of entrants, Creative Team of the Year was awarded to Daniel Davison and Ashley Wilding from CHE Proximity – an award that considers those being credited across multiple campaigns that won Bronze, Silver or Gold (including craft awards if that award is directly applicable to their craft).

“Congratulations to our long and deserving list of finalists and winners, especially to Host/Havas who were awarded with the coveted Agency of the Year title, and to Cummins&Partners, Revolver/Will O'Rourke and Arc Edit who have been awarded for Best in Show and Chair’s Choice," Award chair Mike Spirkovski says.

"This year a record number of 48 gold pencils have been awarded - a figure which bears testament to the outstanding level of talent in the Asia Pacific region.”

See the full winners list here:

Agency of the Year – Top 5

1) Host/Havas

2) CHE Proximity

3) DDB Group New Zealand

4) Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

5) Colenso BBDO

Production Company of the Year – Top 5

1) Revolver/Will O'Rourke

2) FINCH

3) The Sweet Shop

4) Goodoil Films

5) Assembly

Client of the Year – Top 5

1) ALDI Australia

2) Palau Legacy Project

3) Netsafe

4) New Zealand Police

5) Go Gentle Australia

Network of the Year – Top 5

1) BBDO

2) Havas Worldwide

3) DDB

4) Ogilvy

5) Y&R

Creative Team of the Year

Daniel Davison and Ashley Wilding

Agency: CHE Proximity

Chair’s Choice

Title: Stop The Horror
Entrants: Cummins&Partners, Revolver/Will O'Rourke and ARC EDIT

Best in Show:

Title: Stop The Horror
Entrants: Cummins&Partners, Revolver/Will O'Rourke and ARC EDIT

Gold Winners

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Television Commercial, Individual. 30 Seconds

Title: ALDI Good Different - Pasta Sauce

Agency: BMF

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Television Commercial, Individual. Over 30 Seconds

Title: Dig in Doug

Agency: BMF

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Television Commercial, Individual. Over 30 Seconds

Title: Rat's Tale

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Wellington

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Television Commercial, Campaign. 30 Seconds

Title: Pedigree Child Replacement Programme

Agency: Colenso BBDO

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Large Format Screens, Individual. Any Length

Title: Milk Slams - ‘Inside Out'

Agency: Colenso BBDO

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Charity, Individual. Any Length

Title: Stop The Horror

Agency: Cummins&Partners

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Charity, Individual. Any Length

Title: The Big Deal

Agency: //Thirteen & Co

Category: Film & Video

Subcategory: Interactive Film, Individual. Any Length

Title: The Hearing Test In Disguise

Agency: CHE Proximity