FCB New Zealand’s campaign for the Office of Seniors, Undercover Crossword, has won “Inclusion Campaign of the Year” at the 2019 IPG Inclusion Awards held in New York.

The award ceremony celebrates measurable progress and the commitment of IPG owned agencies to diversity and inclusion. This specific category recognises FCB for their innovative, creative and effective work that is specifically aimed at changing the industry by promoting inclusion for diverse groups.

FCB New Zealand’s Undercover Crossword campaign ran a series of crosswords in 20 newspapers across New Zealand 10 days prior to World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, promoting the free helpline and highlighting the different forms of elder abuse.

Each crossword included a different clue describing a different type of elder abuse, with “abuse” as the same answer to the clues. The Elder Abuse Response Service’s helpline number 0800 32 668 65 appeared at the bottom of each crossword.

The campaign saw a 36% increase in call traffic to the Elder Abuse Response Service helpline in its first week.

Managing Director of FCB Wellington, Sean Keaney commented, ‘This is such wonderful recognition for a campaign that really sought to use an innovative media placement to really get to the people at the heart of the issue. We’re extremely proud that our client has been recognised for embracing this idea.”

Katrina Reinsfield, Group Business Director from Stuff said, “The elderly abuse awareness campaign was a great example of collaboration between Stuff, NZME and FCB for their client Ministry of Social Development. The daily crossword in our newspapers was the perfect vehicle for the audience, however, this was editorial space and not generally used for commercial advertising. This involved some complexity in the execution, but it was worth it to support such a worthy cause that really resonated with the intended audience.”

This year’s competition reflected a refined judging criteria and a record number of 132 submissions across the various categories. Over 200 jurors from agencies around the globe volunteered their time to judge the 2019 awards.

To find out more about the award, please click here: https://www.interpublic.com/about/stronger/strongerpost?id=11737