Eight Grand Prix Winners of the 11^th ROI Awards

List of the Grand Awards winners of 11th ROI Festival

How were the ROI Awards Grand Prix decided?

The Grand Prix are the highest honor for entrants, whose winning rate is as low as 2.3‰ considering that there are thousands of works to have competed. To win the supreme honor of ROI Awards, what standards should the works have to meet? Except for strict compliance with ROI Awards Audit system, there are “Four Necessary Requirements” in addition.

Must be commercially successful

Recipients of the Grand Prix must have achieved significant success in business.

Must be representative of China-style creativity

ROI Awards is the biggest business creativity awards in Asia. Every year, works from more than 30 countries and regions are submitted for the competition. The Awards are aimed at building a creative standard of China with its unique style and character to global, which is based on the influence of China culture and industry features. The organizing committee expects in the foreseeable future, the Grand Prix of ROI Awards would rival those of leading global awards.

Must present positive energy

The Grand Prix must present a positive energy. Some works and cases may be successful commercially, albeit grabbing considerable attention for a short term, while others use negative or pessimistic characteristics for marketing purpose. The organizing committee does not encourage use of such works.

Must be a role model that represents industry trend and benchmark

There was a jury panel discussion to decide Grand Prix that left a deep impression on the organizing committee. A decision for two outstanding works ended in a tie among 16 judges who cast their votes. One was the integrated marketing program conducted by a Chinese Internet giant in collaboration with a TV media behemoth; the other was a video marketing program jointly created by a brand and a video website. The chairman of juries thought both works were superb. However, the former was by two influential companies with resources and budget that were impossible to replicate by other entrants, whereas the latter was a work that was still impacting viewers. Ultimately all the judges gave their votes to the latter.

Composition of 8 Grand Prix of the 11th ROI Awards

Competition for the Grand Prix in this year’s ROI Awards is intense. On average, only one of every 430 entrants is selected. The 8 Grand Prix are from the following groups: brand owner group (1 award); agency group (3 awards), media company group (2 awards), production house group (1 award) and product design group (1 award).

Brand Owner Group “Integrated Marketing Communication of JD JOY during Spring Festival in 2018”

Contestant: JD       Brand owner: JD    

Category of work: BD-1002 Integrated Communication Marketing Category (Annual Award)

2018 is the Year of the Dog in lunar calendar. A dog is said to be a faithful friend, and in this regard 2018 is the year for JD.com. During the Spring Festival holiday, people had more time to be interested in various activities. In addition, the occasion provided an excellent opportunity for Internet product channels to be in direct contact with buyers as family members and users of different age groups gathered together during the festival of reunion. By using its brand logo and mascot Joy (a dog), JD.com attracted the attention of consumers and communicated with them at an emotional level. It created differentiated memory spots, increased web traffic and promoted sales of new year commodities. As an Internet retail company, JD.com achieved a win-win situation for multiple parties including the platform, the brand owner, IP partners and consumers.

Agency Group “A Retirement Speech_Mennonite Christian Hospital Preterm Infant Care Fundraising Plan”

Contestant: United Communications Group  Brand owner: Mennonite Christian Hospital

Category: CA-2008 Creative Video

A public service advertisement is inevitably one that appeals to one’s emotion. That Mennonite Christian Hospital achieved and exceeded its objective with a video budget of merely RMB50,000 was even more remarkable. As the judges commented, “A medical device was turned into an aging man. It produced a visual and emotional shock and left a lasting impression on the audience. And the video’s rhythm was masterfully crafted such that the audience could follow the story easily and patiently. Every detail would make the audience forget they were watching an advertisement. Instead, they were observing the ending of a life and the beginning of a new life. It left viewers the urge to do something meaningful.“

Agency Group “Full-Heart Support During Gaokao”

Contestant: BBDO(Shanghai)   Brand owner: McDonald's    

Category of work: CA-2005 Creativity Integration 

In China, the college entrance examination is considered an event which could monumentally change a person’s destiny. The campaign was perpetuated across the entire social network in a frantic pace, with many past exam takers - not least celebrities and key opinion leaders - reminiscing about their times when taking the examinations. Off-line, customers gained entry to McDonald's outlets using examination admission tickets to relive their own exam ‘ordeal’ while having their meals. During the campaign, 12 million examination admission tickets were generated on-line. This was a number that far exceeded the total number of students taking college entrance examination in 2017. Customer flow for McDonald's shops was a peak for the past 3 years, and sale of “full score set meal” increased fourfold. The campaign was arguably McDonald’s best promotional campaign in China during the past 3 years.

Agency Group “When Fast Food is Not Just about being Fast”

Contestant: Mindshare    Brand owner: Yum China    

Category of work: CA-1011 Omnimedia Integration

KFC is one of the largest fast food brands in the world. It is also the first foreign brand to have entered the Chinese market. KFC serves the dining needs of young people in a fast-pace society. KFC believes fast pace is not equivalent to restlessness. It wanted to use a lifestyle that befitted the modern era to remind young people of the beauty of “slow culture”, despite their “fast life”.

KFC gained an insight on “conflicts” by studying young people’s fast-consumption concepts, the most popular TV programs on traditional culture and several brands which had gained popularity in recent years. It developed fast food which catered to young people’s likings. KFC decided to become a professional champion of culture. It cooperated with one of the largest museums in the world -- National Museum of China - and obtained permits for 17 cultural relics. In a new media era characterized by information, overload, the above ‘conflict’ would attract young people’s attention, thus infusing freshness in a traditional brand.

Media Company Group “BMW Series 1 X Taobao 2nd floor

                                                           Contestant: Alimama    Brand owner: BMW

                                                     Category of work: CB-1015 Video-integrated marketing

The cooperation between Taobao 2nd floor 1001 nights and BMW 1-series of SUV is an example of the model of “creative strategy + scenario implant + data-driven + e-commerce transformation”. Here, Taobao 2nd floor was both a media platform and a content creator. With the support of Uni-marketing, Taobao 2nd floor was able to achieve sales on the e-commerce platform. Rich and vivid contents were created through the cooperation. As a result of continuing interest, Taobao 2nd floor was able to develop proprietary content with exclusive intellectual property rights.

The above cooperation pulled consumers closer to the BMW brand, and helped collect large quantity of sales leads along with a significant number of test drives. This work has surpassed others in its comprehensive media expression, and reflected the monetary values of Ali media.

                                                                 Media Company Group “Panda Oyster”

                            Contestant: IFENG.COM    Brand owner: Consulate General of Denmark in Shanghai

                                                       Category of work: CB-2003 Social media marketing

The “Chinese oyster taste” campaign by iFeng.com achieved enormous success despite its limited budget. 2017 was the Year of Tourism for China and Denmark. The Travel Bureau of Denmark has been trying to raise the interest of Chinese tourists. iFeng.com managed to do this and opened up a large market by cleverly using oysters as the medium. It took advantage of news of oyster overrun in the coastal regions of Denmark, and conducted a series of food & culture exchange activities, namely direct broadcast from oyster factories in Denmark, opening a pop-up store “Panda Oyster” in Denmark, and assisting the Danish embassy to launch the “uploading your Chinese oyster recipe”activity. The campaign helped gained the interest of Chinese tourists on Denmark as a tourist destination.

The campaign has both commercial and social values. It has not only helped the Travel Bureau of Denmark to open up the Chinese tourist market, but also raised public concern over the issue of environmental protection and biotic intrusion.

Production House Group “To the Greatness of Small”

                                                   Contestant: Redhorse Media    Brand owner: Alibaba    

                                                Category of work: CC-1001 TV & Film Production Services

This video is not only elaborate, but is also consistent with Alibaba’s corporate values. It is a work of spiritual values made by a Chinese brand using Olympic elements. Advertisements must touch our hearts and contain creativity and responsibility. They must enable us to feel goodness, positivity, and the really important values in life.

The three advertising videos of Ali Olympics were viewed differently by judges with respect to creativity, but they were benchmark works in production. The works achieved world-class standards in role selection, editing and presentation. Therefore, the judges considered that the three advertising videos did not only reflect presence of the Chinese people, but also their ability to influence individuals around the world.

Product Design Group: Ninebot Plus

                                               Contestant: Segway-Ninebot    Brand owner: Segway-Ninebot   

                                           Category of work: PB-1102 Updated Product (Upgraded or improved)

The most touching scene in this work is a familiar one: an old man strolling to buy vegetables. He was followed by a ninebot mini which was carrying a basket. The initial design intention of ninebot mini is to provide a green, convenient method of short-trip transportation. Ninebot mini is a good start, because they can now be seen community estates and on the roads. Although a lot of progress remains to be made in the field of short-trip transportation, ninebot mini is still a meaningful start.

Apart from transportation, ninebot minis have added fun into our lives. For example, it can help old people carry vegetable baskets, become mini robots while shooting videos on the way, and even transform into a lovely go-kart, awakening the child in all of us. Ninebot minis transformed a transportation solution into a product with emotions. The creativity in interaction and scenarios reflected in this product laid the foundation for new product categories and new businesses.

Lastly, congratulations to the 8 participants which won the 11th ROI Festival Grand Prix! The winning cases have demonstrated that local brands in China have reached an international level in commercial creativity, creating works with unique Chinese cultural characteristics. As more and more companies embark on advertising that attract the younger generation, they are also paying greater attention to their social responsibilities. Their creativity has achieved many good effects. All the above achievements are inspiring. We hope that you will create more excellent works in the future, in order to join the competition for the Grand Prix of ROI Festival in 2019.