Latest Johnnie Walker campaign featuring Han Han wins top prize at advertising awards ceremony

Shanghai, October 11, 2011. Pop Sigma congratulates lead agency Ogilvy & Mather on winning the most awards in the 2011 edition of the China Effie Awards, which measures efficiency in marketing campaigns. The agency won 25 Effies, more than double that of the runner-up.

The highest accolade, the Grand Prix, was awarded for the Johnnie Walker ‘’Walk the Talk” campaign featuring race car driver and writer Han Han as spokesperson. The campaign also won a Gold Effie in the Integrated Marketing category. Pop Sigma had a key role in securing Han Han for the campaign, collaborating with him on the scope and direction of his participation.

The campaign introduced a refreshing style of communication, an intimacy between brand and consumer, with very personal and intimate videos of Han Han discussing the dreams and passions of his post-80s generation in China. The initial impetus for the campaign was to offer a rebuttal to a Singapore newspaper article stating that a majority of the Chinese population didn’t have dreams other than owning property.

“The intimate tone of this campaign was the key factor in elevating it above all others in China this year. The way the Ogilvy Shanghai team handled this campaign echoed a famous quote by their founder David Ogilvy – ‘’the consumer is not a moron, she is your wife’’. Pop Sigma is looking forward to securing more world-class influencers for the agency and their clients,’’ noted Felix Desjardins, a partner at Pop Sigma. ‘’We anticipate a greater role for partner agencies like us in securing a wider range of influencers and managing tools to optimize their impact,’’ he added.