J&J's CLEAN & CLEAR® Wins Grand Prix. Pictured are: Duke Fanelli, ANA; Carrie Rossman, J3; Brendan Gaul, UM and Deborah Malone, The Internationalist (Host). All photos by Erik Guzowski.

WINNERS in the AWARDS for INNOVATIVE DIGITAL SOLUTIONS Underscore Sophisticated Content, Programmatic Usage, and Purposeful Branding

The Grand Prix was awarded to Johnson & Johnson's CLEAN & CLEAR® See The Real Me® Program for its masterful use of content and social media while creating an extraordinary movement among teen girls to literally be happy in their own skin.

On October 28, atop New York's Times Square, some of advertising's best and brightest from around the world, including many of the 2015 Internationalist INNOVATORS, gathered at an elite Winners Dinner to celebrate outstanding case studies in the 7th Annual Internationalist Awards for Innovative Digital Marketing Solutions. The Winners Celebration was produced in association with Reuters, BBC, The Guardian and Collective, and in partnership with the ANA (Association of National Advertisers).

A number of trends emerged from this year's forty-six winners:

• Sophisticated and highly-relevant Content is paramount to engaging audiences and was seen as a critical differentiator in the winning work.
• Purpose, core values, and “giving back” factor into those programs with the greatest emotional impact and often the most dramatic brand results.
• Programmatic Buying is increasingly being cited in case studies as building efficiency, expanding budgets and getting results.
• More campaigns, particularly those associated with expanding retail considerations, are focusing on mobile solutions.
• Hashtags continue as a significant means of 'marketing shorthand,' while also proving they can deliver big audiences.
• The desire to reach Millennials continues—largely in new and usual ways.
• Data—big and small, first party or third party— is now simply integrated into the majority of winning work as personalization becomes primary.

Click here for ALL WINNERS

Click here to see PHOTOS from Winners Dinner

Gold Winners Include:

• Activision The Race to E3; Submitted by OMD US
  
• Aquafresh (GSK) Introducing Captain Aquafresh; Submitted by PHD International
  
• Canon Come and See; Submitted by PHD International
  
• Chevrolet #Technologyandstuff ; Submitted by Carat
  
• Emerson I Love STEM; Submitted by DigitasLBi
  
• Evian #EvianBottleService; Submitted by Carat
  
• Fifth Third Bank Retweet to Reemploy; Submitted by SparkSMG
  
• GE World in Motion; Submitted by MEC
  
• Hindustan Unilever Tweetheart; Submitted by PHD India
  
• KFC Unleash the Colonel; Submitted by Initiative MENA
  
• Kraft Salad Dressing Salad Predictions; Submitted by Starcom MediaVest Group
  
• Marriott AppYourService; Submitted by MEC
  
• MasterCard Australia New Year's Eve; Submitted by TBWA\ Digital Arts Network
  
• Mountain Dew Global Content Strategy; Submitted by PepsiCo & XPlain
  
• P&G Prestige Smell My Neck; Submitted by Starcom MediaVest Group
  
• Réno Dépôt The Sky; Submitted by Carat Canada
  
• Shell Cities Energized: The Urban Transition; Submitted by MediaCom
  
• Strayer University The Success Project; Submitted by MediaCom
  
• Visa China Visa Bike Rental; Submitted by OMD China

This year, over 250 cases were submitted from 29 different locations worldwide. All entries compete against each other as examples of innovative strategy, solutions and results. This year's winners represented the top 15% of all entry submissions. The winning cases came from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK, and the USA, as well as programs with a sweep across Europe, the Gulf Region and worldwide. More than half (54%) of all winners originated outside the United States.

CLEAN & CLEAR® Grand Prix Winner:

CLEAN & CLEAR® has enjoyed a long and deep relationship with Teen Girls. But life for a Teen Girl has changed dramatically in the last 10+ years. Girls today have to worry about more than their own emotional reaction to problem skin, they have to navigate a world where everything is discussed and broadly exposed via social media with potentially crippling repercussions. Custom research also showed that 75% of Teen Girls struggle to share their true selves in a world where harsh, public judgment is potentially just a click away.

Teen girls WANT to be seen, but are AFRAID of being judged. This insight became the cornerstone of the See The Real Me® campaign. Through a content-driven Teen platform, the mission of CLEAN & CLEAR® was to transform moments of fear into moments of courage for Teen Girls.

Using powerful teen voices to inspire and engage, the brand started a movement to drown out negativity and judgement with messages of hope and optimism. Real stories, engagement and participation became the campaign's hallmark.

While the bulk of stories portrayed real girls as heroes, See The Real Me® found the perfect balance of celebrity and peer-to-peer appeal by creating more than 25 pieces of content with the up-and-coming pop stars. Over 160 videos were produced for YouTube and co-created with real teen girls to foster a two-way conversation. All stories encouraged teens to use and engage with #SeeTheRealMe—enabling every girl to be proud of her true self and share it with the world.

Since the launch of the campaign, the CLEAN & CLEAR® business has experienced significant increases in sales and key brand metrics. Most importantly, See The Real Me® helped millions of teen girls develop the courage to express their real selves, with #SeeTheRealMe social conversation reflecting overwhelmingly positive support of burgeoning teen confidence, reinforcing CLEAN & CLEAR® as a brand committed to making every girl happy in her own skin.

ABOUT THE AWARDS:

This is the seventh year of the competition, which attracts case studies from all regions of the world. All entries compete against each other as examples of innovative strategy, solutions and results. Unlike many awards that cite the best in a single product or media category, The Internationalist Awards for Innovative Digital Solutions enable all case study entries to compete equally across all classifications; winners are those with the highest point scores. There is not a predetermined number of bronze, silver, gold or grand prix winners; again, these designations are determined by point scores.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONALIST:

The Internationalist focuses on the reinvention of marketing around the globe by connecting the people and ideas in international marketing and advertising through original content, intelligence, thought leadership, community, collaboration, and influence. Marketer driven, The Internationalist has become a trusted source for international best practices, and is dedicated to the business needs and challenges of international marketing professionals as they participate in multinational brand building and aspire to world class standards. Originally created as a trade publication, The Internationalist connects a global audience through content and case studies in print, online and in-person-- via peer-to-peer marketer events including Dinners, Think Tanks, Awards and Summits- all to better serve the needs of this fast-changing community.

The Internationalist is proud of its Global Alliance with ANA (Association of National Advertisers) as we partner on an initiative called THE INTERNATIONALIST 1000 with ANA or 1000 Marketers around the World Reshaping the Future of Marketing.

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Innovators Celebrate! Kneeling in front: Eilenn Kiernan, J3: Eka Ruola, hasan & patners. Standing: Brendan Gaul, UM; Tej Desai, MEC; Shenan Reed, MEC; Shannon Pruitt, The Story Lab; Ed Gorman, Carat; Caitlin Bergmann, MediaCom; Joe Warren, MediaCom (2006 Innovator), Wolfgang Schaefer, SelectNY; Heather Dawson, Mindshare Canada