ADC Awards
The ADC Annual Awards is the oldest continuously running industry award show in the world. Now in its incredible 102nd year, these awards celebrate the very best in advertising, digital media, graphic and publication design, packaging and product design, motion, experiential and spatial design, photography, illustration and fashion design all with a focus on artistry and craftsmanship.
Category
Craft in Writing / TV / Film / Video
Annual ID
ADC102_ADV061B
About the Work
For people from multiple cultures, they often feel "stuck in the middle" and like they need to choose between their cultural identities.
WhatsApp, the connector for billions of diasporas worldwide, wanted to turn having to choose between cultures into a celebration of cross-cultural identity, and needed a hero to represent this global audience for the first time.
NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was not only a fervent user of WhatsApp when he first moved to the US, but he was also a man that stood between two cultures. Although he identifies as Greek and Nigerian the world chose his identity for him - nicknaming him “The Greek Freak."
So we wanted to give Giannis an opportunity to reclaim his cross-cultural identity and tell his story to the world.
First, came the +234 sweatshirt, where at the NBA All-Star Game Giannis celebrated his true Nigerian name and country code with a sweatshirt woven in his homeland. Then Giannis continued to share his story with the film Naija Odyssey. A Nigerian twist on the famous Greek journey. The short-film premiered at the Metrograph Theater in New York City before releasing worldwide on Amazon Prime Video - helping generate 8M+ views on YouTube, 82M+ social media impressions, 4.2 billion global media impressions, and $17M in earned media value generated.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 9
Bronze Cube
Credits
Agency
Translation
PR / Marketing Agency
Lede
Client / Brand
Production Company
Partizan Entertainment
Copywriter
Soham Chatterjee
Animator
Nicholas Principe
Chief Creative Officer
Jason Campbell
Chief Marketing Officer
Chaucer Barnes
Creative Director
Belén Márquez
Editor
J. Matthew Jacob
Group Creative Director
Alex Little
Karsten Jurkschat
Account Executive
Katelyne Maroney
Account Supervisor
Anthony Williams II
Associate Producer
Victoria Pita-Romero
Business Affairs Manager
Nick Sempertegui
Paul Rodarte
Chief Executive Officer
Steve Stoute
Senior Account Director
Jared Leake
Senior Art Director
Jon Krippahne
Senior Copywriter
Patrick French
Strategy Director
Rex Nwerem
Visual Effects
Mathematic
Assistant Account Executive
Jonathan Castaneda
Associate General Counsel, Brands & Marketing Legal
Varty Hindoyan
Audio Mix
Heard City
Chief strategy Officer
Sandi Preston
Color
Company 3
Context Planner
Raven Heinz-Garcia
Creative Director, Design
Veit Moeller
Director of Business Affairs
Librado Sanchez
Director of Global Brand Strategy & Integrated Marketing
Vivian Odior
Director of Project Management
Matthew DeSimone
Editorial
Rock Paper Scissors
Global Head of Brand, Family of Apps
Esh Ponnadurai
Group Account Director
Celeste Toffanello
Group Strategy Director
Geoff McHenry
Head of Client Services
Susanna Swartley
Head of Community & Culture
Helen Lawrence
Head of Creative
Rodrigo Moran
Head Of Design
Jason Nuttall
Head of Engagement Planning
Joel Rodriguez
Head of Integrated Production
Alison Hill
Manager of Brand & Integrated Marketing
Ghada Soufan
Music & Sound Design, Original Score
Paulo Gallo
Music Licensing
Melissa MacMaster
Paralegal, Brands & Marketing Legal
Kendyll Flanagan
President
Ann Wool
Producer, Brand & Integrated Marketing
Vida Habibi
Product Designer:
John Dasta
Senior Context Planner
Alex Glaum
SENIOR PRODUCER
Ava Rant
Senior Project Management
Michael Gonzalez
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