Apple’s ‘The Greatest’ tops The One Show—BBDO Canada, W+K, Ogilvy also win big

Apple’s spot “The Greatest,” directed by Kim Gehrig at Somesuch and released last December to celebrate the company’s commitment to accessibility, won Best of Show at The One Show on Friday night.

Apple also picked up Brand of the Year and Brand-Side/In-House Agency of the Year honors at The One Club for Creativity’s annual awards event.

At the 50th anniversary show, BBDO Canada was named Agency of the Year, as its “Missing Matoaka” campaign for Muskrat Magazine won two best-in-discipline awards. Wieden+Kennedy Portland won Independent Agency of the Year, and the W+K network won Independent Network of the Year. Ogilvy won Network of the Year, while Omnicom was named Creative Holding Company of the Year.

FCB New York won the most One Show Gold Pencils with 11, including 10 for Michelob Ultra’s “McEnroe vs McEnroe.”

Here are all the best-in-discipline winners:

• Brand-Side/In-House—Apple London “The Greatest” for Apple 
• Branded Entertainment—BETC Paris “Gender Swap” for Women in Games
• Creative Effectiveness—The Monkeys Sydney with Collider Sydney “The First Digital Nation” for The Government of Tuvalu
• Creative Use of Data—DDB Mexico Mexico City with Estudios Machina Bogotá and LaDoble Mexico City “Data Tienda” for Gahr WeCapital
• Cultural Driver—Ogilvy Honduras Tegucigalpa with 14 at Centro LATAM Tegucigalpa “Morning After Island” for Grupo Estratégico PAE
• Design—DDB Chicago with adam&eveDDB London, NORD DDB CPH Copenhagen and Molson Coors “Chillboards” for Coors Light
• Direct Marketing—Accenture Song with Walker Santa Monica and The Mill New York “Less Talk, More Bitcoin” for Coinbase
• Experiential & Immersive—BBDO Canada Toronto with TA2 Sound + Music Toronto “Missing Matoaka” for Muskrat Magazine
• Film & Video—Ogilvy Group Thailand Bangkok with Factory01 Bangkok “The Innocent Eyes” for Monde Nissin/Voiz
• Gaming—Wieden+Kennedy Portland with Spark & Riot New York “Clash from the Past” for Supercell/Clash of Clans
• Health & Wellness—McCann Stockholm with McCann Workgroup London “Eat a Swede” for The Swedish Food Federation
• Integrated—Squarespace New York with Q Department New York, Smuggler New York and Final Cut New York “The Singularity” for Squarespace
• Interactive & Mobile Craft—Performance Art Toronto “The Black Elevation Map” for Black & Abroad
• Interactive, Online & Mobile—Virtue Copenhagen “Backup Ukraine” for Polycam, Unesco, and Blue Shield
• IP & Product Design—Weber Shandwick Paris with McCann Paris and Mediabrand Paris “Turnstile Turbines” for Iberdrola
• Moving Image Craft & Production—TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles with Blacksmith New York and MJZ “Share the Joy” for Apple
• Music & Sound Craft—Apple “Rihanna—Stay” for Apple Music
• Out of Home—TBWA\Media Arts Lab Los Angeles with OMD “Public Displays of Encouragement” for Apple
• Pharma—Area 23 New York with Dalmation Cow Los Angeles and Blind Pig London “Eyedar” for Horizon Therapeutics
• Print & Promotional—Impact BBDO Dubai with Impact BBDO Beirut and DejaVu Dubai “The Elections Edition” for An Nahar Newspaper
• Public Relations—Ogilvy Honduras Tegucigalpa with 14 at Centro LATAM Tegucigalpa “Morning After Island” for Grupo Estratégico PAE
• Radio & Audio—BBDO Canada Toronto with TA2 Sound + Music Toronto “Missing Matoaka” for Muskrat Magazine
• Social Media—TBWA\Juice Beijing with TBWA\Bolt Shanghai, Filmate Productions Shanghai and Real Good Studio New York “BMW—Nothing But Sheer Joy” for BMW

Here are the top company honorees, based on cumulative scores for Pencils and Merits won across all disciplines:

• Agency of the Year—BBDO Canada Toronto
• Brand of the Year—Apple
• Brand-Side/In-House Agency of the Year—Apple Cupertino
• Client of the Year—AB InBev
• Creative Holding Company of the Year—Omnicom
• Independent Agency of the Year—Wieden+Kennedy Portland
• Independent Network of the Year—Wieden+Kennedy
• Music & Sound Company of the Year—TA2 Sound+Music Toronto
• Network of the Year—Ogilvy
• Nonprofit Client of the Year—Grupo Estratégico PAE 
• Production Company of the Year—Smuggler New York/Los Angeles

A number of specialty awards were handed out as well:

• Penta Pencil, given to an agency and brand who together have created outstanding creative work for the last five years—FCB Toronto for work on behalf of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society, and VML&YR Kansas City with Spark Foundry New York and Ketchum Chicago for their years of work for Wendy’s.
• Fusion Pencil, recognizing great work that best incorporates DEI principles and underrepresented groups in both the creative content of the work and the team that made it—Edelman New York with Mindshare New York for Vaseline’s “See My Skin.”
• Green Pencil, recognizing the most environmentally conscious creative work for the year—NORD DDB Stockholm with Camp David Stockholm and House Agency Stockholm for Vattenfall’s “Vehicle of Change.”
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Pencil, created in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and nonprofit PVBLIC Foundation to reward agencies and brands for work that betters the world and contributes to securing a sustainable future for all—DDB Mexico Mexico City with Estudios Machina Bogotá and LaDoble Mexico City for Gahr WeCapital’s “Data Tienda.”

To celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary, The One Club also introduced a new One Show Pencil, modeled after the original designed by George Lois. The new Pencil is larger than the traditional one, made of crystal surrounding a gold metal core for Best of Discipline and “of the Year” winners and a black metal core for Best of Show. The new Pencil will be presented to the show’s top winners in future years.

“In this business, you’re doing something right if you’re still relevant after 50 years,” said Glenn Cole, chairman of The One Club and founder and creative chairman at 72andSunny. “I’m thrilled that The One Show is vital at age 50, but I’m most proud that it is a purpose-driven nonprofit that pours all proceeds into the betterment of the creative community. Let’s take it to 100.”

The 2023 One Show received 20,166 entries from 69 countries. 

“The One Show is 50 years young, and we continually strive to push boundaries, remain relevant and are constantly evolving as the industry does,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club.