Golden Award of Montreux Announces 2023 Winners

The municipality of Montreux has always been valued as a perfect environment for creativity. The Deep Purple classic ‘Smoke on the Water’, the first line of which is 'we all came out to Montreux', was written and recorded there, and many artists enjoy the inspiration the region has to offer. The Golden Award of Montreux reflects the fact that advertising communication is part of the global world of creativity.

The Golden Award of Montreux has been honouring outstanding work across advertising, media, digital and events since 1989.

The 'Advertising of the Year 2023' award went to BETC for the Canal+ commercial 'The Secret of Wakany' directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet. The spot is a brilliant and humorous take on TV shows with a disappointing ending. Also celebrated was the ambient campaign ‚Anne de Gaulle’, developed by Havas Paris. From December 3 to 10, 2022, the Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport was replaced by the Paris-Anne de Gaulle airport in honor of Charles de Gaulles daughter Anne, who had a disability. The strong impact gives the Anne de Gaulle Foundation and the social projects it supports the echo they deserve. It won in the subcategories Best Use of Integrated and Temporary Brand Communication.

The film "The Rift" for Penny by Serviceplan also won two awards. The strong message: let's heal the rifts in our society with dialogue instead of confrontation and ignorance. It won in the Online Video and Sound Design subcategories. The Serviceplan Group was also named Agency of the Year 2023, while Havas was named Network of the Year.

“The winners were not only entertaining and engaging but also contributed meaningfully to the culture of our times, while also driving brand growth,” said associate creative director at Ogilvy Health New York, Eduardo Basque, one of this year’s jurors.

Jeannette Liendo, senior vice president of marketing and communications added: “I am excited to honor those who have made significant contributions to shaping our world through their exceptional work which recognizes the industry's immense potential to positively influence culture.”

India had a successful year, with five Gold Medals, which may have come as a surprise to some, though not to juror Ajay Chandwani, Managing Committee Member at The Advertising Club India, and President & Creative Director at Percept H India. "The ad industry is experiencing exponential growth. As a result, India's advertising market is the world's fastest growing. Even in creativity, India is a rising powerhouse."

A total of 42 Gold Medals were awarded across six categories; Digital, Media, Print, Film, Design and Event, while a special focus for the Golden Award of Montreux is also the Talent Award.

The Montreux Talent Award is a globally recognised competition for students and young professionals working on innovative projects in the fields of advertising, e-content and design. Launched in collaboration with Swiss Media, it recognises new and emerging international talent. Among the 2023 winners were young creatives from advertising schools and film academies from countries such as Germany, the USA, the Republic of Korea and Spain, who used the Talent Award as a platform to present their work to leading international experts.

Christo Kaftandjiev, Professor of Semiotics at Sofia University, was very impressed: "The entries in the student category were very imaginative. Some of the work was even brilliant because it was so simple. We asked ourselves: 'Why didn't someone think of this before?"

The Golden Award of Montreux 2023 jury, made up of inspiring personalities from 20 different countries, reflects the broad field of communication. Among them are CEOs of advertising agencies, creative directors, global marketing and communication managers of international clients and university professors.

For further information and a full list of jurors, winners and nominees, click here.