The 2018 AICP Next Awards debuted during a gala ceremony at the Tishman Auditorium in NYC this evening (6/12), bestowing its Best in Show mantle, known as The Most Next Award, upon State Street Global Advisors’ “Fearless Girl” from McCann NY. 

The “Fearless Girl” statue, which promotes the company’s She Fund, was placed on Wall Street opposite The Charging Bull, and helped spark a social movement. The winner of the Most Next honor directs a $5,000 grant from the AICP Foundation to an educational institution of their choosing. McCann directed the grant to Girls Who Invest (GWI), a non-profit organization founded in 2015 dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in the asset management industry. Its mission is to have 30% of the world’s investable capital managed by women by 2030. 

The AICP Next Awards recognizes work in 10 categories: Integrated Campaign, Experiential, Social, Branded Content, Website, Mobile, Viral, Virtual Reality, Innovation and Cause Marketing. The Next Awards judging chair and the jury presidents--and select curators at large--from each category select The Most Next Award recipient from among the winners. In addition to the Next Most honor, “Fearless Girl” was honored in the Next Branded Content, Next Cause Marketing and Next Experiential categories.

Also honored in the Next Cause Marketing category were National Safety Council’s “Prescribed to Death” from production/development company m ss ng p eces and BBDO; and Portugal, The Man’s “Feel It Still” from production/development company PRETTYBIRD and Wieden+Kennedy. The other two Next Experiential honorees were Burger King’s “Google Home of The Whopper” from production/development company Caviar and ad agency DAVID Miami; and National Safety Council’s “Prescribed to Death.” And the additional Next Branded Content winners were Intel’s “Intel Drone Light Show at The Olympics” from the Intel Drone Light Show Team and Agency Inside; and Nike’s “Breaking 2” from Dirty Robber, National Geographic Studios and Wieden+Kennedy.

Besides unveiling the honorees, the Next proceedings included the presentation of live case studies for the winning Next Integrated Campaigns: KFC’s “The Original Colonel Sanders,” via Wieden+Kennedy; Mars Wrigley Confectionery/Skittles’ ”Exclusive the Rainbow” out of DDB; and Nike’s “Breaking 2” out of Wieden+Kennedy. 

The AICP Next Awards is one of the tent pole events of AICP Week--which also includes the premiere of the AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial, and the AICP Week Base Camp, which features educational seminars and panels.  Susan Credle, global chief creative officer at FCB, served as this year’s AICP Next Awards judging chair, as well as the emcee at the Next Awards. This year’s winners are available for viewing at www.aicpawards.com.  Each year, the honored work from the AICP Next Awards and AICP Show becomes a part of the archives of the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art.

The AICP Next Awards Curatorial Committee comprised the following jury presidents: Winston Binch, Deutsch North America; Jen Dennis, RSA VR; Geoff Edwards, R/GA; Kerstin Emhoff, PRETTYBIRD; Katherine Keating, VICE Impact; Danielle Lee, Spotify; Jaime Robinson, Joan; Jimmy Smith, Amusement Park Universe; Tereasa Surratt, Ogilvy; and Fernando Machado, Burger King. Joining these jury presidents were curators at large: Rei Inamoto, Inamoto & Co. (2012 AICP Next Awards judging chair); Allen Mask, VP/marketing, Intelligence and Partnerships, Sonos; Jeff Kling, (2016 AICP Next Awards judging chair); and Eric Silver, McCann New York.  

The Mill created the staging, opening sequence and graphic navigation for the AICP Next Awards premiere. Antfood provided music. 
            
Below is a category-by-category rundown of AICP Next Award winners. The AICP Next Award-winning work can be viewed here.

Next Branded Content
State Street Global Advisors “Fearless Girl”
Production/Development Companies: Craft New York, Traction Creative
Advertising Agency: McCann New York

Intel “Intel Drone Light Show at The Olympics”
Production/Development Company: Intel Drone Light Show Team
Advertising Agency: Agency Inside

Nike “Breaking 2”
Production/Development Company: Dirty Robber, National Geographic Studios
Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

Next Viral
Apple “Welcome Home” 
Production Company: MJZ
Advertising Agency: TBWA\Media Arts Lab

Verena International Co., Ltd. “Capture”
Production/Development Company: Phenomena
Advertising Agency: McCann Worldgroup

Burger King “Bullying Jr”
Production/Development Company: SMUGGLER
Advertising Agency: DAVID Miami

Next Virtual Reality
Gatorade “Beat the Blitz”
Production/Development Company: The Mill
Advertising Agencies: OMD Zero Code, VML

USC Shoah Foundation “The Last Goodbye”
Production/Development Companies/Advertising Agencies: USC Shoah Foundation

Next Website
Portugal. The Man “Feel It Still”
Production/Development Company: PRETTYBIRD
Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

Siemens “Mindsphere.io”
Production/Development Company/Advertising Agency: Deutsch

Google Brand Studio “Searching For Syria”
Production/Development Company/Advertising Agency: R/GA London

Next Social
Downtown Records “Live Looper”
Production/Development Company: BBDO Studios
Advertising Agency: BBDO New York 

Burger King “Turning Their Tweets Against Them”
Advertising Agency: MullenLowe Boston

Mars Wrigley Confectionery - Skittles “Exclusive the Rainbow”
Production/Development Company: MJZ
Advertising Agency: DDB Chicago

Next Cause Marketing
National Safety Council “Prescribed to Death”
Production/Development Company: m ss ng p eces
Advertising Agency: BBDO

State Street Global Advisors “Fearless Girl”
Production/Development Companies: Craft New York, Traction Creative
Advertising Agency: McCann New York

Portugal. The Man “Feel It Still”
Production/Development Company: PRETTYBIRD
Director/Developers: Ian Schwartz & fourclops ::)
Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

Next Experiential
Burger King “Google Home of The Whopper”
Production/Development Company: Caviar
Advertising Agency: DAVID Miami

State Street Global Advisors “Fearless Girl”
Production/Development Companies: Craft New York, Traction Creative
Advertising Agency: McCann New York

National Safety Council “Prescribed to Death”
Production/Development Company: m ss ng p eces
Advertising Agency: BBDO

Next Innovation
Intel “Intel Drone Light Show at The Olympics”
Production/Development Company: Intel Drone Light Show Team
Advertising Agency: Agency Inside

Nike “Live Design”
Production/Development Company/Director: Wieden+Kennedy Lodge
Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

Next Integrated Campaign
Nike “Breaking 2”
Production/Development Company: Dirty Robber, National Geographic Studios
Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

Mars Wrigley Confectionery/Skittles’ “Exclusive the Rainbow”
Production/Development Company: MJZ
Advertising Agency: DDB Chicago

KFC “The Original Colonel Sanders”
Production/Development Company: Smith+Jones Films
Advertising Agency: Wieden+Kennedy

Next Mobile
Bacardi “Snapchat Music Video”
Production/Development Company: North Kingdom
Advertising Agency: BBDO New York