Brand identity design work for its masterclass series and a thumb-stopping Snapchat ad for a Pizza Pizza promotion impressed the panel of anonymous international judges.
Abacus Growth Agency improved its creative offering for the last four years. After winning Platinum and Gold at the 2020 Hermes Creative Awards for a digital brand launch campaign for the cannabis brand Blissed, the agency saw an opportunity to enter again to maintain creative momentum.
Hermes Creative Awards honour creators of traditional and emerging media, which suited Abacus’ vision of providing clients with digital creative work that delivers results and builds brands while doing so.
Platinum Hermes Creative Awards: The Recipe
The Platinum was awarded to Abacus’ brand identity design work for their masterclass series, The Recipe. The design fluidly expressed the passion for process that Abacus upholds through a world of stunning cooking imagery to parallel what digital marketing expertise each guest brings to the table. Ensuring the brand is more than its logo is what makes The Recipe a truly scalable identity and a shining example of Abacus’ brand identity methodology.
“Brand identity used to be something so finite; defined by logos and brand bibles. I think the digital space gives us the opportunity to reinterpret these fundamentals. It is still important to communicate a consistent identity, but also leave room to break rules so that we are able to adapt across all the platforms in which we operate,” says Stasio Liu, Art Director at Abacus. “Following a recipe by the book will always produce something tasty, but sometimes when you add an unexpected spice or two, you may just come up with something outstanding.”
Gold Hermes Creative Awards: Pizza Pizza
Gold was earned by a clever Snapchat ad for Pizza Pizza’s Unlimited Pizzas deal. The “Unlimited Scroll” takes advantage of the platform’s sound-on experience and mobile-first storytelling to dramatize a seemingly endless scroll of pizzas for ‘$7.99 each’. “For years, Pizza Pizza advertised on Facebook and Instagram as their digital channels of choice, but we recommended Snapchat to open up more opportunities. New audiences native to the platform meant new, playful, creative ideas just had to be explored”, explains Abacus Co-Creative Director, Adam Mohammed.
As Abacus pushes its creative capabilities it continues to look for unique award shows such as Hermes since it prides itself on being solely for the creators. With anonymous judging, no biases can be formed based on who works where and who is on the jury. There is also inclusiveness inherent in the show since Hermes welcomes work from brands of all sizes, not just Fortune 500 companies like many international creative awards shows tend to favour. No case studies are required either. The work is judged based on the creative that is seen, in the same way consumers see them.
“It’s great to see the continued emergence of mobile creative on the awards scene” says Jeff Goldenberg, Co-Founder at Abacus. “Applying the Abacus methodologies to our own content platform was a wonderful learning opportunity.”
About Abacus Growth Agency Inc.
Abacus is a leading full-service digital company assisting businesses with digital transformation. By balancing brand building and performance marketing, Abacus has helped numerous clients as either consultants or digital AOR. Rogers Sports & Media, Lindt, Campbell’s, Pizza Pizza, and Cameo have all scaled effectively in a digital world through Abacus’ future-focused lens.
