D&AD: Masterclassics campaign

Category: Direct Marketing; Entered by: MRM UK

In order to help non-profit creative organisation D&AD promote its Masterclasses education series, MRM UK had to create a campaign that would have a big impact with a small budget.  It decided to do this by reminding creative leaders about what it takes to win a D&AD Award, which has long been seen as a benchmark of success in advertising and design, and why they should therefore invest in educating their junior staff so they might some day win one too. 

To make this point, D&AD committed sacrilege by tearing up a copy of its cherished D&AD Annual, then sent the creative leaders a torn page of its own winning work with the message: “You know where great work ends up. But does the rest of your agency know where it begins?”

The mailshot went out two weeks before the UK’s first coronavirus lockdown. Training bud-gets were among the first things to be slashed in response to the pandemic, but the campaign still achieved a 9.1% response. 

Agency: MRM UK
CCO: Nicky Bullard
Associate Creative Directors: Michael Poole, Andrew Pogson
Business Director: Lucy Kinmond
Strategy: Alec Tooze
Marketing Director, D&AD: Laura Kelly