The Mayor of London and Ogilvy UK have taken home the Grand Prix at the DMA Awards 2022 for their ‘Have a Word’ campaign.
Following live pitches from several finalists, numerous industry experts decided that the ‘Have a Word’ campaign was the best advertising initiative of the year.
The powerful ad was created earlier this year at Sadiq’s Khan’s request, in a bid to raise awareness around violence against women in the UK.
The London-based agency’s campaign was rolled out across national TV and print media, eventually garnering a worldwide response after being widely shared across social media with an estimated 3.1 billion earned impressions.
‘Have a Word’ was aimed primarily at challenging male violence towards women and calling passive support through inaction. Strikingly, 85% of men who have heard of the campaign have said they would act to stop such behaviour if they saw it happening.
The United Nations (UN) has also recently announced that it will include it in education and training materials being rolled out to millions of men across the world.
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“Really proud that our ‘Have A Word’ campaign has won the DMA’s Grand Prix award,” Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said. “Our campaign is making a real difference in our fight to end the epidemic of male violence against women and girls for good.”
The winning campaign overcame strong competition in the live pitch-off with ‘The Record-Breaking Mailing’ by RAPP and TV Licensing, as well as ‘Reverse Selfie’, Ogilvy UK and Unilever.
DMA managing director Rachel Aldighieri added: “The ‘Have a Word’ campaign is the perfect example of how data-driven marketing can be a force for good across society. Due to its direct and engaging creative approach, alongside an effective strategy on how to make it resonate with men, it will have a positive impact on millions of people’s lives for years to come.
“The DMA will always champion marketing which drives meaningful change, and this will certainly continue to achieve this through its ongoing use by schools and the UN.”
