Is there truth in advertising? 'Results don't lie' in polygraph probe for NZ Effies

The ‘Results don’t lie’ campaign, by Whybin\TBWA New Zealand, features a website and eight videos in which industry leaders including Steve Cochran, ECD of Colenso BBDO, and James Mok, regional ECD for Draftfcb, answer probing questions about their top campaigns while connected to a polygraph machine. The interviewer in the videos, Gavin WIlson, is billed as a police-trained Australian polygraph examiner.

"Have more people on award juries seen your 'Donation glasses' campaign than the actual New Zealand public?" Wilson asks Cochrane in one of the videos. Cochrane answers "No", but a caption informs the viewer: "Deception indicated."

The campaign pushes the legitimacy of the Effie awards in dealing with “good old-fashioned results”, in contrast to other creative award shows. “There’s no hiding behind smoke and mirrors," according to the agency. "Only work that achieved real business results for real clients will bring home the metal.”

“The Effie is about interrogating our work to get a sense of what has been genuinely effective," said Paul Head, CEO of CAANZ. "The learnings that result make our industry stronger, more successful and prove our value to clients.” 

The videos are being released online one at a time on scheduled dates, leading up to the awards night on 10 October.

The interrogation theme will carry right through to the awards show itself, where the polygraph examiner will conduct live tests with some high profile New Zealand advertising personalities, using questions collected from industry blogs.

The campaign website also features an online self-test that uses voice-stress analysis to scrutinise answers. Visitors can share their results, or tear them up and bury them.

The campaign will also be featured in EDMs, hand-stamped posters, online polygraph banners and press advertising.

CREDITS

CAANZ
Paul Head - Chief Executive Officer
Kelly Gilkison - Sponsorship and Events Manager
Whybin\TBWA
Toby Talbot - Chief Creative Officer
Jonathan McMahon - Creative Director
Lisa Fedyszyn - Creative Director
Steve Kane - Creative Director
Ross Howard - Digital Creative Director
Cece Chu - Creative
Ryan Price - Creative
Jodi Willocks - Group Head
Victoria Meo - Senior Account Manager
Liz Rosby - Head of Content
Amy Hansen - TV Producer
Michelle Hong - Production Manager
Ali Vernon - Print Producer
Chris Lewis - Senior Designer
Frank Turner - Designer
Digital Arts Network (DAN)
David Minty - Digital Creative
Henson Tan - Digital Producer
David Colguhoun - Digital Developer
The Sweet Shop
Director / Editor - Damien Shatford
Producer - Lynnette Gordon
Executive Producer - Fiona King
DOP - Nick Burridge
Colourist - Dave McLaren
Mandy
Post-Production / Online Edit - Andy Timms and Mat Ellin
Music
Mark Wondercastle
The Coopers of Franklin Road
Audio - Jon and Penny Cooper