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Japan's largest award, the ACC Awards, announces its 2017 winning entries.
The All Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association (ACC) announced the winners across all categories for the "2017 57th ACC TOKYO CREATIVITY AWARDS" on September 26.
Renamed this year, this marks the 57th edition of the awards, counting from its predecessor, the "ACC CM FESTIVAL" advertising awards. Recognized as one of Japan's largest creative industry awards, this year saw a total of 2,641 entries across all six categories.
In addition to the four existing categories—"Film" (Category A: TV Commercials, Category B: Online Films), "Radio Commercials," "Marketing Effectiveness," and "Interactive"—two new categories were introduced this year: "Media Creative" and "Creative Innovation," as previously reported. This expansion broadens the scope to encompass creative work across all fields. Six entries from each category were selected for the "Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award / ACC Grand Prix" and other awards.
The winners of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award / ACC Grand Prix in each category and the comments from the jury chair are as follows.
Film Category A Category (TV Commercial)
Advertiser: Sumitomo Life Insurance
Product Name: 1UP
Title: "Overseas, 1UP: Testimony of an Immigration Officer" / "Refresh for 1UP: Testimony of a Regular Customer" / "Exam for 1UP: Testimony of the Candidate" / "Memo for 1UP: Testimony of a Leader" / "Set Meal for 1UP: Testimony of a Restaurant Owner"
Advertising Agency: TUGBOAT / Hakuhodo
Production Company: Tohoku Shinsha
Film Category B (Online Film)
Advertiser: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Product Name: GRAVITY DAZE 2
Title: GRAVITY CAT
Advertising Agency: Hakuhodo
Production Company: Tohoku Shinsha
Review: Film Category Jury Chairman, Yoshimitsu Sawamoto, Dentsu Inc.
The judging process itself became a stimulating learning experience, thanks to the diverse panel of judges from fields outside the advertising industry. Judges representing the film and television world noted that many were impressed by the entries in Category A, which has time constraints. The winning works and creators, selected through unprecedented exchanges of ideas, should be proud. Another major feature was the large number of outstanding entries from regional areas competing for top positions.
Radio Commercial Category
Advertiser: Dai-Nichi Co., Ltd.
Product Name: Odokake Katris / Mosquito-Free Spray / Pre-Shower / Insect Repellent Kinchōru / Kinchōru
Title: Kinchō Boy 2017 Part 1 / Kinchō Boy 2017 Part 2 / Kinchō Boy 2017 Part 3 / Kinchō Boy 2017 Part 4 / Kinchō Boy 2017 Part 5
Advertising Agency: Dentsu Inc. Kansai Branch
Production Company: Hits Corporation
Commentary: Radio CM Division Jury Chairman, Hiroichiro Shima, Hakuhodo Kettle
It's crucial for radio ads to resonate authentically with listeners, so we invited radio program producers and personalities—not just ad creators—to serve as judges. Their realistic feedback on the timing of exchanges and sound design was particularly stimulating. While the Grand Prix winner was also last year's recipient, its multi-year narrative, along with its exquisite dialogue and copy, earned high praise.
Marketing Effectiveness Category
Advertiser: All Prefectures in Kyushu, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Okinawa Prefecture
Product Name: Work-Life Balance Promotion
Title: Kyushu/Yamaguchi Work-Life Balance Promotion Campaign
Advertising Agency: Nishihiro
Production Company: T&E
Commentary: Marketing Effectiveness Division Jury Chairperson, KDDI - Ms. Kinuko Yano
The Marketing Effectiveness category evaluates how marketing strategy and creativity translate into results. This year's judging was exceptionally challenging, requiring multiple rounds of voting. Key themes were "solving social issues" and "achieving overwhelming results." The Grand Prix campaign stood out for its innovative approach to the national challenge of work-life balance: the prefectural governor personally transcended regional boundaries, using "advertising" rather than public announcements. Its significant impact both domestically and internationally earned high praise.
Interactive Category
Advertiser: Tokyo Metropolitan Government / Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Title: Rio 2016 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony Tokyo 2020 Flag Handover Ceremony
Advertising Agency: Dentsu Inc.
Production Company: FHO Production Team
This year's theme was "Is that even advertising?" → "This is advertising! (21st century style, that is)." Due to the digital shift, the advertising industry, like all others, is clearly becoming something different from the past. However, what this year's judging reaffirmed was the "overwhelming power of visual content." Even the Grand Prix and Gold winners, while viewed and received in ways completely different from traditional commercials, possessed this overwhelming visual power.
Media Creative Category
※No ACC Grand Prix Award
Commentary: Media Creative Division Jury Chair, Broadcast Writer/Screenwriter Kundo Koyama
Each media type showed distinct characteristics: newspapers, struggling but impressively innovative compared to other genres; television, collaborating with other media to explore new possibilities. While expectations for the new category were too high for a Grand Prix winner, the Gold-winning "Walk-Pon" stood out. This idea, spearheaded by a broadcaster, tackles the problem of physical inactivity by using TV commercials to engage the community and a smartphone app to drive foot traffic to stores.
Creative Innovation Category
Category: Product & Service
Title: COGY/The Wheelchair for Those Who Never Give Up
Entrant: TESS / Tohoku University / M2 Design / TBWA\HAKUHODO
Commentary: Creative Innovation Category Jury Chair, University of Tokyo / Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Junichi Koyama
As this is a newly established category, it's fair to say this year's winning entries will shape its future. We solicited submissions with the policy of recognizing not only innovative solutions addressing real-world challenges, but also research-stage projects with the potential to shape the future. Each technology, work, and product was highly compelling, making the judging process difficult to rank them, as each felt worthy of its own award.
The winning entries and the full list of works can be viewed on the ACC website.
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