A series of witty videos for Sagicor Bank by Barbadian agency Virgo Communications, one of which included Deaf Barbadian talent, has resulted in multiple gold awards at the American Advertising Awards and the prestigious Mosaic award, which is given for diversity and inclusion in advertising.
The Caribbean Advertising Federation said the judges of this year’s American Advertising Awards (or “ADDY” awards) commended the agency for cleverly using American Sign Language (ASL) in the video “Bad Partner.” Amy Turkington, the 2024 ADDY Chairman explained that the Mosaic is not awarded every year. “A CAF Mosaic Award recognises creative excellence for an entry that promotes inclusiveness, equity and diversity. The judges felt that the energy and spirit in this ASL spot from Virgo Communications was very well done. They felt the actor was exceptionally talented in conveying the concept of breaking up with his provider.” The video was part of the “Break up with your Bank” campaign, which also won a Gold Award for the entire campaign. Virgo also won another Gold and two Silvers for individual videos in the series. Virgo also received a Silver Addy award for Rubis’ “Fuel Your Fun” jingle, further solidifying its position as a leader in innovative advertising.
Emma Saba, Director at Virgo, said the company is thrilled by the awards, especially for the Mosaic award. “The campaign originated thanks to Sagicor Bank’s commitment to doing an enormous amount of research into the issues and frustrations that people in Barbados feel with banking and financial institutions in general. Every one of these ads actually came from a key insight from a focus group or, in some cases, even from certain phrases that people used. What’s fantastic about this Mosaic-awarded ad is that the frustrations the actor brought to life weren’t around his disability. It was frustrations that everybody feels, and it showed the commonality that we all feel in certain situations.”
“Bad Partner” was directed by Khalil Goodman, Account Director at Virgo Communications. All the videos in the campaign were shot and edited by Stuart Hall.
Lionel Smith, who appeared in “Bad Partner”, is also a Deaf advocate. He said the impact of the ad is two-fold: it showed disabled people as part of everyday mainstream society and served to inspire the Barbadian Deaf community. “It gives some a sense of pride to see another deaf person on camera. [We can] look at it and… maybe they can also know that they can have the opportunity to be involved in something like that in the future as well.”
Dwayne Worrell, Marketing Manager with Sagicor Bank, said his company is “more than happy to have partnered with a strong agency to help us to bring, to market our vision with some flair and some flavour. It’s important for us to have several voices represented in our advertising because our products and services are available to everyone in Barbados. Simply put, representation matters and inclusion matters.” He added, “I would encourage other companies, entities, agencies to.. be more inclusive in their advertising.”
The Caribbean competition is the first leg in a 3-tier awards process and one of the largest competitions in the US and Caribbean. Winners from AAF-Caribbean will compete with winners from Florida at the District Competition, winners being announced in May at the District 4 Annual Meeting and AAA gala presentation. The third and final tier of the competition is National, which includes winners from 15 multi-state districts to compete as finalists in the American Advertising Awards competition. (PR)
