Arnold, VW Snatch Best of Hatch

Mullen Finishes Close Second, Followed by Clarke Goward, Hill BOSTON--A year later than expected, Arnold Communications' work for Volkswagen of America has captured best of show at the Advertising Club of Greater Boston's Francis W. Hatch Awards. The New England ad community was stunned last year when Mullen's work for Swiss Army Brands beat out the heavily favored VW campaign. This time around, Arnold would not be denied. At the 39th annual event, held last Thursday at the John Hancock Hall, the Boston shop pulled in a total of 48 awards, one more than Wenham, Mass.-based Mullen. Together, the two agencies received more than a third of the 252 prizes handed out. Besides best of show, Arnold earned top honors in the consumer magazine category for six VW ads and snagged the most gold bowls--11, all for VW. Arnold's gold awards honored both its print and television work for VW, including the much-lauded "Synchronicity" spot. "There's an awful lot of really smart work done in New England, and VW is exemplary of what is being done," said Hatch judge Clay Williams, a creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day in Playa del Rey, Calif. "The Beetle work is unique, simple and true to what the product is about," said Williams, adding that selecting winners among the various submissions was no easy task. "There was a lot of spirited debate," he said. "We were choosing between the best of the best." Mullen won nine golds--four for Swiss Army, three for Money magazine, one for John's Barbershop and one for the Monster.com "When I Grow Up" TV ad. Clarke Goward, Boston, won the third most awards with 25, including a dozen silver bowls for clients such as InterNutria, Ragged Mountain and Boston Hops. Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston captured 19 awards in all, including a gold bowl for a Dunkin' Donuts TV spot called "Chase." The Randolph, Mass.-based company also was named advertiser of the year. Hatch judge Amy Nicholson, senior art director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, praised the spot. "The way they shot it was dead-on. It had you from the beginning and never dropped the ball," she said. Hill, Holliday's interactive division won three prizes, including a gold for the agency's Web site, which also earned praise from a judge. "I thought it was cool enough that I bookmarked it," said Mark Sandau, multimedia group manager at Fallon McElligott in Minneapolis. Ingalls in Boston, in its last Hatch performance (having been bought by crosstown shop Holland Mark Martin Edmund last month), walked away with a total of 17 honors, including three silvers for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Pagano Schenck & Kay in Boston received 16 awards, including two gold bowls. One was for a Consumer Credit Counseling Services TV commercial, the other for a public service ad for the World Society for the Protection of Animals. The Donovan Group in Northborough, Mass., racked up seven prizes in all, including a gold for an offbeat print campaign created for hometown client O'Driscoll's Fresh Butchery. Surprisingly, there were few honors for several midsized agencies of note. Holland Mark won just two merit awards out of 20 entries, and RDW Group in Providence, R.I., received one bronze and one merit award from 24 submissions. The number of entries, 1,752, was down from 2,016 last year, but the number of prizes given out rose by nearly 20 percent. The increase in the number of winners "would tell me the judges deemed the work top-notch," said Ad Club president Bethany Kendall. 1999 HATCH WINNERS* Arnold Communications 11 15 11 CC and D Communications 1 CGN 3 Clarke Goward 12 7 Crocker Inc. 1 1 Donovan Group 1 4 Doyle Inc. 1 1 Gearon Hoffman 2 Greenberg Seronick 4 Hill, Holliday 2 4 7 Ingalls 3 6 Landes Lombardi Associates 1 Mullen 9 20 7 Nail 3 1 Pagano Schenck & Kay 2 4 7 Partners & Simons 3 RainCastle 1 Wallwork Curry Sandler 1 1 * Merit and student awards not listed. Includes Hill, Holliday Interactive à Agencies or freelancers awarded a single bronze: Bilinki & Groggins; Devine & Pearson; Evan, Alias & Thomas; Gallucci Advertising; RDW Group; Todd Riddle

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Arnold, VW Snatch Best of Hatch

Lauren Wiley

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