NOW Clients Win 3 Top International Awards for Public Advocacy

May 4, 2021

The NOW team is pretty excited that our clients’ campaigns have been awarded three top honours at the 2021 Pollie Awards, recognizing the best work in public advocacy and issue advertising from the US, Canada, and beyond. (Esquire magazine has dubbed the Pollies “the Oscars of political advertising.”)

Here’s a look at this year’s winning creative. Congratulations to all of our clients for their success over the past year!

HEU COVID Response Campaign

Every evening in the early months of the global pandemic, people emerged onto their balconies and porches, front steps and driveways, to applaud health care workers on the frontlines. Using anything they could – pots, pans, voices, and hands – British Columbians showed their gratitude for the dedicated workers who are taking care of all of us.

It’s these powerful images and sounds that inspired us to create this ad with the Hospital Employees’ Union, which represents more than 50,000 workers in BC’s hospitals and long-term care homes. This spot uses the sounds and visuals of British Columbians thanking health care workers, to create an ad that returns the gratitude – thanking members of the public for doing their part, staying home, and keeping each other safe.

Our team pulled out all the stops to create these ads in April, just one month into the pandemic. With our production partners, we filmed at six different locations across the province while ensuring physical distancing was maintained to keep all members of the public and crew safe.

These ads met the moment. They captured the gratitude of British Columbians – and conveyed the message that it takes an entire team of health care workers to deliver quality care for our loved ones.

CUPE 500 – It’s Yours

At the start of 2020, the City of Winnipeg was considering drastic cuts to city services. Officials warned that, to meet budget targets, the city might have to close five swimming pools, three public libraries, four arenas, and reduce hours at dozens of other facilities, cutting hundreds of jobs and reducing city services.

CUPE Local 500, the union representing employees at the City of Winnipeg, worked tirelessly to raise public awareness of the proposed cuts – and help save city services. Working together, we developed a campaign with strategically posting billboards close to the most popular and recognizable arenas, libraries, and swimming pools at risk of closure.

In early March 2020, after fierce community pushback, the city’s budget process concluded. And we’re proud to say that while some reductions to library hours and transit services were ultimately approved by Council, the full-scale cuts and closures did not materialize.

The AAPC announced this year’s winners during the 2021 Pollie Awards Virtual Ceremony on April 29. The Pollie Awards are awarded annually to members of the political advertising and communications industry who have demonstrated superior work on behalf of their candidates and causes.

At NOW, we work with non-profits, unions, and progressive leaders who are making life better for people, protecting public services, and speaking up for working families. We’re incredibly proud to create great campaigns for good causes – and to inspire action that makes our communities stronger.