The top award at the third annual 2009 Intercontinental Advertising CUP event has been claimed by GT Inc (Tokyo), for its ‘Love Distance’ campaign for Sagami Rubber Industries. 

Awarding The Grand CUP, the multi-national jury agreed that ‘Love Distance’ was the perfect example of a unique campaign which truly reflected local culture. The challenge had been to increase awareness of Sagami Original and to acquire a positive perception of the brand, despite the difficulty of broadcasting TV ads about condoms in Japan.

The agency’s solution was to run a series of video ads via the Internet, only revealing the identity of the product right at the end of the month-long campaign. ‘Love Distance’ shows a real-life young couple in separate cities running towards each other so they can be together. The campaign was a huge hit across Japan and when the product name ‘Sagami’ was finally revealed, sales soared. View the campaign here. 

Koshi Uchiyama, creative director at GT Inc in Tokyo, said: "We are truly happy and honoured that people from different countries and cultural backgrounds have equally given us a high evaluation for our work.

"I think ‘Love Distance’ became a popular campaign globally because we were able to attract attention by giving people a fresh ‘wow’ element in a product that is essentially difficult to surprise people. We did not define our target to a certain generation or gender and aimed for an expression that would not rely on words but be clearly understood and empathised with."

The global jury panel gathered in Bosnia and Herzegovina last week to select the 2009 winners of The CUP after the ceremony was relocated there from Thailand – following postponement of the AdFest event due to political uncertainty there recently. It is likely AdFest will now be held in May.

Overall, the Ibero-America region won 13 trophies, with Asia Pacific the second top-performing region in the world, with ten awards. Agencies from Europe won eight trophies, with agencies from Eastern Europe claiming two. More than 900 entries had been received.

The CUP awards jury member Michael Conrad, president of the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, said: "Many local ideas have a freshness and uniqueness that can shake the world. Yet these ideas don’t always get the recognition they deserve at global festivals. In a homogenised world, local values are losing ground and, by diminishing their importance for local people, nations lose their identities. And as they lose identities, a significant part of humanity is lost."

A full list of winners and nominations can be downloaded and, for further information, visit: www.thecupawards.com