It was a standout 2009 for this year’s Hotshop Digital category winner. Resn received a ton of awards and international recognition for its delivery of clever ideas and outstanding execution.

Last year, global giant Adobe invited Resn to become part of the exclusive 40 agencies worldwide that form the Adobe Agency Partner Program. This sees the New Zealand-based creative agency working closely with Adobe product teams out of San Jose and San Francisco, helping to develop the global company’s Creative Suite of products for the market. Resn focuses on Flash, Photoshop and After Effects, which sees the team working six to nine months ahead of pre-beta unreleased technologies and advancements.

Three members of Resn’s management team – managing director Rikki Campbell, creative director Steve Le Marquand and senior digital strategist Andy Williams – were also invited to judge the AIMIA Awards, so it’s no surprise that Resn has built up a fine reputation as an expert operator in the digital media space.

But it’s not Resn’s involvement in judging that has award judges, participants and spectators’ jaws dropping: it’s the studio’s show reel that is making the industry work up an appetite.

“Resn made some other agencies’ work look five years out of date,” one Hotshop judge said. Another said the team “are amazing online storytellers; the work speaks for itself”.

Resn is a self-confessed specialist producer of traditional and new media creative solutions, working on web experiences, digital brand strategy, flash game development, illustration and character development, interactive ad campaigns, social networking application development, flash and animation.

Resn received an unprecedented five wins at the 2009 Pixel Awards, taking out Best in Show and Best Agency, beating respected names in the interactive worldwide industry such as New York-based agencies Your Majesty, Firstborn and Big Spaceship.

The studio bagged the Favourite Website Award (FWA) four times last year, which became a new record for Australasia. The FWA was established in May 2000 to recognise the most cutting-edge website design from around the world. The studio also took home an Honouree Award at the Webby Awards and a merit at The One Show for its work on website www.specialsurprise.co.nz.

Its work on website www.jag-jeans.com was nominated as Interactive Site of the Year at the .Net Awards, and, subsequently, Resn was also nominated as Agency of the Year.
However, this year’s Hotshop finalists, agencies Host and Soap, managed to provide Resn with a competitive run for the top position.

Last year, award gobbler Host took home the hotly contested AdNews Agency of the Year Award for its progressive full-service business model, offering true integration.
The agency focuses on strategy and planning, and outsources creative to a regular pool of creative teams for clients including Air New Zealand, Virgin Mobile, Ikea, BankWest and New Line Cinema.

Host, Australia’s largest independent agency employing 100 staff, believes that coverage earned is more valuable and influential than interruptive, bought media.
In its entry to this year’s Hotshop Awards, the agency said: “We do our fair share of banner ads and microsites, but what really excites us are ideas that generate their own media – starting conversations and getting people talking.”

As one Hotshop judge summed up, “Host has a great grasp of the social space,” with another adding, “Great big ideas, its social understanding is superior”.
Also winning over virtual friends was finalist Soap Creative, which convinced 1.3 million people to ‘Munk’ themselves. Remember the online viral campaign that allowed users to record their voice or type a message and create a high-pitch ‘munked’ message to send on to unsuspecting mates? The site attracted over 6.5 million views and had client 20th Century Fox laughing all the way to the box office.

Soap Creative also took the number of Lynx Facebook fans from 900 to 35,000 with its 'Party Across The Internet' campaign, and along the way scored 14 new clients including Optus, Village Roadshow, Seek and Sony Pictures.

The opening of a new office in the US in 2008 proved to be a success and Soap now aims to grow its Los Angeles team to 20 by the end of this year. It will be full steam ahead as the company opens a new office in Melbourne this year.

FINALISTS:

Host

Soap Creative