The Epica Awards are awarded - Grand Prix among others for the tampon book

Nico Ammann and Simon Rehsche (from left) are delighted to win gold at the Epica Awards.

The 32nd Epica Awards came to an end on Thursday evening with the festive award show at the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). It was a successful year from a Swiss perspective, with Ruf Lanz, Serviceplan, Cavalcade, Veeam and Notch Interactive winning numerous other awards in addition to the gold for Heimat Zürich and TBWA\Zürich (Werbewoche.ch reported on the Day 1 and Day 2 of the judging).

Agencies from France were the most successful this year: they won no fewer than 85 awards, including twelve golds. Creative agencies from Germany followed in second place, winning 71 awards and 22 golds. The most successful network is McCann, followed by BBDO and DDB.

In addition to the gold, silver and bronze pyramids, seven Grand Prix were awarded this year. Three went to Germany, and one each to Sweden, France, the UK and Israel.

The homage to the first long-distance car journey in history, directed by Sebastian Strasser and produced by Anorak Berlin, was released by Mercedes for International Women's Day 2019. Antoni Garage was responsible for the creation. The film celebrates Bertha Benz as a trailblazer and pioneer who, although she stood in her husband's shadow, took the wheel herself when most men didn't even know that automobiles existed.

The Swedish agency Åkestam Holst NoA secured the Print Grand Prix with a campaign for the newspaper Pressbyan/Experessen - the message: It is important that the media show the whole, unadulterated picture and do not withhold important facts from the reader. Without such reporting, world history would probably have taken a different course in many cases.

In times of flight shame, Ogilvy and Deutsche Bahn hit the nail on the head: with the help of an algorithm, image databases were used to search for pendants of landscapes - both far away and at home, which can be reached by train in a short time. The target group-specific targeting via social media, combined with discounts offered for train tickets - a digital precision landing.

Clever: overnight in Paris, all e-scooters from a certain provider were collected and placed in front of Le Drugstore Parisien. For locals and tourists who wanted to use the popular electric scooters, the app showed a clear picture - and drew attention to the pop-up store. 

On behalf of the online store The Female Company, Scholz & Friends Berlin drew attention to a peculiar misconception: sanitary products for women are taxed at the rate for luxury goods, while genuine luxury items benefit from a lower rate. The solution: tampons were sold in book form. The tampon book was not only sold out in no time, but also initiated the social discussion that led to a change in the law a few weeks ago.

Eldar from McCann Tel Aviv lives with a physical disability himself and, with the help of his agency, has developed products that make Ikea furniture "barrier-free". Small changes that make a big difference. Some of the gadgets can be bought, some can be 3D printed. The Project page also provides information on which Ikea products can already be used by all people.

A controller that also allows people with disabilities whose physical conditions do not permit the use of conventional game controls - Microsoft has developed an aid that is so well thought out and user-friendly that it is actually being used and sold. Best of all, Microsoft has even made the controller available for competitors' systems. The idea and development came from Microsoft itself, McCann New York "only" publicized and staged the whole thing in the end.

Gold: Simon Rehsche and Nico Ammann from Heimat Zürich on stage with Editorial Director Mark Tungate (left).