At DDB Brussels, the pandemic hit us hard: budget cuts, clients lost, people leaving the agency, we almost went bankrupt…The “old DDB” was over and we had to move out. Which led to one problem extra that we had to deal with: what to do with all the awards collecting dust?

To reach all our former clients, we launched DDB Re-wards. Giving away all our creative awards to daring ex-clients. Therefore, transforming all our awards into business cards to create new business leads and opportunities. The award itself also served as a visual reminder of who we are, because they now stand proudly on their desks, reminding them how good we were together.

How do you find new clients? Marketeers receive plenty of cold calls, LinkedIn messages and business cards of agencies and consultants trying to do business with them. Instead of approaching people we did not know, we dived into our archives and contacted CMO’s and CEO’s we used to work for. Many of them now work for different brands, which allowed us to reach them as new prospects by reminding them what great work we did together. By doing so, we created business opportunities for our company.

Each award was delivered in person by our creative director and CEO, in a special packaging that came with a personalised note. The Re-wards logo was composed from a special typography made from elements from the award shows’ own typography and graphic elements.

More than 20 awards were delivered, which landed 5 business lunches and 9 business meetings, resulting in 3 new clients. And by the end of the year, we were no longer bankrupt.