SHIRTCLIFFE TO BE HONOURED WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT GONG AT JOHN CAPLES AWARD

Matt Shirtcliffe, Creative Director of AIM Proximity, Auckland, will be awarded the Irving Wunderman Award for lifetime creative achievement at the 28th Annual John Caples International Awards Show on March 2, 2006 at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Pavilion. Shirtcliffe was selected by the Board of Directors of the John Caples International Awards based on the “tremendous quality of his creative work produced over his career.”
The Creative Director behind 13 Caples awards, he is the first Irving Wunderman Award recipient from New Zealand, and the first from anywhere in the Pacific rim.
Named after one of the world’s most inspirational copywriters, The Irving Wunderman Award is presented by the Caples Board to an individual who, for a decade or more, has combined the highest levels of talent, imagination, curiosity and human insight into a unique body of creative work.
Shirtcliffe began his career as a copywriter in 1994 at Colenso (later Clemenger BBDO) in Wellington. In 1999, Shirtcliffe became Creative Director of AIM Direct (now AIM Proximity) in Auckland, a position he held through 2001. In 2000 the agency won gold at the UK’s Marketing Direct Creative and Innovation Awards, and three golds at ECHO. Locally, AIM remained the most awarded agency.
In 2001, AIM entered the John Caples Awards for the first time and won a Second Place, as well as a Silver at ECHO. Locally, the agency won the Grand Prix award for best campaign at the RSVP awards. Shirtcliffe was the most awarded copywriter and Creative Director. And in 2002, the agency won more Caples.
After a brief sojourn at Grey Worldwide, Shirtcliffe returned to be Creative Director and member of the Board of Directors at AIM Proximity. That year, the agency’s campaign for MINI BMW won a First and Second Place Caples, and the agency won another two awards at Caples as well.
In 2004, AIM Proximity was voted AdMedia’s Agency of the Year after significant business growth, and it reached a number 2 ranking in the global WON Report of creative Direct Marketing agencies. That year, their work once again featured prominently at Caples.
For 2005, AIM Proximity has five finalists at the Caples (their places will be announced on the night) for a range of clients including Bank of New Zealand, Air New Zealand, and MINI BMW. Locally, AIM Proximity won its first gold EFFIE award for advertising effectiveness, with the launch of the Airpoints Dollars program.