15/05/2007

Indesit Company is the first Italian company to receive the Clio Awards

The Aqualtis “Mondo Sommerso” TV commercial wins the prestige awards for 2007

Fabriano, 15th May 2007 – For the first time an Italian commercial has won the prestigious Grand Clio Awards: the coveted awards went to “Mondo Sommerso”, the TV commercial for Indesit Company’s Aqualtis washing machine.

The Clio Awards, the most fiercely contested by agencies in the USA and the rest of the world, were previously the exclusive reserve of “Anglo-Saxon” creativity and inaccessible for made in Italy creativity. This has been changed by Indesit Company’s TV commercial – “Mondo Sommerso” – for its Aqualtis washing machine. In addition to the Grand Clio in the Television category, the Aqualtis film, made for Indesit Company by Leo Burnett Italia, won a Silver Clio in the Animation category and a Bronze Clio in the Visual Effects category.

We are very happy about this extraordinary accolade, which after the many other prizes won makes our Mondo Sommerso one of the most acclaimed commercial on the international scene, commented Marco Rota, head of Brand Marketing at Indesit Company. This ad, on which we spent €30m for the TV and press launch, will be aired again this autumn in Italy, Russia, the Ukraine and the UK and has significantly contributed to the commercial success of the Aqualtis washing machine in Europe.

It’s a great satisfaction for Leo Burnett Italia, said Enrico Dorizza and Sergio Rodriguez, Group Creative Directors at Leo Burnett. It’s a prestige award that endorses a film that’s already won a Lion D’Or at Cannes, Golds at the New York Festival, the London International Awards, Eurobest, and the Kinsale Shark Awards, and was also a winner of the Epica Awards and the Art Directors Club of Europe awards. And with the Clio Awards, it now puts Italian creativity at the highest international level. From way back in 1960 when the Awards were set up, this had never happened.

At the ceremony in South Beach Miami on 12th May, the Aqualtis ad picked up its award having prevailed over finalists of the calibre of Sony Bravia, Skittles and Combos.

This was a major victory for Indesit Company, which over the last year has won many prizes for the Aqualtis and not just the TV commercial. Designed by the Japanese designer Makio Hasuike, the machine combines technology and design to offer consumers simplicity of use and extreme respect for the environment. In 2006, it received an Ecohitech Award as the best product in the environmentally friendly product category and a “Five Stars” from the Australian Standard Tests in the Water Rating category reserved for new generation domestic products that reconcile high service quality with reduced consumption levels and environmental compatibility.