2023 Winner

Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering is the world’s biggest collectable card game, with more than 40 million players. To drum up interest in the latest release, the brand let fans know that Magic was retiring one of its most legendary characters, Jaya Ballard, on the game’s 30th anniversary. To give the character its proper due, Publicis created the “Jaya Ballard Obituary” and published it in The Seattle Times. A couple of days passed, without anyone noticing. But when a Reddit user posted the obituary, fans flocked to the online memorial that was created and to the platform where they could purchase her final drop of cards. Pre-order sales went up 112%, the best-selling card collection in five years, and the campaign yielded a 2.4 million reach from 118 countries. With a mere $497 spend, it became the most successful
Magic print campaign in history.

Credits

Creative
Joanna Monteiro: Chief Creative Officer
Vini Dalvi: Executive Creative Director
Victor Yves: Group Creative Director
Helder De Freitas: Creative Director
Elliot Lewis: Copywriter
Paul Broughan: Art Director
 
Accounts
Ashley Weber: VP Brand Director
 
Strategy
Rylee Strachan: Group Strategy Director
Scott Harrison: Strategist
 
Digital Production
Benjamin Jones : Associate Technical Director 
Michael Smith: Project Manager
Jennifer Hsueh: Junior Project Manager
Jessie Zus: Editor