Auckland - An integrated campaign which saw tens of thousands of New Zealanders follow local celebrity, Mark Ellis, as he drove Toyota's new FJ cruiser (pictured) the length of the country - off road - has won Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand a haul of awards at the Communication Agencies Association Axis awards last week.
As the intrepid celebrity made his way through the rivers and mud New Zealand's back country roads are famous for, locals logged onto Facebook, twitter and a campaign website to offer tips to get Ellis from the top to the bottom of the country safely.
The campaign won Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand five awards, including two golds at Axis, an annual industry award event which recognises the best of the best in New Zealand's advertising industry.
Another Toyota campaign, this time featuring a cast of cyclones, volcanoes, flame breathing wild boars and ice-cream eating chimpanzees, won the agency the top award in the TV single commercial category and a bronze for copywriting.
The haul was topped off with a silver award for a pro-bono campaign designed for family violence charity Women's Refuge.