Red Lighting and Oversize Statuettes Dominate Look of Clio Awards

May 17, 2012

For its second year at the American Museum of Natural History, the Clio Awards looked to craft a more dynamic presentation and celebration, while keeping the show short, engaging, and meaningful. The event—the night in which the Prometheus Global Media-owned brand presents awards for the most creative work done by advertising agencies and executives—kept many of the changes made in 2011, including limiting the number of honors announced onstage to only the most prestigious. (All winners were announced before the gathering via the Clios' Web site, Twitter, and Facebook.) The organizers also stepped up this year's on-site social media efforts, tweeting live during the ceremony and displaying Instagram photos from guests tagged with #InstaClio and #SpottedatClios.

In terms of visuals, decor producer Stoelt Productions sought to give the historic Upper West Side institution something of a makeover, putting the focus on the host brand rather than the museum's exhibits. This entailed placing oversize versions of the trophy at the entrance, at the center of the reception area in the Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda, and in the middle of the bar at the after-party, which itself was flooded with red lighting.

The stage presentation was also given a bit of a revamp, with LED panels, uplit columns, and plenty of dramatic lighting. Produced by Phoenix Productions, the show saw a new host, Joan Rivers, and special honorary awards go to photographer Annie Leibovitz and chef/author Anthony Bourdain.

A custom fabricated bar, 15 feet in radius, stood in the middle of the room for the post-ceremony party, with an eye-catching 10-foot-tall Clio Award statue in the center.

Photo: Vero Image

Marking the entrance to the event at the American Museum of Natural History was an oversize Clio Award statue. The annual ad industry ceremony drew hundreds to the Upper West Side site, including Ogilvy & Mather India's Piyush Pandey (pictured, second from right), who was honored with a lifetime achievement award.

Photo: Christophe Wu

Decorations inside the museum's Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda, which served as the main cocktail space, were kept to a minimum, with another Clio statue standing in the center of the space.

Photo: Christophe Wu

Interactive food stations from caterer Pinch Food Design provided additional visuals in the rotunda as well as activities for guests.

Photo: Christophe Wu

For the presentation in the LeFrak Theater, the production crew added some subtle, but eye-catching elements to the stage. High-resolution LED panels and uplit foil columns framed the platform, while haze and moving lights added depth.

Photo: Christophe Wu

To add more energy to the proceedings this year, the planning team behind the Clio Awards tapped Joan Rivers as the host. Rivers, who herself won a Clio for Best Performance in a TV commercial in 1976, entertained the crowd with plenty of jokes.

Photo: Vero Image

In addition to handing out the most prestigious prizes onstage, the night also honored photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Photo: Vero Image

In a bid to give the after-party space in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life a different look, Stoelt Productions washed the room in red lighting and added black furnishings.

Photo: Vero Image

A high-gloss black floor marked the reception space inside the hall and organizers erected a 15-foot-tall truss structure in each of the four corners to hang chandeliers from. Black chesterfield sofas, clear ghost chairs, and reflective chrome tables furnished the pockets created by these frames.

Photo: Vero Image

A second oversize trophy was placed away from the main floor and anchored on a circular red carpet. The piece was surrounded by four iPads, where attendees could view the work of the winners.

Photo: Vero Image

With the room packed, the organizers sought to create striking visuals for their social media efforts and trophy bar. The latter, which was introduced last year as a way to present Clios to winners offstage, was a 12- by 10-foot beveled mirror wall, with glass shelves to hold the awards. A 70-inch screen displayed images taken by attendees using Instagram and marked with the hashtag #InstaClio and #SpottedatClios.

Photo: Christophe Wu