VML Sydney has added another statue to its 2026 London International Awards run, taking Bronze in the Health & Wellness category for the AI-powered experience built for 1001 Optometry’s ‘Magnif-eye’ campaign.
The recognition, announced after on-site judging in Las Vegas, lands in the AI-Powered Experience sub-category. That matters because it is not a separate craft prize: it rewards work where the artificial intelligence is doing the heavy lifting in the user journey.
A multi-category run
The same campaign had already won Silver and Bronze in the Digital categories at LIA. That means Magnif-eye is not a single-film story. Juries are evaluating the full interactive experience, and the work is collecting hardware across different rooms.
Australia’s tally from the latest round of results stands at one Bronze, with McCann New Zealand also picking up a Bronze in Health & Wellness for Hospice New Zealand’s ‘Dying Reviews’.
What the jury rewarded
The Health & Wellness jury, led by Klick Health Chief Creative Officer Rich Levy, handed out one Grand LIA, nine Gold, 12 Silver and 11 Bronze statues. The top prize went to TBWA\Canada for adidas ‘Supernova Adaptive’.
VML New York also took the Health & Wellness-Craft Grand LIA for Fuck Cancer’s ‘Beat Cancer Off’, a reminder that craft and AI-led experience are being judged alongside each other.
Why this matters for marketers
For D2C health brands and agency teams, the lesson is not “use AI for the sake of it.” It is that judges are now paying attention to how AI changes a patient’s or customer’s path, not just the output it produces.
That is notable for Australian and New Zealand agencies. Health and wellness is one of the most regulated sectors in advertising, so the path to global recognition often runs through utility, data and clear outcomes rather than broad humour or stunts. Magnif-eye’s run across Digital and Health & Wellness suggests the campaign led with a useful tool, then let the creative layer carry the brand message.
Here’s a simple check before your next award entry:
- Does the AI solve a real user problem, or is it decoration?
- Can you show the experience journey clearly in the case film?
- Have you entered the work in new-tech categories as well as craft and channel categories?
If the answer to the first question is yes, you have a stronger case across multiple juries, just as VML Sydney has shown.
Source: Campaign Brief
