Photo Chris Bellew /Fennell Photography.
PHD has won this year’s Power of Press Planning competition which is organised annually by NewsBrands Ireland.
Teams of young media planners from eight of Ireland’s leading agencies participated in the competition which was held last week. Their task was to devise strategies to showcase the range and effectiveness of the various print and online platforms that make up NewsBrands Ireland. The teams had a few hours to prepare their strategies and plans and representatives from the various NewsBrands Ireland advertising departments were on hand to provide information about their products and answer questions. Each team was then given just five minutes to present to the judges: Chris Cashen, Media Director, Javelin, Emmet Wright, Creative Director Chemistry, and Ann Marie Lenihan, CEO NewsBrands Ireland.
The teams were judged on the basis of five criteria: Interpretation of the Brief; Strategic Thinking; Best Use of the Medium; Use of Budget; and Presentation Skills. With a budget of €500,000 the team devised a plan for the fictitious budget car – the ‘Suzuki Thrifty’. The winning team from PHD was made up of Lauren Kavanagh, Leah Fitzpatrick and Tiernan Brazil.
According to Chris Cashen, Chairman of the judges: “The PHD Media team chose to activate against different titles based on the core offering and strengths of each publisher. This was a fantastic move and I applaud the thought and detail in this area. The level of strategic thought invested in the brief and activation coupled with a clear and easily understood strategy succeeded in securing PHD the winning title in a highly competitive competition.”
The Mediaworks team of Adam Colton, Oisin Fahy, Rachel Hattaway, Julie Farrell, and Jennifer Bradley were highly commended by the judges and awarded a runner prize for their entry.
The winners were announced at the annual Town Hall event in Smock Alley which took place this week. The event brings together members of NewsBrands Ireland to showcase their offerings to advertisers and media agencies. The nine publishers who make up NewsBrands Ireland – INM, The Irish Times, DMG Media, Irish Examiner, News Ireland, Mirror Media, Irish Daily Star, Sunday Business Post, and Irish Farmers Journal – showcased their full suite of products including all print and digital offerings.
According to Ann Marie Lenihan, CEO of NewsBrands Ireland: “Our ‘town hall’ event demonstrates the diverse and innovative ways that our publishers are catering to their readers– all in a quality, relevant, and topical environment for advertisers. What’s more, our recent reAction’ advertising effectiveness research report clearly demonstrates that newsbrands are an action media with ads in Irish newsbrands titles being twice as effective in terms of Action compared to the industry benchmark.”
