Rothco won the Grand Prix at the annual An Post Smart Marketing Awards which were held in Dublin’s Mansion House last night, May 7th. The agency picked up four awards on the night in addition to the Grand Prix.
Javelin Group, meanwhile, won Agency of the Year and overall the agency group was the biggest winner on the night with a total of nine awards.
Ignition – integrated ideas people picked up three awards including two for the SuperValu ‘Perfect Irish Christmas’ campaign while RMG won in two categories. Other winners on the night included Goosebump, Target McConnells, DMCM and Starcom.
Elsewhere 123.ie picked up Smartest Marketing Team of the Year for its ‘Easy as 123′ campaign. Following on from last year there, was a massive increase in the interest from colleges and universities all over the country for the An Post Student Marketing Campaign of the Year which was presented to Padraig O’Connor, a student in University College Cork for his campaign ‘The Business of Keeping Ahead’.
Over 300 guests were in attendance for the annual awards and the MCs for the night were comedians Barry Murphy and Ristéard Cooper. The judging panel for the awards included John Concannon, director of Ireland 2016; Una Fitzgibbon, director of marketing Bord Bia; Paul Cooke, CEO of Post Publications; Eithne Harley, director of integrated marketing in Accenture and Bill Kinlay, chief executive of Mindshare Ireland.
According to Liam Sheehan, sales and marketing director An Post, “direct is the new smart and when channels integrate together they drive powerful results. We have witnessed this in abundance this year – the quality of the work which was entered was incredible. This year we saw a broad mix of entries, where in the past agency entries made up the lions share – we saw a lot more brands showcasing their work and entering directly; a great sign that customer connection is delivering results’.
According to Fiona Heffernan, head of direct mail, An Post: “The An Post Smart Marketing Awards are about celebrating the power of customer connection and the incredible results that can be achieved. We received a huge response this year from brands and agencies, some we know and some we have met for the first time. From strategy to execution, this year’s entries show that the smartest campaign wins.”
A full list of winners can be found online at www.anpostsmartmarketing.ie from Monday, May 11th. Meanwhile, the Gold category winners are listed below:
GOLD WINNERS BY CATEGORY
INDUSTRY IMPACT AWARDS
Smartest Automotive – Javelin Group / Lexus CT200h Campaign / Lexus Ireland
Smartest Fundraising/Not for Profit: Javelin Group Christmas / It’s the children who feel it the worst’ / Focus Ireland
Smartest Financial Service: Ignition – integrated ideas people/ Vhi Healthcare Vhi / Our Greatest Ever Offer
Smartest FMCG: Goosebump / Avonmore Protein Milk:Be Ready / Glanbia Consumer Foods
Smartest Communications/Utilities: ROTHCO / Meteor’s Christmas Campaign 2014 / Meteor
Smartest Retail: Javelin Group / Wonder – Unconditionally Yours / Arnotts
Smartest Travel, Entertainment, Tourism or Sport: RMG (Part of the DDFH&B Group) / #this is LIVING / Fáilte Ireland Home Holidays
Smartest International: Javelin Group / The Irish for Ferries / Irish Ferries
Smartest B2B: Easter Sweetzza / Horizon Digital Print Solutions
Smartest B2C: RMG / Laya Healthcare-Create Your Scheme / Laya Healthcare
MEDIA STRATEGY IMPACT AWARDS
Smartest Direct Mail [low volume]: Javelin Group / Chameleon 2 / BT Communications Ireland Limited
Smartest Direct Mail [high volume]: DMCM / There’s an easier way… Fastforward! / SEAT Ireland
Smartest Door Drop: Target McConnells / One Direct Personality Door Drops / One Direct Insurance
Smartest Publication: GOLD NOT AWARDED
Smartest Advertising: ROTHCO / Meteor’s Christmas Campaign 2014 / Meteor
Smartest Email Marketing: GOLD NOT AWARDED
Smartest Mobile Marketing: CATEGORY NOT AWARDED
Smartest Social Media/Viral Marketing: Oscar’s Story “King of Kilronan Castle” / Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa
Smartest eCommerce Starcom SuperValu: Smart Data, More Profit / Musgrave Retail Partners
Smartest Website/Platform: GOLD NOT AWARDED
Smartest Integrated Campaign: Javelin Group / Wonder – Unconditionally Yours / Arnotts
INTELLIGENCE AWARDS
Smartest Acquisition Strategy: ROTHCO / Meteor Simply Unlimited / Meteor
Smartest Retention & Winback Strategy: Easy as 123! / 123.ie
Smartest New Product Development Strategy: Javelin Group / Chameleon 2 / BT Communications Ireland Limited
Smartest Relationship Management Strategy: GOLD NOT AWARDED
Smartest Data Strategy: Ignition – integrated ideas people / SuperValu’s ‘Perfect Irish Christmas’ / Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland – SuperValu
Smartest Loyalty Strategy: Ignition – integrated ideas people / SuperValu’s ‘Perfect Irish Christmas’ / Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland – SuperValu
SPECIAL BUSINESS AWARDS
Smartest First Time Use: GOLD NOT AWARDED
Smartest Low Budget Campaign: GOLD NOT AWARDED
Smartest Use of Admailer.ie: GOLD NOT AWARDED
Overall Smartest Special Business: CATEGORY NOT AWARDED
Smartest Small Business: GOLD NOT AWARDED
INNOVATION AWARDS
Smartest Technology Innovation in Marketing: Launch of Connect – Ireland’s first mobile enabled Outdoor solution / Clear Channel
Smartest Copywriting: Javelin Group / Toyota – “All things to all people” / Toyota
Smartest Art Direction: Bewley’s Coffee Project / Bewley’s Coffee Ltd.
Smartest Agency Self Promotion: CATEGORY NOT AWARDED
CROSS CATEGORY AWARDS
An Post Student Marketing Campaign of the Year: UCC / The Business of Keeping Ahead / Padraig O’Connor
Supplier of the Year: CATEGORY NOT AWARDED
Smartest Marketing Team of the Year: Easy as 123! / 123.ie
Agency of the Year: Javelin Group
Grand Prix [Black Fox]: ROTHCO / Meteor’s Christmas Campaign 2014 / Meteor
