Starcom, part of Core, has won the 11th annual NewsBrands Ireland Power of Planning competition, with Havas Media Ireland finishing as runner-up among 12 agency teams.
The competition, held at Medley in Dublin, challenged teams to develop a three-month media plan for a new convenience food brand, using news brands across multiple platforms. Working with a €500,000 budget, entrants were asked to demonstrate how their campaigns would attract attention and reach consumers effectively.
Starcom’s winning entry, XHale, impressed judges with its connection between consumer insight, creative thinking and media strategy. The team comprised Anna McGin, Thea Silao, Callum Monaghan, Nicole Byrne and Caitlin O’Sullivan.
Christine Matthews, one of the judges and head of TGI Customer Success at Fifty5Blue, said the submission stood out for its clarity and coherence.
“From the initial consumer insight to the final media recommendations, every element felt purposeful and connected. The team used news brands platforms intelligently, with a strong rationale for their channel choices, and created a campaign that was both strategically robust and creatively engaging,” she said.
Fellow judge Helen Beecher, head of performance and measurement with dunnhumby, highlighted the team’s ability to translate audience insight into a media strategy.
“Great ideas, strong storytelling, plus elements that indicated rational thinking – such as the choice of timing for the media plan – all stood out,” she said.
Havas Media Ireland took second place with its “Soup Sorted” campaign, which judges commended for its strategic approach, creative thinking and use of news brands. Its team comprised Hardik Papnai, Jack O’Donovan, Aisling Part, Jessie Leonard and Emily Dooley.
“A huge congratulations to Starcom on a fantastic winning campaign, and to Havas on an excellent runner-up performance. The standard this year was extremely high, which made the judges’ decision particularly challenging,” said Lisa Buckley, communications and programmes director at NewsBrands Ireland
The competition followed an education programme designed to give junior media planners insights into news media advertising before developing their campaigns. This year’s programme featured Heather Dansie, insight director at Newsworks as well as audience data and research insights provided by TGI. Participants also had opportunities to engage directly with publishers’ media sales teams.
Now in its 11th year, Power of Planning forms part of NewsBrands Ireland’s work to educate the advertising industry about the effectiveness of news media.
