The Marketing Agencies Association (MAA) Best awards celebrated the most successful and effective marketing campaigns at an exclusive ceremony hosted by comedian and former marketer Russell Kane last week.
Elvis took the coveted Agency of the Year award beating off strong competition from VCCP, The Big Kick and Saatchi & Saatchi X.
Iris walked away with the biggest single haul of the night with five Best awards recognising their work with Philips ‘Bikini Line Perfection’ and ‘Steam and go’ campaigns. Publicis Dialog was awarded the Best of the Best prize for their work with Renault UK ‘Driving School’ which was also given the Best DM award. Last year’s Agency of the Year Saatchi & Saatchi X won ‘Best Campaign featuring Shopper Marketing’ for the Diageo & Coca-Cola ‘Together for a Better Summer’ campaign.
This year for the first time the Best Consumer category was voted on by the public with hundreds of people selecting their favourite through The Guardian’s website. Jamaica Tourist Board ‘A Totally Dad Dance’ created by Draft FCB London proved the most popular from the shortlist of five.
Another first for the 2011 Best awards was the introduction of The Best Collaborative Communication campaign which was awarded to WCRS&Co/Engine, MGOMD, Geronimo, Slice PR, TMW and BSG.
For the first time the Client of the Year was jointly awarded to Louise Curran, Head of Shopper Marketing, Diageo and Shelley Norris, Marketing Manager for Schweppes-Coca-Cola.
The theme of this year’s awards was ‘It’s in your blood’ recognising that today’s most eminent marketers are descended from a strong history of creativity and excellence in the UK. New agencies were also recognised with Table19 picking up Best Breakthrough Agency. Life agency was awarded with the Best Agency Development award.
Scott Knox, Managing Director comments: “It’s easy to get caught up in the cut and thrust of a busy agency or marketing department, so it was great to see the top UK marketers taking a well earned break to celebrate creativity and effectiveness at this year’s Best awards. With entries up and a broader range of agencies entering than ever before, the competition was tough, so those collecting prizes should be really proud of their achievements.”
For the full list of winners go to: www.bestawards.co.uk