The winners of this year's AdNews Agency of the Year Awards have been revealed, with IPG Mediabrands-owned agency UM crowned 'Agency of the Year'.
In what was arguably one of the biggest turnaround stories in adland, UM won AdNews' highest honour after countless client wins including The Australian Government's master media account, Heineken, Amex, AGL and Nestlé.
It wasn't just the client wins that led to UM's success, a focus on culture, the work and its people also played a massive role, with the agency also winning the Media Agency of the Year category.
In a break from typical awards tradition, AdNews relaunched its event program, slimming down the number of categories and moving to a two pronged strategy, which included a Leaders Long Lunch and an awards after-party and exhibition.
The Leaders Long Lunch and exhibition/party was held in a busy Centennial Hall, Town Hall, Sydney, where the 18 awards were handed out.
But it wasn't all about UM, Thinkerbell after only two years in business, scored itself the title of Creative Agency of the Year, while Clemenger BBDO picked up several awards for their work with the AFL and Aboriginal Victoria's 'Deadly Questions' campaign.
To watch a video featuring the judges' opinions of this year's entries and winners, see here:
Note all judges this year were brand marketers and CMOs only, for the first time in AdNews' history. You can see who they were here.
The winners list for AdNews Agency of the Year 2019 is below:
The AdNews Effectiveness Award
Defence Force Recruiting's best Two Years on Record (Host/Havas)
Employer of the Year
Deepend Melbourne
Ad of the Year presented by Val Morgan
Deadly Questions (Clemenger BBDO/Aboriginal Victoria)
Independent Agency of the Year
Special Group
Small Agency of the Year – Independent
The Zoo Republic
Small Agency of the Year – Network
Mediahub Sydney
PR Agency of the Year
Red Agency
Content Agency/ Division of the Year
Daresay
Production Company of the Year
Goodoil Films
Creative Agency of the Year
Thinkerbell
Digital Campaign of the Year presented by Outbrain
Deadly Questions (Clemenger BBDO/Aboriginal Victoria)
The Best Use of Data
Project Revoice (BWM Dentsu/ The ALS Association)
Digital Transformation Award
From Bricks & Mortar to Fully Fledged eCommerce (G Squared/Cerrone Jewellers)
Brand Integration Award
Google AFL Partnership(72andSunny Sydney/ Google)
Branded Content Award
Don't Believe In Never (Clemenger BBDO/AFL)
Social Responsibility Award
Deadly Questions (Clemenger BBDO/Aboriginal Victoria)
Small Budget Media Campaign of the Year (Less than $250,000)
Losers' Paradise (Host/Havas/Air New Zealand)
Emerging Leader of the Year presented by Goat (Nova)
Michaela Futcher – The Royals
Media Agency of the Year
UM Australia
Media Campaign of the Year presented by MCN
Dundee: A Legend Returns - Tourism Australia - UM
Agency of the Year presented by Snapchat
UM
Hall of Fame
John Steedman
AdNews would like to thank all fo our sponsors and congratulate not only the winners but all the nominees.
To see all of our judges' videos, see here
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.