Full-service agency CumminsRoss has taken home the top gong and been named Independent Agency of the Year at this year's AdNews Agency of the Year Awards, while Clemenger BBDO executive chairman Rob Morgan enters the Advertising Hall of Fame.
The nearly three-year-old independent founded by advertising veteran Sean Cummins in 2011 beat out strong competition in the final reckoning for the overall award from fellow category winners Match Media, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne, The Monkeys and Maud.
"CumminsRoss has shown it can fly against the forces of global consolidation, the clout and resource that comes with multi-national and regional micro-networks and a general conservatism among blue-chip marketers to run with the safety of size," AdNews editor-in-chief Paul McIntyre said.
"CumminsRoss has battled those headwinds with a full-service creative-media model that today some might call a 'hybrid' but in the 1990s was the industry standard. WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell might say you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, but CumminsRoss has shown some can still zig when others zag.
"Against very real competition, CumminsRoss pipped the field because of its rapid emergence and growth and its contrarian stance on fusing media and creative under one roof. Hats off and congratulations."
Fellow indie Match Media picked up Media Agency of the Year, Clemenger BBDO Melbourne continued its dominance as Victorian Agency of the Year, last year's overall winner The Monkeys took out NSW Agency of the Year and design hotshop Maud was named Emerging Agency of the Year.
Meanwhile, Whybin/TBWA Group took out Ad Network of the Year, UM was named Media Network of the Year, Isobar picked up Digital Agency of the Year, Lavender took out Direct Agency of the Year, and Perth-based Marketforce won State Agency of the Year.
One Green Bean was named PR Agency of the Year for the third year in a row, Urban won Experiential Agency of the Year for the second year running, With Collective picked up Specialist Agency of the Year and BD Network was named Small Agency of the Year.
In the campaign categories, Ad Campaign of the Year went to DDB Melbourne for its Devondale work for Murray Goulburn, Ad of the Year went to Clemenger BBDO Melbourne's 'Boobs' billboard for Bonds, and McCann's '100 Day Challenge' for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation was named Media Campaign of the Year.
Havas Worldwide won two campaign awards – The UN LTD Award for 'The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented' for Save Our Sons, a not-for-profit raising awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Digital Campaign of the Year for its Durex 'Fundawear' work. The Game Changer Award went to Lavender for 'Pay With A Kiss' for Sydney cafe Metro St James.
Clemenger BBDO executive chairman Rob Morgan was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in front of a sell-out crowd at the Royal Randwick Ballroom in Sydney. Previous inductees include David Droga, Harold Mitchell, John Bevins, David Mattingly, Dennis Merchant, John Singleton, Mojo, Lionel Hunt, Peter Clemenger, Keith Cousins, Bill Farnsworth, Sim Rubensohn, Frank Goldberg, George Patterson, Norman Catts, WO Richards and Hugh Paton.
AdNews Agency of the Year Awards 2013
Agency of the Year – CumminsRoss
Ad Network of the Year – Whybin/TBWA Group
NSW Agency of the Year – The Monkeys
Victorian Agency of the Year – Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Media Agency of the Year – Match Media
Media Network of the Year – UM
Digital Agency of the Year – Isobar
Direct Agency of the Year – Lavender
State Agency of the Year – Marketforce
Specialist Agency of the Year – With Collective
Experiential Agency of the Year – Urban
Independent Agency of the Year – CumminsRoss
Emerging Agency of the Year – Maud
Small Agency of the Year – BD Network
PR Agency of the Year – One Green Bean
The Game Changer Award – Lavender 'Pay With A Kiss' for Metro St James
The UN LTD Award – Havas Worldwide 'The Most Powerful Arm Ever Invented' for Save Our Sons
Ad Campaign of the Year – DDB Melbourne 'Devondale' for Murray Goulburn
Ad of the Year – Clemenger BBDO Melbourne 'Boobs' for Bonds
Media Campaign of the Year – McCann Melbourne '100 Day Challenge' for Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
Digital Campaign of the Year – Havas Worldwide 'Fundawear' for Durex
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