WPP's bespoke media agency GTB Australia has picked up this year's MFA Awards Grand Prix for a campaign that has helped grow the long-term success of Ford's Ranger line of trucks. GTB (Global Team Blue) is a bespoke set up where Mindshare, JWT and Wunderman work together on Ford's work. It was previously known as Blue Hive.
While Omnicom Media Group stablemates OMD and PHD had the strongest showing out of an evenly spread field of winners at this year's awards (see full results and medal table below).
GTB Australia and Ford's 'Tough Done Smarter' campaign focused on shifting perceptions about Ford Ranger from brawn to brains by producing compelling content series that demonstrated 'The Science of Truck'.
This included a video that showed how the trailer sway mechanism worked while hauling a big boat on a motorway.
The judges said it was a poignant reminder of the importance of a long-term focus at a time when a lot of campaigns are focused on short-term results.
The campaign took out the Best Demonstration of Long-Term Results category.
Another campaign that performed well was Prospan's Don't Ignore the Cough by Affinity.
It picked up gold in the Best Demonstration of Short-Term Results category and Best use of Data, Adtech, Analytics and Research as well as silver in Best Communications category.
The agency that picked up the most gold was OMD with three while stablemate PHD picked up the most metal - an impressive haul of two golds, five silvers and one bronze. OMD (gold) and PHD (silver) also took out honours in the highly coveted People & Culture Award category.
Other agencies to bag a brace of gold medals include Mediabrands pair UM and Affinity, CHE Proximity and The Monkeys.
Client of the year was awarded to The Monkeys' Meat & Livestock Australia, while Val Morgan was awarded media partner of the year.
The 2017 MFA Award Winners
Automotive Vehicles, Product & Services
BRONZE -Hyundai Motor Company Australia, Hyundai Dealer Stealer, Ansible and Initiative
Durable Consumer Goods
GOLD -LEGO Australia, Build Australia, UM Sydney
Fast Moving Consumer Goods
GOLD -Unilever, Streets – How Hyper Relevance Put Streets Ice Cream Back On The Lips of Aussies, PHD
Financial Services
BRONZE - Latitude Financial Services, You Can Do Better, CHE Proximity
Food & Beverages – Sponsored by ASB
GOLD - Unilever, Tapping Into The Tipping Point With Lipton Ice Tea, PHD Media
Public Sector, Utilities & Charities
GOLD - WWF Australia, Safe Passage For Sea Creatures, Starcom
SILVER - Go Gentle Australia, Be The Bill - How We Harnessed The Power Of Personalization To Put Euthanasia On The Political Agenda, Cummins&Partners
Media & Entertainment – Sponsored by OzTAM
GOLD - SBS, Deep Water, Zenith
SILVER - Foxtel: Showcase, How A Prison Rat Made Wentworth No.1 On Foxtel, Mindshare
Retail & eCommerce
GOLD - Ancestry.com.au, Storytelling Is In Our DNA, OMD
SILVER - eHarmony, ‘Be My Valentine', OMD
Telco, Travel, Leisure & Other Services
GOLD - Cummins&Partners - Tourism Western Australia, #JUSTANOTHERDAYINWA - How We Harnessed The Power Of Social Media To Enable A Few, To Get The Many, To Sell (to) The Lot, Cummins&Partners
Best Communications Strategy
GOLD - Cochlear, The Hearing Test In Disguise, CHE Proximity
SILVER - Flordis, Prospan 'Don't Ignore A Cough', AFFINITY
BRONZE - Coca-Cola South Pacific, Fanta Relaunch, UM Sydney
Best New Product Launch/Relaunch
GOLD - Microsoft, Forza Horizon 3: Leave Your Limits, Carat Australia
Best Integrated Campaign
GOLD - Coca-Cola South Pacific, Fanta Relaunch, UM Sydney
SILVER - Google, The Google app & The Voice, PHD Australia
Best Use of a Small Budget (Up to $300,000)
GOLD - Cochlear, The Hearing Test In Disguise, CHE Proximity
SILVER - WWF Australia, Safe Passage For Sea Creatures, Starcom
Most Innovative Use of Media – Sponsored by Nine Entertainment Co.
GOLD - Qantas, Out Of Office, The Monkeys
SILVER - University of Melbourne, Made Possible By Melbourne, McCann Melbourne
BRONZE - Foxtel, Marketing At The Speed Of Sport: Foxtel’s Next Generation Media Platform, Mindshare
Best Collaboration
GOLD - University of Melbourne, Made Possible By Melbourne, McCann Melbourne
SILVER - Google, The Google app & The Voice, PHD Australia
BRONZE - FremantleMedia Australia, Family Feud Disney Edition, FremantleMedia Australia
Best Use of Technology
GOLD - Foxtel, Marketing At The Speed Of Sport: Foxtel's Next Generation Media Platform, Mindshare
SILVER - Foxtel: Showcase, How A Prison Rat Made Wentworth No.1 On Foxtel, Mindshare
BRONZE - Unilever, Streets – How Hyper Relevance Put Streets Ice Cream Back On The Lips Of Aussies, PHD
Best Demonstration of Short-Term Results – Sponsored by Facebook
GOLD - Flordis, Prospan 'Don't Ignore A Cough', AFFINITY
SILVER - Go Gentle Australia, Be The Bill - Harnessing The Power Of Personalization To Put Euthanasia On The Political Agenda, Cummins&Partners
Best Demonstration of Long-Term Results – Sponsored by MOVE
GOLD - Ford Motor Company Australia, Tough Done Smarter, GTB Australia
SILVER - ANZ, ‘Buy Ready', PHD Melbourne
Best Use of Data, Adtech, Analytics or Research
GOLD - Flordis, Prospan 'Don't Ignore A Cough', AFFINITY
SILVER - Flight Centre Travel Group, Building The Flight Centre Travel Group Co-op, Ikon Communications
BRONZE - Cochlear, The Hearing Test In Disguise, CHE Proximity
Best Use of Real-Time Marketing
GOLD - The University of Sydney, Dynamic Recruitment, The Monkeys
SILVER - Unilever, Streets – How Hyper Relevance Put Streets Ice Cream Back On The Lips Of Aussies, PHD
People & Culture Award
GOLD - Conquering Churn With Life/Work Blend, OMD
SILVER - Behind PHD's Transformation, A Journey Of 180 People, PHD Media
Pro Bono/Cause Marketing Initiative - In recognition of Pam Lane
GOLD - The Pyjama Foundation, OMD & The Pyjama Foundation, OMD Sydney
SILVER - Foodbank, Foodbank Food Fight 2016, Maxus
Media Partner of the Year
GOLD - Val Morgan
SILVER - Adshel Street Furniture
BRONZE - Nova Entertainment
Marketing Team of the Year – Sponsored by the AANA
GOLD - Meat & Livestock Australia
BRONZE - Westpac Group
Grand Pix Winner
Ford Motor Company Australia, Tough Done Smarter, GTB Australia
2017 MFA Awards Medal Table
*GTB Australia awarded one gold for Grand Prix.
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