A sell-out crowd of just under 1000 of New Zealand’s leading media personalities came together last night to celebrate the industry’s best work from the past year at the 2018 Commercial Communications Council Beacon Awards, in association with NZME.
The glitzy event was held at the Viaduct Events Centre, with the media industry dressed in their finest, all hoping to be seen in the spotlight winning metal for their media thinking that drove great business results for their clients.
FCB Media dominated the night, taking out the supreme award for Best in Show with their The Inequality Issue campaign for Westpac NZ, (also awarded Gold in Best Collaboration and Best Small Budget categories).
This year’s Advertiser of the Year was Fire and Emergency New Zealand, which also picked up numerous awards during the night.
Convenor Derek Lindsay said: “It has been a really strong year across all media entries, and especially those campaigns which were awarded Gold.
“As a result, the international judges found it a particularly close decision in awarding the Best in Show. The judges also noted that all of the Gold winners kept NZ at the forefront of effectiveness in media thinking and that this was a stable of world class work.”
FCB Media took out 12 Golds and three Silvers through their campaigns for Water Safety NZ, Westpac NZ, European Motor Distributors (Audi), Pak’n Save, Fire & Emergency NZ and Testicular Cancer NZ.
“OMD, Carat and the collaboration of Carat, BC&F Dentsu & MKTG rounded out the Golds.”
PHD also shone brightly in the spotlight taking home three Golds for their collaborative work with Skinny Mobile for The Best Freekend Christmas, and with MediaWorks for Helping Newshub win the election. Plus, an additional eight Silvers for Lightbox, DB Breweries (for Beer Bottle Sand)and Genesis Energy).
MBM also had a great night with three Golds for work with Serato and two for Cheers & Uber. OMD, Carat and the collaboration of Carat, BC&F Dentsu & MKTG rounded out the Golds for the night for their campaigns for Kiwibank, MetlifeCare and the Movember Foundation respectively.
PHD were awarded Comms Council Media Agency of the Year for their outstanding work throughout the year. Media Agency of the Year is an entered category judged on the merits of the business over a calendar year. The award takes into account business vision, employee development, financial performance, client acquisition and development, industry contribution and creativity and innovation rather than the traditional way of who won the most metal on the night. This was judged by a panel of independent business people and auditors.
Robert Harvey from Dentsu Aegis Group won the Sandy Smith Inspiring Individual Award with many of his staff acknowledging him in a tribute video as “amazing, compassionate, savvy, respectful and deserving”.
Brendhan Lovegrove, shining comedic light, was an excellent MC, and was joined on stage by Murray Sweetpants and friends at the Beacons Bar, where you could relax, grab a cocktail, a collectable Hauraki bobble head, and then your trophy. The Executive Judges joined the on-screen celebrations by explaining HeartBreak Island style, why each Gold clearly deserved to win their award.
The 2018 Beacon Awards in association with NZME were proudly sponsored by TVNZ, Sky, The Radio Bureau, Nielsen, Val Morgan Outdoor, Bauer Media, Big Mobile, Adshel, MediaWorks, Google, KPEX, and Soar Print.
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