The after-party to end all after-parties has officially kicked off (thanks to Julian Hamilton from The Presets), after the industry’s best and brightest were recognised at the B&T Awards 2018 on Friday night.
The sell-out event saw over 800 people flock to Sydney Town Hall to honour Australia’s top talent across advertising, marketing and media.
The Chaser’s Craig Reucassel and Chris Taylor were on hand to guide proceedings as MCs with their trademark humour, keeping the crowd engaged right until the very end.
Despite numerous holding groups boycotting all industry awards this year, B&T is happy to report was no drop in entries, with a total of 369 submitted. Our esteemed judges were given the arduous task of whittling these entries down to award 36 trophies.
In addressing event attendees on Friday night, B&T editor-in-chief David Hovenden said that apart from being adjacent in timing to Christmas, the B&T Awards are in many ways like the annual holiday in that there is the giving of awards, celebrations and potentially a drunken scuffle late in proceedings between people who know each other very well.
“However, the biggest similarity with Christmas is that it’s an occasion of coming together as a family,” he said.
“And in 2018, the theme of coming together has been particularly poignant. Nine’s merger with Fairfax the biggest media coupling in Australia’s history is a case in point.
“Yet the love affairs didn’t end there. It seems as if the entire out-of-home industry has been on a healthy dose of corporate Viagra. Following the failed nuptials between APN and oOh!media, both spurned partners found new love in the shape of JCDecaux and Adshel respectively.
“Surely, this is as far as I can take this tortured metaphor, you would think – you would think wrong.
“Following the union between STW and WPP, 2018 proved the year when that love got real with Y&R and VML leading the way for what is surely not the end of a period of fervent comings together between the 80 or 90 brands all housed under Sir Martin’s ex-roof.”
Pat Dalton, founder and CEO of iGoDirect Group (owner of Rewards Come True – the principal sponsor of this year’s awards), said it was an extraordinary time to be a marketer.
“We’re seeing brands engage with their audiences in new ways, taking different paths to cut through the ever more crowded media landscape,” she told attendees.
“It’s your combination of hard work, creativity, and data that is making marketing extraordinary. I’m glad to be here celebrating the amazing campaigns, and the amazing people behind them.”
Congratulations to all the winners and finalists (which you can view here and here) of this year’s B&T Awards, and big ups to our awesome judges and stupendous sponsors.
So, without further ado, here are your winners for the B&T Awards 2018:
BEST AD CAMPAIGN
BMF – ‘Good Different’, ALDI
BEST DIGITAL CAMPAIGN
Cummins&Partners – ‘Stop the Horror’, Go Gentle Australia
BEST DIGITAL SERVICES
Sparro
BEST MEDIA CAMPAIGN
CHE Proximity – ‘Making the List’, LEGO
BEST OUT-Of-HOME CAMPAIGN
The Monkeys – ‘Unlearn’, University of Sydney
BEST PR CAMPAIGN
Tourism Australia – ‘Dundee: The Son of a Legend Returns Home’
BEST PROGRAMMATIC TRADING TEAM
Bench
BEST RADIO CAMPAIGN
NOVA Entertainment – ‘Unlocked by Vodafone’
BEST TV CAMPAIGN
TBWA\Media Arts Lab – ‘First Dance’, Apple
BEST USE OF MOBILE
BWM Dentsu – ‘Disappearing Person Alerts’
BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Cummins&Partners – ‘Stop the Horror’, Go Gentle Australia
BEST USE OF SPONSORSHIP
Optus – Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY OF THE YEAR
CHE Proximity – ‘Hearprint’ Cochlear
DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING
GPJ Australia and IBM Australia & New Zealand – IBM THINK 2018
MARKETING TEAM OF THE YEAR
PayPal Australia
MARKETING TECHNOLOGY COMPANY OF THE YEAR
PLAYGROUND XYZ
MEDIA BRAND OF THE YEAR
VICE Australia
MEDIA SALES TEAM OF THE YEAR
Adshel
PEOPLE & CULTURE AWARD – UNDER 100 EMPLOYEES
The Royals
PEOPLE & CULTURE AWARD – OVER 100 EMPLOYEES
The Monkeys
YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR
Cameron Bryant, Sparro
STATE AGENCY OF THE YEAR – QUEENSLAND/OTHER STATES AND TERRITORIES/NEW ZEALAND
Rumble Creative & Media
STATE AGENCY OF THE YEAR – NSW
BMF
STATE AGENCY OF THE YEAR – VICTORIA
Leo Burnett Melbourne
DIRECT RESPONSE/PERFORMANCE AGENCY OF THE YEAR
The Works
PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Revolver/Will O’Rourke
PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR
History Will Be Kind
INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Cummins&Partners
BRANDING, DESIGN & CX AGENCY OF THE YEAR
The Works
MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR
CHE Proximity
RESEARCH AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Nature
EMERGING AGENCY OF THE YEAR
VERSA
EXPERIENTIAL/PROMOTIONAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Raydar
MARKETING CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR
The Brightsmiths
ADVERTISING AGENCY OF THE YEAR
The Monkeys
B&T AGENCY OF THE YEAR
The Monkeys
