The winners of Google’s highly coveted Premier Partner Awards 2023 have been revealed from an exceptional shortlist.
The Premier Partner Awards celebrate the remarkable work of top digital agencies in both Australia and New Zealand and are open to the top three per cent of Google Partner agencies.
Naturally, Google knows a thing or two about digital marketing, so recognition from the brand means a helluva lot — providing significant kudos from around the industry. Plus, Google truly values the role that agencies play in the digital marketing ecosystem and their expertise, making it extra keen to recognise the invaluable work they do.
To celebrate the awards, this year Google hosted an afternoon of thought leadership and panel discussions before handing out the awards.
The first panel discussion focused on AI (it wouldn’t be an event in 2023 without at least a mention and saw the group unpack the key AI developments from the year and talk about how they’re putting AI to use in solving real business challenges. The panel featured:
- Panel host: Carly Hollis, agency head at Google
- Panelist: James Dixon, chief digital officer at Atomic 212
- Panelist: Cameron Bryant, partner at Sparro
- Panelist: Kellyn Coetzee, head of performance media & AI at Kinesso.
The second “Unlocking Brand and Performance” saw the four speakers discuss how brands and agencies have secured brand investment and used YouTube to deliver both long and short-term business objectives. It featured:
- Panel host: Hayley Botes, market head for commercial business, New Zealand, Google
- Panelist: Lani Cummins, general manager of Incubeta
- Panelist: David Brownless, head of performance, HNRY
- Panelist: Emma Clapperton, head of brand, HNRY.
Then it was onto the awards. This year indie shop Sparro took home two gongs this year, reflecting the very impressive 12 months it has had.
Here’s the full list of winners:
- App Growth: for expertise and innovation in app campaigns that helped clients grow, acquire, and retain new customers — Alley Group.
- Brand Awareness: Awarded for driving brand awareness for sustainable growth in a changing world — Sparro.
- International Growth: Awarded for helping clients expand into new markets and drive sustainable international growth — Digital Minds Group.
- Lead Generation: Awarded for partnering with clients to generate high-quality leads at scale — Sparro.
- Online Sales: Awarded for driving online sales in moments of shopper deliberation and discovery — dentsu Australia.
- Workplace Excellence: Awarded for inclusive company principles that benefit talent and improve the workplace — Soul & Wolf.
This year Google has also recognised the agency with the highest lift in performance in each of the first four categories, with a Breakthrough Excellence Award.
- Breakthrough Excellence in Brand Awareness: Calibrate (NZ)
- Breakthrough Excellence in Online Sales: Pattern
- Breakthrough Excellence in Lead Generation: Hatched
- Breakthrough Excellence in App Growth: Reload Media.
You can find out more about the winners, and check out the rest of the very worthy finalists here.
To find out more about the Premier Partner Awards, and how to enter next year, check out Google’s dedicated site.
