MFA Awards Finalists Revealed

More than 100 judges have chosen 51 finalists from 16 agencies to go head to head for the honour of winning an MFA Award on 17 October.

PHD has secured the highest number of finalists with 10, while OMD came in second with seven finalists, followed by Mindshare with six. Initiative and Bohemia each secured five finalists, followed by Wavemaker with three. Zenith, AFFINITY, UM, Havas, Starcom, Carat, Spark, Innocean, The Media Store and News Corp round off the finalists list.

The judges – drawn from agencies, client side, industry bodies and MFA Awards sponsors – assessed entries online before a round of live judging on 20 August. The winners were chosen by silent vote, with judges having to wait until the awards night to find out who won – along with the rest of us.

The MFA Awards, which returned this year after a pause in 2018, are focused on effectiveness; recognising and rewarding work that has delivered tangible brand and business results for clients in the short and long term.

The categories are split into three pillars – Outcomes, Execution and People and Community – and cover Brand Impact, Business Impact, Behaviour Change, Bravery and Long-Term Results among others.

A Grand Prix (presented by Seven Media), and awards for NGEN, Industry Contribution and Hall of Fame will also be awarded at the MFA Awards 2019 presentation event on Thursday 17 October at Carriageworks Sydney. The awards will follow on from an all-day effectiveness expo, MFA EX: Media For All, held for the first time this year. In an Australian-first, Sydney media agencies will participate in an agency shutdown to attend MFA EX.

MFA CEO Sophie Madden said: “The aim of the MFA Awards has always been to recognise the most creative and effective media thinking in Australia. Following widespread consultation across the industry, the revamped awards now have a greater emphasis on media effectiveness, applying a minimum 50% weighting to demonstration of effectiveness.”

Joe Lunn, Chief Strategy Officer of Mindshare and MFA Awards Chair, added: “It’s been incredibly encouraging to see the quality of strategic thinking and innovative solutions being deployed by the Australian media agency industry in delivering tangible, long-lasting results for clients. We can’t wait to celebrate with the worthy winners on 17 October.”

The 2019 MFA Awards finalists are:

Agency Talent & Culture

The Media Store

PHD Media

OMD Australia
Initiative Australia

Behaviour Change

Fox Sports: Monty’s Wicket Warnings, Mindshare, Foxtel

Maccas 30 Days 30 Deals: Get the “daily” with MyMaccas, OMD, McDonald’s

Complacency Kills, Wavemaker, South Australian Country Fire Service

Brand Impact – Presented by SBS Media

Get back to your Asian adventure, Bohemia Group, Aspen Pharmacare

GSK Children’s Panadol: First Timers, PHD, GSK Panadol Australia

From Couch to Coast: Using media as an intelligence tool for the Central Coast, AFFINITY, Tourism Central Coast

Thrush The Musical, PHD, Bayer

Omtanke: Rethinking Volvo, Mindshare

Bravery

Leveraging scars as a media channel: Pay with pain, Bohemia Group, Ozmosis / Rip Curl

Thrush The Musical, PHD, Bayer

Business Impact – Presented by Google

GSK Children’s Panadol: First Timers, PHD, GSK Panadol Australia

Omtanke: Rethinking Volvo, Mindshare, Volvo Australia

The Test Experts, Initiative Australia, Specsavers

Pet Search, UM Australia, RACQ

The DNA of shared milestones, OMD Sydney, AncenstryDNA

Content – Presented by Ad Standards

Find your true north, Havas Media, Emirates

Thrush The Musical, PHD, Bayer

Bond: Founders University, Wavemaker, Bond University

From IT to the boardroom, Starcom, Samsung Australia

The DNA of shared milestones, OMD Sydney, AncenstryDNA

Data & Analytics – Presented by OzTAM

GSK Children’s Panadol: First Timers, PHD, GSK Panadol Australia

From Couch to Coast: Using media as an intelligence tool for the Central Coast, AFFINITY, Tourism Central Coast

From cookies to consoles: how Carat helped Xbox measure the un-measurable, Carat, Microsoft

Setting a new benchmark for effective media measurement, OMD, Coles

Securing the road forward for NRMA, Spark Foundry, NRMA

Innovation in Media – Presented by OMA

Leveraging scars as a media channel: Pay with pain, Bohemia Group, Ozmosis / Rip Curl

Bacardi #MojitoMoment, OMD Australia, Bacardi-Martini Australia

Fox Sports: Monty’s Wicket Warnings, Mindshare, Foxtel

Long-term results

Creating Travel FOMO drives long-term growth for Gastro-Stop, Bohemia Group, Aspen Pharmacare

Driving Australia to hybrid, The Media Store, Toyota Motor Corporation Australia

The Australian Open 2017-2019: Hitting the Winning Serve, Zenith, Tennis Australia

Make Bigger Things Happen, Initiative Australia, Officeworks

Partnerships

Breaking records by getting mean: invigorating a barely known brand in a plummeting market, Innocean Worldwide, Kia Motors Australia

The Test Experts, Initiative Australia, Specsavers

Pepsi MAX: MAX Your Summer, PHD, PepsiCo

Coles & Taste Partnership, News Corp, Coles Group

Pro Bono/Cause Marketing Incentive – In recognition of Pam Lane
AIME: the Hooded Hustle, Initiative Australia

ALDI Mamia & Tresillian: an alignment of values to benefit families, Zenith Media

OMDonate continues!, OMD Australia

The Koala Museum EST. 2050, Starcom

Real-time Marketing

The news in colour, Bohemia Group, News Corp

Fox Sports: Monty’s Wicket Warnings, Mindshare, Foxtel

More than a chatbot, Zenith, Heineken

Technology

GSK Children’s Panadol: First Timers, PHD, GSK Panadol Australia

VOTE, PHD

Fox Sports: Monty’s Wicket Warnings, Mindshare, Foxtel

All Eye Want For Christmas, Wavemaker, Jetstar