PROVEN TO DELIVER BUSINESS RESULTS,
EFFIE AWARD WINNERS STAND OUT
Meeting Market Challenges, Omnicom Lands the Most Effies;
DDB, BBDO and Leo Burnett are Top Winning Agencies;
Starcom MediaVest Group and OMD are most Successful Media Partners
NEW YORK (March 31, 2009) – If there’s a year to win an Effie Award, this is the one. The Effie Awards honor the most significant achievement in marketing communications: ideas that work. As companies seek to make the most out of their marketing investment, DDB, BBDO and Leo Burnett shined the brightest of all the agencies in the competition, winning the most Effies overall. Among the holding companies, Omnicom is the frontrunner, with 31 Effies. Gold, Silver and Bronze Effie trophies will be announced and awarded at the 41st annual Effie Gala on June 3 in New York.
“Effie Award winners have a competitive advantage for winning and retaining clients, especially in our current economic climate,” said Mary Lee Keane, President of Effie Worldwide.
DDB won the most Effie Awards of any agency in the competition, 11 total. BBDO and Leo Burnett tied with six Effies each. This year’s top media agencies include Starcom MediaVest Group, who partnered with 17 Effie winners and OMD, credited as a partner on 13 Effie-winning campaigns. After Omnicom,
Independent agencies landed the most Effies (20), with IPG winning 11 overall.
Winners of the newest Effie Specialty Categories include:
Brand Experience, the most entered Effie category this year, honors advertisers that are reaching out to their audiences to establish meaningful relationships, memorable, engaging experiences, and unique connections with their brands. US Army won the only Effies in this category, one Effie for Virtual Army Experience, (along with agency partner, Ignited) and one for Xbox/Halo 3 (with agency partners McCann Erickson, Universal McCann and MRM).
The Boomer category, (sponsored by AARP) recognizes efforts that marketed to the 50+ demographic. Winners include Allstate’s We Can Work With That, (Leo Burnett and Starcom) and Grandparents.com’s, Customer Acquisition Program (Taxi and Lockhard and Wechsler).
Winners of the Influencers category (spotlighting efforts that took on the challenge to properly identify the ultimate influencers and turn them into brand enthusiasts) include: Call of Duty 4 World Leaders for Activision (DDB and contributing agency Project C), Patriotic Six for the USO (Williams Whittle Associates) and The Reverse Graffiti Project, Clorox Green Works (DDB San Francisco).
A full list of winners can be found on http://www.effie.org.
In addition to the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners, the Grand Effie (best in show) will be announced at the end of the evening at the Effie Gala. Past Grand Effie winners have included the Nintendo Wii, the Apple “Get a Mac” and Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty” campaigns.
ABOUT THE EFFIE AWARDS
The Effie Awards honor the most significant achievement in marketing communications: ideas that work. Known by advertisers and agencies globally as the pre-eminent award in the industry, the Effies recognize any and all forms of marketing communication that contribute to a brand’s success. Any marketing medium is eligible for an Effie, as long as results are proven, including Print, TV, Radio, Outdoor, Internet, Guerrilla, Digital, Package Design, Events, Street Teams, PR, Paid or Unpaid Media. Since 1968, winning an Effie has become a global symbol of achievement. Today, Effie celebrates effectiveness worldwide with the annual World Effie Festival, the Global Effie, the EURO Effie, Effie Asia Pacific (Effie APAC) and more than 35 national Effie programs. For more details, visit www.effie.org.