Ogilvy win gongs at IPA Effectiveness Awards

Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific and Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong picked up prizes at the prestigious IPA Effectiveness Awards held on 1st November 2010 in the UK.

Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific was awarded Silver for their campaign Comfort Fabric Conditioner and Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong was awarded Bronze for their campaign for MTR. Both successfully proved the commercial power of their campaigns and demonstrated their marketing payback.

The Comfort Fabric Conditioner entry was titled ‘Comfort challenges the ‘rules’ and wins big in South-East Asia’. In 2006, Unilever’s top global fabric-conditioner brand, Comfort, was stagnating in Southeast Asia. Sales were declining and value growth was lacklustre. A new communications campaign, Andy & Lily in Clothworld, transformed the brand and its fortunes in the region. This paper proves how by driving brand differentiation and perceived value, Andy & Lily’s Clothworld has become one of the most effective campaigns in the region – in just three years. Comfort’s share of the category pushed from 58% to 67%, its annual sales growth increased to 40% in the first year, generating incremental sales of nearly €157m across the three-year campaign period. Additionally, the net profit more than doubled to €28.8m and the payback of brand communications substantially increased from 93% to 141%.

The details of the MTR ‘Caring for life’s journeys’ campaign are as follows: MTR, the local subway, is Hong Kong’s most used mode of public transport that is closely tied to the country’s fortunes. MTR set themselves a primary objective of sustaining passenger boardings and upholding brand equity, despite the recession. Rather than the use of gimmicky promotions or incentives, communications were instead aimed at addressing customer loyalty at its deepest level – brand bonding. Various television adverts told the everyday stories of people on the MTR, highlighting the emotional value of the MTR in Hong Kongers’ lives, under the line ‘MTR: Caring for Life’s Journeys’. The campaign generated £9.4m incremental revenue, and paid back £4.83 for every £1 spent.

This year the IPA Effectiveness Awards celebrated their 30th anniversary and continue to be the benchmark for marketing communications best practice. In total, seven Gold Awards, 18 Silver Awards, 13 Bronze Awards and eight Special Prizes were awarded in this year’s competition. To view the winning campaigns and creative work, and for more information about the Awards, visit: www.ipaeffectivenessawards.co.uk