With the full breakdown of the 2019 winners now revealed and available to view in the Book of the Night, here are some of the highlights.
Vertical Awards
Competing for titles such as Best Travel Campaign, Best Telecoms, and Best Best Beauty Campaign, the Vertical Awards kicked off the proceedings in a flurry.The
Best Food & Drink Campaign
was up first. Five entries were shortlisted for butPegasus
scooped the award for their work withHolland and Barrett
on theWonder of Manuka Campaign that reached millions and was a shining example of how influencers can spark change and educate new audiences. Campaigns that mixed integration and creativity with long-term influencer partnerships is a theme that continued throughout the evening and is evidence of the kind of partnerships the industry has been seeing this year.Pegasus
returned once more to the stage to winBest Health Campaign
for their work on the Benenox Sleep Campaign. Extensive research and industry insights played a vital role in this efficient campaign, which undertook a clear multi-pronged approach to help build brand recognition and credibility among consumers.When it came round to
Best Travel Campaign,
it was a surprise win forEindhoven365: AnOther City Trip 2018
. Eindhoven365 tapped into the world of influencers to reach new audiences for the first time to reinvent influencer marketing for urban explorers. By challenging the idea of influencer marketing as we know it, the team created ambassadors by heart and not by contract. This refreshing, fun and interesting campaign took risks but exceeded goals by allowing creativity to excel.Meanwhile,MSL UK
scoopedBest Family & Parenting Campaign
fortheir work with Renault on the#BehindCarDoorscampaign.Renault
teamed up with MSL UK to find a way to drive greater relevance with Renault Scénic’s target audience – families. Embarking on a year-long commitment was indeed brave and managing to sustain quality engagement throughout the year was no mean feat.A surprise win forBest Home & Garden Campaign
came fromLiquid-Plumr / Will it Clog
. Drain openers are not often sought-after home products but that didn’t get in the way of Liquid-Plumr putting together a campaign withReach Agency
to showcase the product and inspire consumers, whilst influencers were able to have a more meaningful impact on someone’s life in Pulse Advertising campaign “ELI’s DREAM”forDeutsche Telekom,
which wonBest Telecoms Campaign.
The awards continued withBest Sport & Fitness Campaign,
withŠKODA
– #ThisIsOurTime claiming gold. On a mission to redress the gender disparity in sports by shining a light on women’s cycling and champion gender parity at all levels,Ogilvy
andŠKODA UK
teamed up with The Telegraph and four elite cycling ambassadors to bring the gender gap into sharper public focus with their #ThisIsOurTime campaign.The next award of the night wasBest Fashion & Style Campaign,
whereWhalar
took to the stage for their work withNET-A-PORTER
xJW Anderson
. By putting storytelling at the heart of this never-before-done groundbreaking campaign, five creators captured the inspiration and artistry of JW Anderson’s exclusive capsule collection exquisitely. Then, the most competitive of the vertical awards was the hotly contestedBest Beauty Campaign.
Six deserved companies made it on the shortlist butBoots UK – Boots Beauty Festival
collected their first trophy of the night.
The influencer content reached 3.2 million across social channels alone, with an average engagement rate of 4.8% across the target audience. In fact, it was so successful, Boots are planning to turn this into an annual event.
Technology Awards
It was time to move on to the Technology Awards, identifying just three leaders within the space. First up in the technology awards wasBest Influencer Discovery Tool.
Gold went toTraackr
, which has the industry’s most comprehensive influencer database. Traackr’s discovery engine provides access to millions of profiles from nano-influencers to global celebrities across 43 countries and 19 languages, which are searchable by content, key metrics, and influencer follower demographics. TheBest Relationship Management Tool
had three shortlisted but taking home the award wasTakumi: Visa Cross Border Campaign.
Takumi’s tool includes a ten-step verification process using a combination of both technology and human insight for influencers in the planning phase of an influencer marketing campaign, enabling Takumi to build a network of verified influencers for Visa. Returning to the limelight wasTraackr
, securing the award forBest Campaign Planning & Management Tool.
Traackr has continued to penetrate the market over the last year, significantly increasing the number of enterprises customers globally.
Campaign Awards
Approaching the half-way mark, it was over to the Campaign Awards, which saw five categories up for grabs.Pfizer Vaccines UK & BCW
scoopedBest Use of Data
for their work on the #24YouHaveThePower Campaign, which saw clever and thoughtful planning, and reliance on data help to successfully communicate to young adults that needed to be aware of the vaccination.The next category was up for much debate amongst the judges. They had a tricky task coming to a conclusion, but theMost Effective Campaign for ROI
winner went toKairos Esports
forKFC Gaming, UK Launch.
With a high chance of failure, Kairos beat all the odds with strategic research contributing to the high score. Judges praised the “detailed, well-articulated entry” that showcased clear ROI in this tough category. Moving on, theRenault #BehindCarDoors Campaign
was crownedMost Effective Collaboration or Partnership
earning judges’ backing for its creativity. Working closely with just two influencers during the brave year-long campaign, the socially optimised creative achieved 48% uplift in ad recall in addition to having attained 1.7 million influencer engagements so far. Among the roster of winners in the Campaign Awards,Eindhoven365: AnOther City Trip 2018
won gold forMost Creative Influencer Marketing Campaign
, followed byIMA
congratulated forBest Brand Engagement Campaign
forNIVEA’s #Prepare with NIVEA MEN
digital campaign. Coming to the final Campaign award,Best Integrated Influencer Marketing Campaign (multi-channel),
it was perhaps a surprise to seeBoots UK – Boots Beauty Festival
taking home their second award of the night. In what the judges praised a “clear winner,” Ogilvy’s influencer-led integrated digital-first event – Boots Beauty Festival – outperformed all expectations.
Industry Awards
Finally, the industry choice awards were announced to an eager audience, where the IMA judges collated the shortlist and the industry voted their final say on the winner.For this much-anticipated award announcement,Tagger
was a worthy winner of theIndustry Choice of Technology or SaaS;
having transformed the way traditional influencer marketing campaigns are run, with voters impressed with its “extensive database” of more than 2.5 million global influencers. Meanwhile, the crowd was excited to hear theIMARising Star
, a peer-voted award that recognises the successes of young individuals within influencer marketing who are excelling in their area of work.The Goat Agency’s
Alex Burgess sealed the victory, following praise from his colleagues as he “goes beyond challenging traditional media buyers to new realms influencer marketing possibilities.” Alex is clearly a dedicated, pioneering manager working hard to drive the entire industry forward, leaving no doubt of him being crowned Rising Star.
Agency Awards
With the awards coming to an end, the last wave of the night came with the Agency Awards, identifying just three categories.Up first was
Best Talent Agency,
withViral Talent
taking home the trophy as the only specialist kidfluencer and family creator agency in the space. This year’s gold winner forBest Large Influencer Marketing Agency
went toViral Nation,
with judges praising the impressive client retention rate of 92% and the current revenue growth rate of 400%.The final award of the night and arguably the most coveted was forBest Boutique Influencer Marketing
,which sawReach Agency
strike gold. The independent, creative influencer agency prides itself on keeping creativity and authenticity at the heart of its strategy.
Grand Prix
Last but certainly not least was theGrand Prix
, awarded by the judges to the ‘best of the best’, the ‘crème de la crème’ of the influencer marketing space. Throughout the judging process, judges were told to keep in mind the campaign that stood out to them for its exceptional execution and forward thinking activities. This year,MSL UK
andRenault’s
brave ‘#BehindCarDoors’ campaign claimed the coveted title, with one judge expressing that “running a year-long marketing campaign to change consumers’ perspective is probably one of the most genius ideas I’ve seen executed.”On behalf of theInfluencer Marketing Awards, Talking Influence and the Influencer Marketing Show, a huge thank you to all our event sponsors who helped make the ceremony possible. And finally, a huge congratulations to all the esteemed and deserved winners.To learn why the winners won, and how to claim gold next year, download the official Book of the Night.
