Not so long ago it was announced, to huge excitement, that SearchStar had, once again, received multiple nominations in The Drum Recommends Digital Awards. In fact, our nomination count totalled 14, a full 6 more than at the same event in 2018!
It was, therefore, with vague confidence that we headed to London’s Marriott Grosvenor Square in search of our client-voted accolades. The competition was, as always, incredibly stiff with the cream of the UK digital agency crop in attendance – but surely 3 wins from 14 was achievable?
Happily, with more nominations came a greater number of victories – 5 in total. A fantastic way to cap off an excellent 2019; not only did we retain our Analytics crown for a third year (in the 40-99 category), we also received the Creativity/Innovation and Mobile gongs in the same category, and snagged the Optimisation/Conversion and Ecommerce awards in the prestigious combined category.
The nature of The Drum Recommends Digital Awards (voted for by clients) means this simply wouldn’t have happened without our clients taking the time to shout about our successes together. In our opinion, the RAR Digital Awards are as close to unbiased and independent as you can get.
“I am looking forward to continuing to work on the USA campaign with SearchStar and striving to achieve good results. Lucy and Will clearly know their stuff and are well-placed in their respective areas of digital advertising. Viewing data and actually understanding it are often different. SearchStar are great at helping us dig into the detail.”
– Charlotte Hopes, UWE Bristol
“The introduction of the Amazon Attribution tool to our paid media activity has been really insightful and provided us with a lot more transparency on how our different media channels influence each other. As a result, we have been able to understand cross-channel performance and results, and therefore make more informed decisions about budgets and their allocation by channel.”
– Stephanie Dilworth, Meyer Group
“What a difference three months can make! SearchStar and, in particular, our account manager Mike have been a complete joy to partner up and work with; words and actions have hit the mark, beating our agreed forecast, shifting our sales line upwards.
“We have experienced great communication, clear reporting and a ‘going the extra mile’ attitude at an extremely competitive price.”
– Severine Thirion, Aspace
This announcement first appeared on the SearchStar website here >>>
After receiving a record 6 nominations at this years Drum Digital Awards, south west based AgencyUK walked away the countries leading Online Advertising Agency under 40-people. The nominations round off a year which saw the team win Advertising Agency of 2019 in May, as well as a string of new client wins.
Established in 2008 by Sammy Mansourpour and Amy Stobie, the team at AgencyUK has built a reputation for being one of the UK’s most creative brand communications agencies, and a hot bed of exceptional talent.
The agency now employs 30 people, including creative’s, journalists, videographers, media planners and brand strategists. Clients have included the AA, BSM, Halifax, Del Monte, and most recently Dr Dunner Health, Coral Group, Ladbrokes, CarShop and Institute of Osteopathy.
Sammy Mansourpour, Managing Director says “We are committed to our independence, it enables us to work in the best interest of our clients. By being truly integrated and eliminating internal departments and P&L’s, we remove any politics and conflicts between agency teams. We have seen first hand that this is the cancer that has plagued many of the larger network agencies and brought them to their knees, pushing clients towards smaller specialist providers. Being ranked Advertising and Online Advertising Agency of 2019 is a huge step forward for us, the team and our clients.”
We’re absolutely thrilled to have won an award at The Drum Agency Business Awards in London.
The awards aim to celebrate the very best run agencies and the hard-working teams behind them. The Drum is one of the world’s biggest marketing platforms, so to be recognised by the organisation is a great accolade.
We were awarded Marketing Agency of the Year 0-50 staff, acknowledging the 38 creatives, strategists, marketers and account teams who work so tirelessly at Synergy and create a culture that we’re all so proud to be part of. To have this recognition is a great achievement for us and we’re really proud that it’s second agency award we’ve scooped in the past three months.
Our well-defined niche in the areas of employee engagement and internal communications, and our commitment to creating great employee experiences are reasons for the win. The awards highlight well-run businesses and we’re pleased to see everyone at Synergy’s hard work recognised.
It’s been a brilliant year for Synergy, with a rebrand, amazing new clients and some great additions to the team; we’ve truly grown up as an agency and are so proud to have this growth celebrated in the industry.
The Synergy team is made up of an inspiring bunch of people with a range of diverse talents. We really do believe in the power of people and empower each member of the team to be their best each and every day. And it’s paying off with these award wins, we’re going to need a bigger trophy cabinet at this rate!
We’re so pleased with this achievement and look forward to seeing what the BOC IC Brilliance Awards have in store for us next week. Watch this space…
If you’d like to chat with us about what goes into being Marketing Agency of the Year, get in touch, we’d love to chat.
AgencyUK have been nominated for a record 6 awards at this years Drum Recommends Digital ceremony. The Drum Recommends carries with it a level of prestige and validation that exceeds most standard industry awards, as the nominations are based on a complex review process that includes annual performance, financial performance and most importantly past and present client review. This makes the awards a mark of true excellence among industry peers.
The 6 AgencyUK nominations roll off the back of a year that included a number of high profile client wins, new hires and their win of UK Advertising Agency of the Year 2019.
AgencyUK was founded in 2008 as an integrated brand communications agency with a high level of expertise in emerging technology, web and eCommerce sitting alongside strategy and creative. In 2015 the agency expanded with the launch of a Social Media and PR team that consolidated their integrated offering. Today AgencyUK work with international multi channel brands as well as direct to consumer businesses looking to leverage their own communities to scale their brand.
AgencyUK are nominated in the independent agency under 40 people category. The Digital nominations include
Online Media Strategy
Online Advertising
Social
Digital Full Service
Digital Strategy
Online Analytics and Measurement.
Winners will be announced at the official awards ceremony on 3rd December at The Marriott Grosvenor Square, London.
The Drum Recommends Digital Awards are a big deal for us at SearchStar. There’s a rumour going round that the nominations were released a week early because Jon Boon, SearchStar’s Lead Analytics Consultant, was emailing The Drum twice daily to find out when they would land.
And there’s a good reason for our enthusiasm; these awards are based entirely on client ratings. They are a one of a kind in the industry – there are no entries to submit, no papers to write. Winning can only be achieved through the high regard of clients (the result of hard work of the highest quality), demonstrated with ratings on The Drum Recommends website.
As it happens, SearchStar has been nominated in a whopping 14 categories this time around. That’s a full 6 more than last year and testament to just how delighted our clients are with the hard work our teams put in year round.
“14 nominations?! This is absolutely fantastic news and yet more evidence of the incredible work the team here at SearchStar do for our clients. To keep increasing the number of nominations every year is quite exceptional, especially when we’re up against tough competition from other top Agencies.
“Hopefully we can hold onto our Analytics award (and win it for a 3rd year in a row) and grab the award in lots of the other categories too. Thanks to all our clients for recognising us with excellent ratings and to the SearchStar team for making sure our work is always awesomely industry leading.”
– Ryan Webb, Conversion & Analytics Director
40-99 Staff
Combined
The winners in each category will be revealed at the awards ceremony on 3rd December at the London Marriott on Grosvenor Square. Last year we came away with two gongs – surely we can go at least one better with nearly twice as many nominations. Wish us luck!
This blog post originally appeared on the SearchStar blog here >>>
We know it might seem like a bit of a shameless plug, but we wanted to share the news of our UK Energy Landscape being shortlisted for the 2019 Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards not only to encourage our friends in the Bristol creative industries to give us a vote, but to draw attention to the amazing data visualisation work that is being done across the globe.
The awards website features a host of stunning design projects, exploring data from science and technology, politics, global warming and popular culture, to name just a few. Making sense of complex subjects is more important now than ever, and having creative minds engage with journalists and policy-makers is a powerful way to bring important issues to public attention.
To see the shortlisted entries in this year’s Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards, head to the link below. And if you feel inclined to vote for our entry, we’ll love you forever.
https://www.informationisbeautifulawards.com/showcase/4254
We built an interactive map to look at the various ways that the UK sources its energy. Using the layered hierarchy of an interactive document we sought to guide the reader through the process and shed some light on a subject that is rapidly evolving.
About us:
We are Luna 9 — Creative problem solvers on a mission to connect people through design. We take complex information and make it visually easy to understand. We’ve worked with organisations like NHS England, Dyson and Arup to help them bridge the gap between those in the know and those who need to know.
Twitter: @luna9design
Instagram: @luna9design
Workbrands have received two Gold awards for their work creating the brand identity of Bristol-born craft cider brand Pulpt.
At the 2019 International Cider Challenge, Pulpt won Gold in the design and packaging stakes, whilst at this year’s Muse Creative Awards, it was selected for Gold in the brand identity category, from among 13,000 entries.
Pulpt co-founders Jim and Al said: ‘We’re delighted! The vision for Pulpt was to make people as passionate about cider as we are, and the reception has been better than we could have imagined. We get consistent feedback from consumers and trade customers on how powerful, identifiable and attractive the branding is.’
To see more of our branding work, watch our 60 seconds showreel.
Big congratulations to Home who have beaten off stiff competition from the likes of Boden and The Department Store to win Design Week’s Workplace Interior Award 2019.
Their new Bristol studio space was the vision of MD, Martin Knight, Founder, Carol Whitworth and Partner Tony Broad, who wanted to help develop Home as a business and be the very best they can be. They spent a year trying to find the perfect premises – and finally hit on the right place (when you know, you know) – essentially a big tin box and complete blank canvas. Perfect. Somewhere to create something special to bolster company culture and generate amazing work.
The studio encourages collaboration through being purely open plan– something that was important in the design from the beginning. It’s a huge space, open, light and airy by day, and at night a false ceiling created by the drop lights brings a sense of intimacy and warmth – both Homie traits. The meeting rooms are all open or visible, fostering even more transparency. Nine collaborative spaces feature and are well used – from the fluoro shipping containers offering up break out booths to a large board style meeting room.
The upstairs of the warehouse was created from scratch, bar one large room. The ‘Crow’s Nest’ offers a snug brainstorming area, then conferencing and projector rooms are created for client calls and agency meetings. The largest of the upstairs spaces, the professional and flexible events room, was created to align with their strategy of bringing the outside in, and giving something back to the design community and beyond. Something that was made the most of recently when they took part in Social Media Week. Home also offer the space pro bono for good causes.
Martin totally understood the business requirements, and food is key – it’s part of the culture and soul of Home. The large open kitchen and dining area gives space to cook and share. The huge roller shutter brings both light and air in the summer and opens the space to the back of the building where they can relax, work and of course BBQ. All areas in the studio have versatility which is massively important – for their Christmas party an Adele cover band took over the library area, and the moveable partition was pushed to the side, offering a ready-made dance floor. Plenty of space to work hard and party harder.
The warehouse is just off the St Phillips Causeway, but how it feels to work here is the extra special piece that is so hard to grasp in interior design and architecture. The building reflects Home as an agency – zigging when everyone else is zagging, colourful, vivacious, creative, and independent. The feeling they want to give their clients and collaborators when they walk through the doors is a sense of surprise, joy and excitement and that is certainly felt when you walk in to the unassuming space.
Martin says “I, along with all the Homies, am delighted to have won such a prestigious award for our new Home. It was literally a tin box before we got our hands on it and if I’m honest a bit of a leap of faith. That said, we were clear with what we wanted to achieve and how we wanted to work together, we just had to deliver against that vision. The building has allowed us to achieve new things and grow. We work better, are more efficient, happier and more engaged. The win is just the icing on the cake, we couldn’t be happier!”
Now the word is out, when are you coming Home?
McCann Bristol will develop and coordinate all advertising activity in China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, UAE and Vietnam
Apple & Pear Australia (APAL), the brand owner for apple brand Pink Lady®, has appointed McCann Bristol as its lead global communications agency. The news comes after five successful years working together in the UK and cements the agency’s position as a strategic ally in the brand’s worldwide expansion.
The integrated team will be responsible for developing all creative advertising content across APAL’s key global markets including China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It will also coordinate all activation via McCann’s locally-based agencies. This is in addition to the UK work, which it has retained.
The contract will see the development of brand advertising, on-pack and in-store promotions, and a global website. It will continue to focus on the superior quality of Pink Lady®, which is the first apple tree to blossom in spring, and last to harvest in autumn. This provides time to develop a unique sweet and tangy flavour – a key factor in its success. The creative content is currently in progress and will be rolled out from August.
The win is testament to McCann Bristol’s prior success, having supported APAL’s UK subsidiary Coregeo® through a period of sustained growth of 15 per cent year-on-year.
Michelle Evans, Group Head of Marketing at APAL, added, “This is the start of a fantastic global relationship with the wider McCann network. We’re incredibly excited to see our partnership grow into new markets and expect to see great results from the campaign.”
Andy Reid, Managing Director, McCann Bristol said, “We’ve worked hard to bring Pink Lady® to life in the UK, which has been recognised with this significant new global remit. We have a strong integrated team in Bristol, which is continuing to develop its national and international client base. This is just the latest example of our continued growth powered by our strong creative product.”
Bristol Media Board Director, Paul Appleby, has been appointed an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, announced on 8 June. The award is for services to the Creative Industries in Bristol & Bath.
A BAFTA award winning producer, Paul worked at the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol for 30 years and has spent the last decade promoting the wider creative industries that Bristol and the surrounding area has to offer.
Paul is a founding member of Bristol Media and has been on the Board since 2005, where he took up the role as Chair in April 2009 for several years.
Commenting on the award, Paul says: “It’s amazing to receive a national honour like this. But although it’s a personal award, I can’t do anything on my own, so it’s also a recognition of the strength of the creativity of the region.
“Our place alongside London and Manchester is testament to the concentration of brilliant people in a relatively small region. It’s great that Nick Sturge, who runs Engine Shed, also has the MBE – we’ve been on the journey together for the last decade, developing “CreaTech” as the region’s USP.”
Paul spearheads a number of projects at Bristol Media, including Visualiser, an apprenticeship programme designed to build connections between the best creative talent from our community and Bristol Media member companies.
As part of Bristol’s UNESCO’s City of Film project, Paul also leads ‘Our City’, an annual short film competition for young people to celebrate Bristol by making short films about life in the city.
Chairman of Bristol Media, Chris Thurling, says, “I’m delighted for Paul, he works tirelessly behind the scenes to celebrate the creative industries, raising the profile of the region and spreading the word about the achievements, both in and outside of Bristol. An MBE is truly deserved.”
Paul was heavily involved in the launch of Digital Bristol (now Digital Cities), an initiative now run by the BBC Academy. He is also chair of the creative industries sector group of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
“We’ve still got a lot to do in developing the Industrial Strategy,” Paul adds, “I’m looking forward to what the future holds and continuing to celebrate and recognise our region.”
Paul will receive his MBE at a later date to be announced.
(Image: Paul Appleby talking at Vision Bristol)
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