Research released today (Thursday, 14th January 2021) from the EACA Knowledge Centre of Effie Europe winners reveals 7 salutary lessons on how marketing communications enable premium brands to thrive during a recession.

Titled the “The worst of times, the best of times: how communications enable premium brands to thrive in tough times” the research has been conducted by marketing effectiveness experts – The Effectiveness Partnership, who have analysed data from EACA Effie Europe winners from 2008- 2019.

Contrary to industry commentators’ expectations that premium brands are the ones most likely to suffer the worst in recessions, The Effectiveness Partnership found Premium Brands can best weather recessions through adhering to these 7 lessons: 

1. Communications have the potential to drive the strongest business effects for the premium than non-premium brands, both in and out of recessions
2. The most successful campaigns for premium brand in recessions balance volume growth with value growth
3. Continually reaching and persuading new users is the strongest driver of large business effects for premium brands, in and out of recessions
4. Successful premium brands focus on one audience segment to give communications strategies more focus, although the impact is often felt belt beyond that particular segment
5. Most successful premium brand campaigns in recessions support new product launches
6. Emotional campaigns are even more effective when you are a premium brand in a recession
7. Broadcast and narrowcast channels work hand in hand for success

The EACA Knowledge Centre for Effie winners divides brands into 5 categories Superpremium; Premium; Midmarket; Value; Other/Not-for-profit brands. Premium brands which are the focus for this study are defined as brands which command a price premium, brands which are desirable and brands that have a reputation for quality. This whitepaper will be available to download free of charge from www.eaca.eu, www.effie-europe.com or www.theeffectivenesspartnership.com from 5.30 pm CET on Thursday, 14th January.

Authors from The Effectiveness Partnership, Donald Pirie and Gurdeep Puri will delve deeper into the findings as part of the launch of this whitepaper at the Effie Europe 2020 virtual gala from 4 pm CET on the 14th January.

Following a short presentation of the findings, Donald and Gurdeep will be joined by Effie Europe co-chair of Judges – Claudia Kuhn, Brand Building and Integrated Communication Manager, Procter and Gamble; and Brian McCarter, Chief Strategy Officer, EMEA, Ogilvy to explore the implications for client and agencies. To join register here: https://www.effie-europe.com/awards-gala/

Says Gurdeep Puri, co-founder The Effectiveness Partnership and co-author of this report:

“The Effectiveness Partnership was delighted to be able to conduct this rigorous research into Effie Europe winners from the EACA and offer these rays of hope to premium brands – showing that communications can help premium brands not just survive but thrive in a recession.”

Says Tamara Daltroff, Director General, EACA:

“We were pleased to see that with the right growth strategy and using communications as an accelerator, premium brands can achieve growth in the toughest of times, as well as times of economic growth. This creates some optimism and hope for our industry.”

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Business confidence in the European advertising and marketing sector has taken a marginal turn upwards, according to the latest European Advertising Business Climate Index, issued by the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA).

The report, based on a sample of nearly 1,500 advertising and market research companies across Europe, shows that business confidence in the ad industry has increased from +2.7 to +3.4 over the last quarter (see Graph 1).

Graph 2 illustrates developments over a 5-year period.

The results are driven by positive expectations of demand for the next three months (from +7.8 to +14.3), bouncing upwards after a continuous decline in the previous three quarters.

The expectations of the prices also appear to be rising to a small extent from +10.1 to +10.2 between Q2 and Q3/2019.

On the other side of the coin, employment developments and expectations seem rather negative. The evolution of employment has been sinking since Q2/2018, declining incrementally from +6.2 to -7.4 over the last year. Expectations

are still on the plus side, but now at their two-year bottom of +3.1. At the same time, inadequate and/or lacking labour forces are estimated to account for 12.2% of factors limiting the business in Q3/2019, up from the previous figure of 7.1% in Q2/2019.

The countries that have experienced the biggest increase in their overall confidence index are the Czech Repulic (from +20.1 to +36.7, which is the highest level of all the participating countries in Q2/2019) and Italy (from -0.6 to +18.1).

The countries at the other end of the spectrum are Cyprus (from -21.9 to -69.8, which is the the lowest level of all the participating countries in Q2/2019) and Croatia (from +20.4 to +8.5).

Tamara Daltroff, Director General at EACA, said: “The latest results of the Ad Index show that more work could be done to ensure the advertising industry’s access to talent. At EACA, we address this through „Inspire! By EACA“, which is a single European hub with education and training opportunities for all stakeholders in the communications industry. It is one of our key priorities to help develop talent and boost dialogue and co-operation between businesses, students and academics.“

To download the full report, visit our website here

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The Effie Awards are known by advertisers and agencies globally as the preeminent award in the industry, and recognise any and all forms of marketing communication that contribute to a brand’s success.

As part of Effie’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Effie Europe has introduced a special competition – Best of the Best Europe – to recognise the most effective marketing efforts in the region. Best of the Best Europe is open to any campaign that has won a Gold Effie in any national Effie Awards program in Europe in 2018.

Adrian Farina, Senior Vice President Marketing, Europe at Visa, said: “Winning a Gold Effie or Grand Prix in a country is a huge achievement for any brand or campaign. It is a testament of great work driving tangible results, which has been considered to be the best in its country in a given year. The new Best of the Best category offers the unique opportunity to see how those campaigns stand up when compared with the best work from the other countries in Europe. It is no longer about being the best in your market – it is now about being the best in Europe in that year. I can’t think of a more aspirational challenge for a marketer, so I’m thrilled to see the Best of the Best category coming to life in 2019.”

Helene Dusseaux, Integrated Communication Manager at P&G, said: “The uniqueness of the Effie Awards, thanks to their local set-up, is to surface the strongest work from the trenches. It casts a spotlight on local jewels that might have stayed in the shadows otherwise. This diversity and authenticity are invaluable to our industry. The ‘Best of the Best’ category takes this dynamic one step further, promoting the best local ideas to the regional level. So, if you want to see whether your local winning work has what it takes to also win at the European level, enter now!” 

The second new category – Marketing & Business Solutions – will award single marketing activities or entire marketing programs. Any action and business idea that has had an exceptionally positive impact on the market position of a brand, product or service, is eligible to enter. If communication was a significant element of marketing mix, such a work should be submitted in another competition category appropriate for a given industry. In this category it is possible to submit activities such as, for example, change of packaging, both in terms of its appearance and size; introduction of a loyalty program or change in the loyalty program; introduction of a new distribution channel; use of e-commerce; use of modern technology at the point of sale; introduction of a completely new product in a category in which the marketer was already present; involvement of consumers in product development, etc. More information on this category can be found here.

Mona Opran, COO South East Europe at Centrade | Cheil, said: “Effie is the only award that celebrates agencies and clients equally. It is proof that effectiveness comes through real partnership, where companies build on each other’s expertise. The Marketing and Business Solutions category pushes collaboration to a new level, where the joined team is working for innovative solutions that drive the future of our industry.”

The final closing date for Best of the Best Europe and Marketing & Business Solutions categories is on 31 July 2019. All deadlines and fees are available here. The judging sessions will take place in September and  the winners will be officially announced at the Awards Gala in Brussels on 15th October 2019.

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Agencies and brands which won trophies at last week’s IPM Awards 2017 now have the chance to achieve international acclaim by entering EACA’s Integrated Marketing Communications Awards (IMC) Awards, the pan-European promotional marketing recognition program.

Carey Trevill, Managing Director of the IPM, says: “Any campaign which won a trophy at the IPM Awards 2017, whether it was Bronze, Silver, Gold or the Grand Prix, qualifies for entry into the IMC Awards, run by EACA, the body which represents promotional marketing across Europe. We are contacting all our winners right now to urge them to take this brilliant opportunity to shine on the international stage – in the past, UK campaigns have won huge number of IMC Awards, including more than one Grand Prix over the years. It’s time to show our friends in Europe what great promotional marketing looks like.”

In this year’s IPM Awards, the Grand Prix went to ‘real world’ agency Sense for its #H2O activation (pictured), part of the ‘Discomfort Future’ campaign on behalf of The Economist. This saw potential subscribers offered free coffee apparently made from recycled water from a portable toilet, to highlight the issue of water scarcity around the world. It won two Golds and was selected by the IPM awards judges as the best of the best. Other big winners included the Peperami meat snack brand and agencies including The Circle Agency, ZEAL Creative, Toucan, Brand & Deliver and 23red.

In the UK, the IPM Awards are the only route campaigns can qualify to enter the IMC Awards.

Carey Trevill adds: “The fact that last year UK agencies had the most entries on the IMC Awards shortlist is testament to the strength of promotional marketing in this country. The UK leads the world in creating marketing campaigns that change people’s behaviour, whether that’s to sell more products, donate to charity or live a healthier life.”

The IMC European Awards first round selection process involves a shortlist being drawn up by a jury panel made up of more than 60 leading industry professionals across Europe. The second round jury, comprised of IMCC Council member representatives, then decides on the winning campaigns from the shortlist.

Carey Trevill comments: “Last year, UK campaigns achieved wins across Innovative Idea, Digital Comms, Integrated, Product Launch and other high profile categories. This year, I expect us to do even better and demonstrate this country’s strength across the whole range of promotional marketing to our peers in Europe and across the world.”

The IMC Awards are organised by the IMCC – the Integrated Marketing Communications Council Europe, part of EACA – which represents the integrated marketing communications agencies and agency associations in Europe. It acts as a central source of information for the industry and assists in the development of the reputation and professionalism of the industry across Europe by focusing on four key areas: best practice, lobbying, recognition via the IMC European Awards and education through the IMCC International Diploma, which was developed by the UK’s IPM.

The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) is a Brussels-based organisation which represents full-service commercial communications, media agencies and agency associations in Europe. The IPM is a leading member of EACA.

EACA promotes honest, effective advertising, high professional standards and awareness of the contribution of advertising in a free market economy and encourages close co-operation between agencies, advertisers and media in European advertising bodies.

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LSI Netherlands BV – owner of the Peperami brand – and agencies TLC Marketing and Sense were crowned the big winners at The IPM Awards 2017, taking home the trophies for Brand Owner of the Year, Agency of the Year and the coveted Grand Prix Award respectively.

This year’s winners, which were announced at the IPM’s black-tie Awards Gala on Wednesday June 7 at the London Hilton Park Lane, showcased and celebrated the very best in creativity and effectiveness in the promotional marketing industry.

The evening commenced with opening addresses from Lord Black of Brentwood, President of the IPM, and John Sylvester, the IPM’s chairman and Chairman of Sodexo Benefits & Reward Services UK, while the host for the event was Strictly Come Dancing star, Claudia Winkleman.

LSI was named as Brand Owner of the Year, after collecting two Gold and two Silver trophies for its campaign linking Peperami mascot, the Animal, with the Angry Birds movie.

TLC took the Agency of the Year accolade, having picked up four Gold awards and a Silver for a range of different campaigns.

The Grand Prix went to ‘real world’ agency Sense for its #H2O activation, part of the ‘Discomfort Future’ campaign on behalf of The Economist. This saw potential subscribers offered free coffee apparently made from recycled water from a portable toilet, to highlight the issue of water scarcity around the world. It won two Golds and was selected by the IPM awards judges as the best of the best.

The picture above shows Sense collecting their award from Lord Black (left) and the evening’s host, Claudia Winkleman (right).

Other agencies celebrating multiple trophies at the IPM Awards 2017 included The Circle Agency, ZEAL Creative, Toucan and Brand & Deliver. Behaviour change experts 23red managed to pick up Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Not for Profit, Charities and Public Sector category, the second time the agency has achieved this impressive feat.

John Sylvester, Chairman of the IPM, said: “The IPM Awards celebrate outstanding promotional marketing from the very best UK agencies and underscore our commitment to supporting best practice, creativity, effectiveness and innovation. Our Awards are open to everyone in the marketing industry and this year it was great to see both some familiar faces and some newcomers amongst the winners and the audience.”

This year, winners of Gold, Silver and Bronze IPM Awards all qualify for entry into the IMC European Awards, and the IPM will be contacting agencies shortly to explain how to take advantage of this. John Sylvester observes: “The UK produces world-class promotional marketing campaigns, and we want as many of our winners as possible to enter the IMCs so we can underline our leadership in this vitally important sector of the marketing and advertising industry.”

Sponsors for the IPM Awards 2017 included headline sponsor Sodexo, Westfield Shoppingtowns, Sykes, Emirat, Whistl, Granby Marketing Services, Promotional Handling, i-movo, POD Staffing, Peazie and Pictures Experience.

A full list of this year’s winner can be found on the IPM website.

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This year’s IMC European Awards for Integrated Marketing Communications saw 81 trophies awarded to 31 agencies from five countries.

Ireland took the lead with 25 trophies, followed by the Czech Republic with 18, Belgium with 16, and Italy and United Kingdom, both with 11.

The biggest individual success was for Irish agency guns or knives, which took a total of 14 awards – five for the Hailo Drive For Equality campaign, four for the Orchard Thieves Launch for Heineken Ireland, three for the Hailo 3rd Birthday activity and two for It’s Your Call, again for Heineken.

BBDO from Belgium took seven awards – three for Lidl Blend Test, two for The Write Thing for Parkinson Liga and two for Personal Billboards for JC Decaux.

UK campaigns won 11 awards. Carey Trevill, Managing Director of the IPM, says: “Agencies Haygarth, Pretty Green, Space, Jack Morton, TLC Marketing and whynot! thinkpeople are all recognised for their work across a broad spectrum of blue chip brands. With wins across Innovative Idea, Digital Comms, Integrated, Product Launch and other high profile categories, the UK have yet again shown strength across promotional marketing.”

Integrated agency Space collected four Silver IMC trophies for GalaCoral with their innovative #CheltenHAM micropig racing content concept for betting company Coral, which won the IPM Awards 2016 Grand Prix earlier this year. Pretty Green scooped another two Silver IMCs for client Concha y Toro, while IPM Gold winners Haygarth picked up a Silver IMC for Sony. TLC Marketing’s campaigns for BUPA UK and Continental collected Silver and Bronze awards, while Jack Morton’s work for Freeview picked up a Silver with whynot! thinkpeople picking up an award for Arla.

Carey Trevill adds: “With an incredibly strong assembly of entries, the UK picked up some great IMC Awards this year including more awards for our IPM Awards 2016 Grand Prix Winner, Space, for #CheltenHAM, Haygarth for its work for Sony and Pretty Green for its work for Concha y Toro. An impressive list of winners from the UK and we’ll be back next year to take back the coveted IMC Grand Prix to demonstrate our creative strength in Europe.”

IMCC Chairman, Ondrej Gottwald, comments: “I am really grateful for the agencies’ high interest in the IMC European Awards and the high number of entries during my chairmanship. I am delighted that our industry is doing well across Europe. Beside the commercial campaigns, I highly value campaigns with positive social impact. I really like to see that these campaigns are recognised and rewarded by industry professionals.”

The winning campaigns were selected after two rounds of judging. All entries were first reviewed by a jury panel made up of 45 leading industry professionals from across Europe. Entries were then judged by the second round jury, comprised of IMCC Council member representatives. Full details of the judging procedure can be found at the official website at www.imcceurope.com.

Only campaigns which first win gold awards in their respective national awards programmes are eligible to enter the IMC Awards.

For the UK, the only way to enter the IMCs is to first win Gold in the annual IPM Awards. The IPM has just announced details of the IPM Awards 2017. For further information about categories, how to enter and entry fees, please contact the IPM Awards team on 020 3848 0444 or check the IPM website, www.theipm.org.uk.

The IMC European Awards are run by the Integrated Marketing Communications Council (IMCC), which is part of the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA). The IPM is a member of EACA.

IMCC represents the integrated marketing communications agencies and agency associations in Europe. It acts as a central source of information for the industry and assists in the development of the reputation and professionalism of the industry across Europe by focusing on best practice, lobbying, the IMC European Awards programme and education through the IMCC International Diploma, which has been developed out of the IPM’s long-established Diploma in Promotional Marketing. For more information on the IMCC, visit www.imcceurope.com.

The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) is a Brussels-based organisation which represents full-service advertising and media agencies and agency associations in Europe. For more information, visit www.eaca.eu.

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UK agencies claimed more than a quarter (26%) of the total winners of the IMC European Awards 2015 last night, including The IMC Grand Prix, won by specialist experiential and events agency TRO for its ‘Lucozade Sport: Bringing the World Cup Home’ campaign.

The UK winners were announced at a celebratory drinks reception organised by the IPM which saw six UK agencies collect two Gold trophies, 10 Silver trophies and three Bronze trophies between them.

In addition to the IMC Grand Prix, ‘Lucozade Sport: Bringing the World Cup Home’ also won TRO Gold in the Sponsorship/Joint Effort/Tie-in category and a Bronze in Product Launch/Relaunch/Trial Campaigns. TRO also won two Silver awards for its ‘Nissan Innovation Station at London’s O2’ work.

Leith Links enjoyed quadruple success with its ‘How IRN-BRU owned Glasgow 2014’ campaign, including  Gold for Sponsorship/Joint Effort/Tie-in, two Silvers for Event Marketing and Innovative Idea or Concept and a Bronze for Integrated Communication.

Arc took two awards for ‘McDonald’s FryFutbol’ (Gold for Innovative Idea or Concept  and Silver for Sponsorship/Joint Effort/Tie-in and two more Silvers for Old Spice Gentleman Hunt in the Direct 1:1 Communication and Digital Communication categories, plus it shared another two Silvers with sister Leo Burnett agency, Leo Burnett Change for the ‘NSPCC Flaw in the Law’ campaign.

A full list of all the UK winners can be found on the IPM website.

In total, over 60 winning campaigns were named in this year’s IMC European Awards representing 27 agencies from 8 countries. To qualify for consideration for the IMC European Awards, campaigns must first have won a Gold in their national integrated marketing awards schemes. Winning a Gold in the IPM Awards is the only way for UK campaigns to qualify.

Dominic Lyle, Director General of EACA, comments: “I am delighted to see yet another successful edition of the IMC European Awards. Congratulations to all the agencies and their clients for setting such a high standard for integrated marketing communications in Europe and special congratulations to TRO and Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ltd for a well-deserved Grand Prix!”

Carey Trevill, managing director of the IPM, adds: “We’re thrilled and proud to see so many of our members recognised at the IMC European Awards. With 26% of the total wins, the UK has a lot to celebrate, and has certainly led the way in integrated communications in Europe. We look forward to building on this success further in the year ahead.”

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The United Kingdom has the most shortlisted entries in this year’s IMC European Awards for Integrated Marketing Communications, with 16 campaigns getting through to the finals.

Next in line was Ireland (15) followed by Belgium (12), Italy (10), Spain (3), Czech Republic (3), Germany (1) and the Netherlands (1).

The IMC European Awards are open to any campaign which has first won a Gold or equivalent in its national awards programme. In the UK, the Institute of Promotional Marketing‘s annual IPM Awards are the only route to enter the IMC Awards.

Carey Trevill, managing director of the IPM, says: “The fact that UK agencies have the most entries on this year’s IMC Awards shortlist is testament to the strength of promotional marketing in this country.”

The UK winners will be announced at an event organised by the IPM in the next few weeks.

The UK agencies appearing most on the shortlists are experiential specialists TRO, with four nominations, and integrated agency Leith, also with four. Arc has five shortlisted entries, but two are shared with other Leo Burnett Group agencies.

The agency with the most shortlisted entries across all the countries involved is BBDO (Belgium) with nine nominations – three for “Unpaid Bills”, three for “Stalker” and three for “5 Euro”. Next most shortlisted agency is Ireland’s Guns and Knives with four nominations – three for “Heineken DAMOC Coolers” and one for “’We’re So Local’ Regional Campaign”.

The first round selection was made by a jury panel made up of 60 leading industry professionals across Europe. The second round jury, comprised of IMCC Council member representatives, took place in Prague on 11th September. This year’s winners will be announced in December.

IMCC Chairman Ondrej Gottwald says: “This year’s campaigns in the IMC European Awards were the most interesting I have seen during my chairmanship and presence in the jury. I am delighted that our industry is doing well and the work across Europe is of such high quality. Aside from the commercial campaigns, I always appreciate the increasing amount of very successful social and corporate responsibility campaigns and commercial campaigns with a positive social impact. To see these campaigns being recognised and rewarded by industry professionals is very satisfying.”

The full list of shortlisted campaigns in the IMC European Awards for Integrated Marketing Communications is on the IPM site. 

The IMCC – the Integrated Marketing Communications Council Europe – represents the integrated marketing communications agencies and agency associations in Europe and is part of the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA).

The IMCC acts as a central source of information for the industry and assists in the development of the reputation and professionalism of the industry across Europe by focusing on four key areas: best practice, lobbying, recognition via the IMC European Awards and education through the IMCC International Diploma, which was developed for the body by the UK’s IPM.

EACA is a Brussels-based organisation which represents full-service commercial communications, media agencies and agency associations in Europe. The IPM is a member.

EACA promotes honest, effective advertising, high professional standards and awareness of the contribution of advertising in a free market economy and encourages close co-operation between agencies, advertisers and media in European advertising bodies.

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