The agency, which was also awarded the Effectiveness Company of the Year prize, created a 122-second TV ad to help reverse the Premier Foods brand’s declining sales and the dominance of market-leader Warburtons.
The 2008 ad, which recreated Hovis’ famous 1974 ‘Boy on bike’ campaign, was shown in its entirety during high-rating shows such as Coronation Street and the Pride of Britain Awards.
In the wake of the campaign, Hovis’ sales grew by 14% year on year, while profits were up £90m on the previous year.
‘[We] were delighted to see the proof that a campaign that captured the public’s imagination also managed to return a phenomenal £5 for every £1 spent,’ said Lord Burns, chairman of the judges, and Channel 4 chairman. ‘It is a wonderful example of how advertising can be effective in a less exciting brand category.’
Steven Sharp, executive director of marketing at Marks & Spencer, and one of the judges, said: ‘This campaign is a fine example of creativity and effectiveness working hand-in-hand to cause a reappraisal of one of Britain’s oldest brands, an incredible achievement.’
MCBD also won a Gold award for its ‘essential Wait-rose’ campaign to help launch the supermarket’s entry-level range, plus, alongside PHD Media and Elvis, a Best Short-Term special prize for its ‘Change without chaos’ campaign for HMRC, fronted by newsreader Moira Stuart.
Other winners included VCCP, which picked up the Best Media prize for its marketing around The O2 venue, and JWT for HSBC’s long-running campaign based on its positioning as ‘The world’s local bank’. Cadbury won the Broadbent Prize for Best Dedication to Effectiveness.
DDB UK and last year’s Grand Prix-winner, MEC, picked up two special prizes in tandem. The agencies were awarded The Channon Prize for Best New Learning and the Best Multichannel awards for a teacher recruitment campaign launched by the Teacher Development Agency.
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