The celebrations, at Sketch and Tate Modern respectively, brought together some of the brightest minds in media planning and provided rare recognition and reward for those who get their hands dirty by making sure every penny of client spend is employed strategically, creatively and - most importantly - effectively.
Congratulations go particularly to Arena BLM, which won the Grand Prix in the magazine awards for its work on the launch of Westfield in west London, especially its part in Grazia magazine decamping to the shopping centre to produce one of its issues. Top marks also to Mediaedge:cia, which won the top gong in the TV awards for its ongoing work for Morrisons in the highly competitive supermarket sector. MEC also won three magazine planning awards.
The TV and magazine awards followed the culmination of the third year of Media Week's extremely successful partner-ship with Clear Channel for the Outdoor Planning Awards and pre-empt the Radio Planning Awards, which used to be run in conjunction with GCap Media - prior to its acquisition by Global - and have now been folded into a wider set of awards for the radio industry under the auspices of the Radio Advertising Bureau, which take place later this year (see Radioadvertisingawards.co.uk for details).
While splitting awards into single-discipline subject areas might seem anachronistic in this day and age, the concept actually works exceptionally well. All the awards have categories recognising integrated campaigns or digital activity and they give each medium a rare chance to shout from the rooftops about their achievements. All also involve high-profile sponsors who are happy to celebrate excellence across their sector, whether it involves their company or not, so special thanks go to Clear Channel, IPC, Thinkbox and the RAB for their leadership approach.
l The entry deadline for the Media Week Awards has been extended until 19 June - although please be aware there is a late-entry fee of £25 for each entry submitted after the original due date of 12 June (www.mediaweekawards.co.uk). to enter.
Steve Barrett is editor of Media Week, steve.barrett@haymarket.com
www.mediaweek.co.uk/stevebarrettblog