McDonald's wins Grand Prix at Marketing Society Awards for Excellence 2012

By Alex Brownsell, marketingmagazine.co.uk, Tuesday, 12 June 2012 08:45AM

McDonald's secured the prestigious Grand Prix at the 2012 Marketing Society Awards for Excellence, held on Monday, for the role marketing has played in overhauling its UK business since 2006.

The fast-food chain’s marketing, by Leo Burnett, was praised by the judges for contributing to 24 consecutive quarters of growth. It also won the Long-Term Marketing Excellence and Employee Engagement Awards.

‘This is a business at the top of its game, with campaigns demonstrating terrific integration. A phenomenal story,’ said the judges.

Marketing Society chief executive Hugh Burkitt said: ‘McDonald’s has won several prizes in our awards over the past few years, but this year it excelled in winning the Long-Term Marketing Excellence Award and the Employee Engagement Award [as well as the Grand Prix]. This is a clear demonstration of its skill in consistently delivering a high-quality branded service – one of today’s most important and elusive marketing skills.’

Other winners at the awards, held in association with Marketing, included Foster’s and its ad agency Adam & Eve, which were handed the prize for Brand Revitalisation for their campaign starring two Australian ‘agony uncles’.

The i newspaper, and its agency McCann Erickson, won the award for New Brand, while John Lewis scooped the Marketing Communications Award for its ongoing ‘Never knowingly undersold’ activity.

Keith Weed, global chief marketing and communications officer at Unilever, was named Marketer of the Year. He was praised by the judges for being the ‘driving force’ behind the FMCG company’s ambitious sustainability plans. Last year’s Marketer of the Year Award was won by John Lewis’ Craig Inglis.

The event, hosted by Marketing and sponsored by BT, was held on Monday evening (11 June) at the Hilton Hotel on London’s Park Lane.

Click on the links below to view the winning case studies.

GRAND PRIX

Winner - McDonald’s (Agency: Leo Burnett)

 

NEW BRAND

Winner – i Newspaper (Agency: McCann Erickson)

Highly Commended – O2 Priority Moments (Agency: VCCP Partnership)

Highly Commended – Rowntree’s Randoms (Agency: JWT)

 

BRAND EXTENSION

Winner – Kenco Millicano (Agency: JWT London)

 

BRAND REVITALISATION

Winner – Foster’s (Agency: Adam & Eve)

Highly Commended – British Airways (Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty)

Highly Commended – Twinings Tea (Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO)

 

CUSTOMER INSIGHT

Winner – Transport for London (Agency: M&C Saatchi)

Highly Commended – Bepanthen (Agency: JWT London)

 

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Winner – Dr Pepper (Agency: Zone)

Highly Commended – ASOS

 

MOBILE MARKETING

Winner – Hotels.com (Agency: Fetch Media)

Highly Commended – ASOS

 

ECOMMERCE

Winner - Johnlewis.com (Agency: Rain Communications)

Highly Commended - Merlin Entertainments Group

 

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Winner – John Lewis (Agency: Adam & Eve)

 

B2B MARKETING

Winner - Orange (Agency: Publicis Blueprint)

Highly Commended - TalkTalk Business (Agency: IAS b2b Marketing)

Highly Commended - HSBC Commercial Banking

MARKETING LEADERSHIP

Winner – Symantec

Highly Commended – Kimberly-Clark

 

MARKETING ON A SHOESTRING

Winner – Headway (Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO)

Highly Commended – Maille

 

GLOBAL MARKETING

Winner – The Famous Grouse (Agency: The Big Partnership)

Highly Commended – VisitBritain

 

MARKETING FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

Winner – Lafarge Cement UK (Agency: McCann Manchester)

Highly Commended – Unilever

 

MARKETING TEAMWORK

Winner – Thorntons

Highly Commended – British Gas (Agency: CHI & Partners)

 

CAUSE-RELATED MARKETING

Winner – Aviva and Railway Children (Agencies: Hill+Knowlton Strategies, ZenithOptimedia, Balloon Dog)

Highly Commended – Jaguar UK (Agency: Influence Associates)

 

NOT-FOR-PROFIT MARKETING

Winner – Barnardo’s (Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty)

Highly Commended – Digital UK and Switchover Help Scheme

 

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Winner – McDonald’s (Agency: VCCP Partnership)

 

SME MARKETING

Winner – FreestyleXtreme (Agency: Zone)

Highly Commended – Burness (Agency: The Leith Ageny)

 

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

Winner – Skipton Financial Services (Agency: 10 Associates)

Highly Commended – Philips Avent (Agency: WDMP)

 

LONG-TERM MARKETING EXCELLENCE

Winner – McDonald's (Agencies: Leo Burnett London)

Highly Commended – Sainsbury’s (Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO)

 

CONTENT MARKETING

Winner – British Heart Foundation (Agencies: PHD and Drum)

Highly Commended – Sainsbury’s (Agency: Seven Publishing Group)

 

LEADING-EDGE THINKING

Winner – ASOS (Agencies: Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Carat Global, Independent United)

 

FINANCE DIRECTORS' AWARD

Winner – Dr Pepper (Agencies: Zone)

Highly Commended – Hotels.com (Agency: Fetch Media)

 

YOUNG MARKETER OF THE YEAR

Winner – Heather Corbett, marketing manager, UK and Europe, Innovation First International

 

MARKETER OF THE YEAR

Winner - Keith Weed, global chief marketing and communications officer, Unilever

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk