Twenty-eight winners and twelve highly commended agencies from across the globe were recognised as leading the industry with work ranging from iPad apps to video, social media campaigns to customer magazines, and for clients as diverse as online retailer, Ocado, through to Parks and Reports Scandinavia.
The big awards of the night were The Grand Prix which was won by Seven for its multi platform solution for Sainsbury's Little Ones Baby and Toddler Club. The judges said "Little Ones is magnificent, completely out on its own. Its clean segmentation and astonishing results make it a demonstration of content marketing at its very best." Little Ones also picked up Best Content Marketing Solution of the Year (Consumer).
Best Content Solution of the Year (B2B) was awarded to Progressive Customer Publishing for economia magazine, the customer title for The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW). The magazine was praised for its "engaging content combined with excellent delivery."
Launch of the Year was scooped by FuturePlus for Fender, the universally revered guitar brand's magazine, Fender Magazine. The judges singled it out as "the perfect example of content marketing".
Seven, Redwood, Wardour and August were the most successful content marketing agencies of the night, each taking home a clutch of three awards. Additionally, on the winner's roster were a number of international agencies including Spoon Publishing from Sweden who won two awards and Head Office from Belgium.
The awards followed CMA's International Content Summit which centred on the issue of brand storytelling. Hosted by BBC's Stephanie McGovern, business stalwarts such as Brice Bay (Sofitel Luxury Hotels), Toby Guiducci (The Met Office), Claire Hilton (Barclays), Matthew Taylor (Royal Society of Arts) and Dave Trott (CSTTG) took the stage to inspire and educate delegates moving into 2013.
Comments Patrick Fuller, CEO, the CMA: "Recent research shows that a quarter of all content consumed is now produced by brands, demonstrating both the appeal and appetite of the medium. It is therefore unsurprising, even under the current restraints of a difficult economic climate, that content is the fastest growing marketing channel. Over the last twelve months content has rocketed up the marketing and business agenda as more organisations subscribe to just how instrumental content is in attracting and retaining customers. Content today is not a nice to have, but a necessity, simply because it works.
"This is the first time the awards have taken place under the banner of the Content Marketing Association (previously APA) and the standard of the 28 winners is testament to an industry that is getting bigger, bolder and more creative each year."
This year's awards saw a record number of entries, as well as an increased international presence. In addition to the UK, agencies from Spain, Germany, Finland, Norway, Australia, South Africa, UAE, Belgium, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, France and South Africa submitted their best work to gain recognition in the flourishing international industry.
