Essential Works

Another day, another champagne reception

We’ve been a part of the Newspaper Marketing Agency’s prestigious Awards for National Newspaper Advertising for five glamorous years now, producing the oversized hardback book that is presented to attendees at the annual award ceremony. The latest crop of winners was announced at last night’s event, held at the Mall Galleries in the heart of central London and hosted by comedian Rob Brydon.

The awards – ANNAs for short (as Brydon pointed out, “it’s easier”) – have become a firm fixture of the advertising calendar. There’s an impressive £55,000 prize fund for the best newspaper ads in a range of categories, plus another £10,000 for the best online campaign on national newspaper websites. This year’s overall winner went to agency Wieden + Kennedy’s for their Honda campaign, with further prizes going to the likes of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (for ITV), Publicis (for CWDC/COI), and Leagas Delaney (for Nationwide). Wieden + Kennedy also picked up the Creative Media Partnership Award for their Lurpak ad, while the online award went to Agency Republic and iLevel for their anti-smoking ads for the Department of Health. Take a look at all the winners and nominees on the ANNAs website.

This year’s event had an Indian theme, with winners showered in bright red petals before withdrawing to an incredible oriental tent (created by our friends at Parker Harris) to watch the rest of the event over a(nother) glass of champagne and an intriguing platter of quail eggs.

The annual itself was presented to visitors as they left the gallery. Shinier than an Apple iPad, this year’s book is bound in a shimmering, gold fabric that matched the event decor perfectly. Inside, it shows all the winning and nominated artwork at full size. Working closely with both the NMA and the talented folk over at SomeOne, we coordinate the entire editorial, production and print process. It’s a great opportunity for us to show just how special a book can be, and for the client the annual is a truly special, lasting record of each year’s ANNAs. As the years go on, our growing collection of annuals is turning into an interesting history of modern advertising, and we’ve already started work on next year’s book.

But that’s a little while ahead. In the mean time, we’re still reveling in the fun of last night’s party. Here’s a few pictures – there are more over on the ANNAs website.