OMD emerged triumphant from this years Festival of Media Global Awards, picking up two of the three coveted grand prix titles, including Campaign of the Year and Agency Network of the Year.
The Award ceremony took place at Romes opulent Cavalieri hotel, featuring entertainment from YouTube star Everyll and opera trio The Waiters.
The Omnicom agency, in tandem with M2M, picked up a remarkable four Gold prizes for its Penny the Pirate children’s eye screening work for LUXOTTICA in Australia, culminating in the Campaign of the Year award.
Penny the Pirate was awarded Gold in the Best Engagement Strategy, Best Entertainment Platform, Best Launch Campaign and Best Use of Content categories.
While OMD walked away with Agency Network of the Year, the Agency of the Year prize went to Starcom MediaVest US. It was a hugely successful evening for the Publicis Groupe agency, which amassed a total of eight trophies, including four Gold, two Silver and two Bronze.
Three of its Gold awards Best Use of Video, The Utility/Public Service Award and Best Communications Strategy went to its popular #Likeagirl campaign for Procter & Gamble.
Elsewhere, GroupM agency MediaCom scooped 11 awards, including three Gold, four Silver and four Bronze, while US firm iHeartMedia won Media Vendor of the Year.
After a disappointing 2014, in which its companies failed to win a single Gold, the US was the best performing market, with a total of 15 trophies, ahead of Australia in second and the UK in third.
Other markets to pick up Gold awards included Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Tunisia.
Charlie Crowe, chairman and editor-in-chief at C Squared, said: We are really trying to develop our awards categories to not only reflect the changes taking place in media but also to challenge the industry to push new boundaries. And guess what? The industry has responded!
“In nine years and across 19 Festival of Media shows since we launched, we have never seen more award entries of such high quality, as well as a 20% increase in entries overall.
There were at least five occasions in the jury rooms where the arguments were over whether multiple gold awards should be given. We have a duty to ensure this work is shared globally, to inspire even greater heights for next year.
Chris Carmichael, global head of media at HSBC, and one of the judges, added: I was incredibly impressed by the high quality of entries. In some cases, there were five or six entries in each category which had the potential to win gold, leading to some heated discussions and tough decisions during the voting in order to decide the final winner.
Click here to read the full list of Festival of Media Global Awards winners
