Winners announced for Fairfax Media AdMedia Agency of the Year
The winners in the Fairfax Media AdMedia Advertising Agency of the Year – held in association with the Communication
Agencies Association (CAANZ) – were unveiled last night at Libertine in the Victoria Park Quarter. They were:
ADVERTISING AGENCY OF THE YEAR – OVER 50 STAFF: Colenso BBDO
ADVERTISINGAGENCY OF THE YEAR – 21-50 STAFF: Barnes, Catmur & Friends
ADVERTISING AGENCY OF THE YEAR – UNDER 20 STAFF: justONE
MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR – OVER 15 STAFF: Spark PHD
MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR – UNDER 15 STAFF: No winner
ACTIVATION/PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR: No winner
CEO/MD OF THE YEAR: Bryan Crawford (DraftFCB)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – MEDIA: Ying Yu (Spark PHD)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – CREATIVE: Eloise Jack (Colenso BBDO).
The judges said:
•Colenso BBDO’s ability to stay at top of its game despite a large account loss, and to continue to grow and innovate while increasing
profitability made theirs the winning entry. At the top line, the agency posted a steady-as-she-goes result, maintaining
a reasonably consistent but solid revenue and employee base. The judges were impressed with the management of costs,
resulting in an increased profit as a percentage of revenue.
•Barnes Catmur & Friends was confidently single-minded in the approach to its business, the judges said. Its growth has been focussed and
steadily inclining. Its financial performance was sound and its commitment to its craft resulted in an excellent awards
performance. Barnes Catmur & Friends expanded the number of employees and grew its revenue base by an even higher percentage, and managed their
costs, to enjoy a strong profit as a percentage of revenue.
•justONE enjoyed strong revenue and profit growth, plus growth in revenue per person. The agency had its best financial year
ever, with increased revenue and profits. justONE can be proud of the fact that the profit as a percentage of revenue
was well above industry norms.
•Spark PHD recorded a strong financial performance, low staff churn, employed innovative management approaches, and achieved great
recognition through industry awards. Spark PHD achieved steady growth on a solid base, through expanding its team and
slightly increasing the revenue per employee.
•Bryan Crawford (DraftFCB) showed vision, focus and leadership which was instrumental in the unprecedented growth and success of DraftFCB. His
singular focus on winning the Vodafone account was as calculated as it was gutsy. There were few agencies through the
process that followed a vision as singlemindedly as Draft FCB with Crawford’s commitment to making Draft FCB ‘The Change
Agency’. The judges noted that to be voted Supplier of the Year by a company as large as Mitre 10 with its extensive
supplier network is a tribute to the effectiveness of DraftFCB, and the person who leads it.
•Eloise Jack (Colenso BBDO) was an exceptional candidate, with personality and ambition. She started at Colenso as a suit but showed such aptitude
for the creative side of the business that she is being fast-tracked into the agency’s creative team. There are many
great account people but it’s hard to find a young person that can straddle creativity sufficiently to join one of the
greatest creative departments in New Zealand.
•Ying Yu demonstrated great skill working on one of Spark PHD’s biggest clients. This saw her promoted to media buyer just three
months after starting at the agency. The Rookie category judges described her as a most impressive candidate, with a
personality to match. They said they expect her to go much higher up the ranks as her career progresses.
ENDS