LONDON — Adam & Eve/DDB has taken the top prize at the 2014 IPA Effectiveness Awards for its tongue-in-cheek "good call" ad campaign for Foster's, the Heineken-owned lager.
The IPA is the professional body for advertising, media and marketing communications agencies in the U.K.
The TV-led campaign scooped the Grand Prix award at a glittering ceremony at the Hilton on Park Lane here on Monday night.
It is another victory at the biennial awards for A&E/DDB. In 2012 (before its merger with DDB) Adam & Eve – together with Manning Gottlieb OMD – took the Grand Prix for its "highly emotive" campaign for John Lewis.
The Foster's campaign was commended for restoring the struggling brand to market leadership, producing £32 in revenue per £1 spent on advertising.
The spots feature Brad and Dan, an Australian comedy duo, who humorously advise U.K. men on how to tackle relationship problems.
The spot achieved the highest estimated revenue return than any beer campaign in the 34-year history of the IPA Effectiveness Awards.
The campaign also drove nearly 70 percent of Foster’s sales growth in the three years to September 2013. The lager brand is owned by Heineken.
Lorna Hawtin, the disruption director at TBWA\Manchester and the convenor of the judges, said: "The Grand Prix-winning Foster’s campaign is a real fight back story with a happy ending.
"The scale of effect versus competitors and the particular contribution of insight-led creativity to this brand’s obvious resurgence are truly impressive."
The full list of winners:
Special prizes:
Grand Prix
Foster's, Heineken UK by Adam & Eve/DDB
Effectiveness Network of the Year
OMD
Effectiveness Company of the Year
Grey London
Best Dedication to Effectiveness
Sainsbury's
Best Multi-Market
Only, Bestseller by Grey London and UncleGrey (Denmark)
Best Small Budget
Pancreatic Cancer Action, Pancreatic Cancer Action by Team Darwin
Best International
National Depression Initiative (NDI), Health Promotion Agency by FCB New Zealand
The Channon Prize for Best New Learning
London 2012 (Travel Demand Management), Olympic Delivery Authority / Transport for London by M&C Saatchi
Gold winners:
BHF, British Heart Foundation by Grey London
Dacia, Renault UK by Publicis London and Manning Gottlieb OMD
Foster's, Heineken UK by adam&eveDDB
London 2012 (Travel Demand Management), Olympic Delivery Authority / Transport for London by M&C Saatchi
Mercedes, Mercedes-Benz by AMV BBDO
National Depression Initiative (NDI), Health Promotion Agency by FCB New Zealand
Only, Bestseller by Grey London and UncleGrey (*Denmark)
Pancreatic Cancer Action, Pancreatic Cancer Action by Team Darwin
Specsavers, Specsavers Optical Group by Manning Gottlieb OMD
Silver winners:
Aldi, Aldi UK & Aldi Ireland by McCann Manchester
Be Clear on Cancer, Public Health England by M&C Saatchi
Cuprinol, AkzoNobel by 18 Feet & Rising
easyJet, easyJet by VCCP and OMD
Everest, Everest by MBA and MediaCom
Fire Safety, Department for Communities and Local Government by RKCR/Y&R
Group of Humanitarian Attention to the Demobilised, Colombian Minstry of Defense by Lowe and Partners (*Columbia)
ITV, ITV by ITV
Mobile Internet, Deutsche Telekom by DDB Tribal Group (*Germany)
Premier Inn, Whitbread by RKCR/Y&R
Ready Baked Jackets, McCain by PHD Media
Sainsbury's, Sainsbury's by AMV BBDO, Blue Rubicon, PHD Media and Sainsbury's
The Salvation Army, The Salvation Army by Mike Colling & Co and WPN Chameleon
Bronze winners:
Aviva, Aviva by AMV BBDO
EDF Energy, EDF Energy by AMV BBDO and Havas Media
Expedia, Expedia by Ogilvy & Mather London and Expedia
Fairy, Procter & Gamble by Grey London
first direct, first direct by JWT
Garnier UltraLift, L'Oréal by Publicis London
Kärcher UK, Kärcher UK by Kärcher UK
Lux, Unilever by JWT Tokyo and Unilever (*Japan)
Make Health Last, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada by Lowe Roche (*Canada)
Mattessons / Fridge Raiders, Kerry Foods by Saatchi & Saatchi
McDonald's, McDonald's Denmark by OMD Denmark and DDB Copenhagen (*Denmark)
MILO, Nestlé Malaysia by Ogilvy & Mather (*Malaysia)
Sensodyne Pronamel, GlaxoSmithKline by Grey London
*international campaigns
This article first appeared on campaignlive.co.uk.