The Publicis Groupe agency, which led the way in nominations for this year’s awards, took the top prize with "Beauty and brains: How we supercharged the Audi premium 2015-2018".
Using the guiding principle that Audi makes "beautiful cars with amazing brains", BBH’s creative focused on both the ‘beauty’ of its cars by dramatising the poetry of performance and the ‘brains’ of its technical innovations. It supercharged Audi’s premium vehicle sales, which grew three times faster than the UK market.
Audi also recorded its highest ever 'profit return on marketing investment' (£2.07 for every £1 invested), while an estimated £1.78bn of incremental value was generated during 2015-17. In addition the price gap to Audi's highest-priced competitors fell by 10% and lifetime customer value increased by 6% over that same period.
The IPA said BBH had added an "exciting new chapter" to the long-running Vorsprung durch Technik brand messaging crafted by Sir John Hegarty in 1982, the year he co-founded BBH.
Dame Carolyn McCall, chief executive of ITV and the chair of judges, said: "Audi has a heritage as a consistent and effective brand advertiser, and it used fresh thinking, tools and multiple media to supercharge the brand’s desirability and sales.
"This strategy resulted in Audi UK’s highest ever return on investment, an extraordinary achievement given the many years it has been advertising. It really is deserving of the industry’s ultimate accolade – a unanimous decision by the judges."
In addition to winning the Grand Prix, BBH was also named Effectiveness Company of the Year, picking up one gold, three silver and one bronze award in total.
In total nine gold, 18 silver and 11 bronze prizes, along with 10 special prizes, were awarded to companies from six countries.
Full list of 2018 IPA Effectiveness Awards Winners:
Special Prizes
Grand Prix – sponsored by Thinkbox
Audi UK by BBH - Beauty and brains: How we supercharged the Audi premium 2015-2018
Effectiveness Network of the Year
McCann
Effectiveness Company of the Year
BBH
The Simon Broadbent Prize for Best Dedication to Effectiveness – sponsored by Newsworks
Diageo
The President’s Prize for Best Use of Tech-Led Data – sponsored by Google
Prospan (Flordis Australia) by AFFINITY – The world's first cough predictor
The Channon Prize for Best New Learning – sponsored by Radiocentre
Direct Line Group by Direct Line Group and Ebiquity – They went short. We went long
The Tim Broadbent Prize for Best International – sponsored by WARC
Heineken by Publicis Italy – A Game Changer: How Heineken reinvented its Champions League communications
Best Multi-Market – sponsored by System 1
Heineken by Publicis Italy – A Game Changer: How Heineken reinvented its Champions League communications
Best Small Budget – sponsored by DBS Data
Ella's Kitchen by Havas London – Selling up doesn’t mean selling out
The #IPASocialWorks Prize for Best Use of Social Media – sponsored by Facebook
True Match (L’Oréal Paris) by McCann London – How L'Oréal Paris UK True Match climbed to No.1 by making everyone feel ‘Worth It’
Gold winners
Audi UK by BBH - Beauty and brains: How we supercharged the Audi premium 2015-2018
British Army, (Capita for the British Army) by Karmarama and MediaCom - Helping a new generation find where they belong in the British Army
DFS by krow communications and MediaCom - Turning DFS from a value brand into a brand that people value
DLG by Direct Line Group and Ebiquity - They went short. We went long.
Guinness (Diageo) by AMV BBDO – Guinness: Made Of More, 2012 - 2018
Lidl by TBWA\London and Starcom - How Lidl grew a lot
Suzuki by the7stars - Suzuki Saturdays
The AA by Adam & Eve/DDB and Carat - The AA: From spark-plugs to singalongs
True Match (L’Oréal Paris) by McCann London - How L'Oréal Paris UK True Match climbed to No.1 by making everyone feel ‘Worth It’
Silver winners
Aldi by McCann Manchester – Kevin the Carrot 2016 and 2017: How Aldi UK won Christmas with the help of a humble carrot
Art Institute of Chicago by Leo Burnett Chicago and Art Institute of Chicago – Van Gogh's Bedrooms: The power of an immersive idea
Baileys (Diageo) by Mother and Carat – Baileys: A radical brand turnaround story with extra sprinkles
Barclays by BBH – Purpose pays
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust by WhiteGrey – Hello in Elephant: Translating an endangered language to help save an endangered species
Ella's Kitchen by Havas London – Selling up doesn’t mean selling out
Heineken by Publicis Italy – A Game Changer: How Heineken reinvented its Champions League communications
Ikea by Mother and Vizeum – The Wonderful Everyday
Nationwide Building Society by VCCP and Wavemaker London – How Nationwide found its voice and the difference that made
Prospan (Flordis Australia) by Affinity – The world's first cough predictor
Purplebricks by SNAP London – How Purplebricks brought Commisery to the UK's estate agents
SK-II (P&G) by Forsman & Bodenfors – SK-II: The Marriage Market Takeover: How giving 'leftover' women in China a voice transformed a luxury skin care brand
Skittles (Mars) by Adam & Eve/DDB – Breaking conventions with Pride
Sport England by FCB Inferno – This Girl Can: Giving judgement the finger (& inspiring millions of women to get active)
Starbucks by Manning Gottlieb OMD – Starbucks and social: How Starbucks created the fourth place in coffee culture
Virgin Media by BBH – Finding our Virginity: How fighting fact with feeling helped Virgin Media take on the might of Sky
Weetabix by BBH and Ebiquity – A Rembrandt in the attic: Rediscovering the value of 'Have you had your Weetabix?'
Yorkshire Tea (Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate) by Lucky Generals and Goodstuff Communications – Waking the sleep shoppers: A proper effective campaign for Yorkshire Tea
Bronze winners
32Red (Kindred Group) by MI Media – 32Red: How marketing communications fuelled an online casino's hot streak
Aldi by McCann Manchester – Shop, Eat. Repeat. How a bold repositioning campaign restored Aldi to record growth
Covonia (Thornton & Ross) by Bray Leino – Rediscovering the power of Covonia
IAG Cargo (International Airlines Group) by BBH – IAG Cargo FWD.Rewards: Building strength in numbers
National Art Pass (Art Fund) by MullenLowe London – The art of effectiveness
Parodontax (GSK) by Grey London – Selling an oral care oxymoron: Toothpaste for gums
Ribena (Lucozade Ribena Suntory) by J Walter Thompson – Ribena: A case for the defence
Rogue (Nissan Canada) by Juniper Park\TBWA – From also-ran to front-runner: How Nissan made Rogue a sales hero by making winter heroes of Canadian drivers
Soothers (Nestlé) by Ogilvy Australia – Any number of sore throats
U by Kotex (Kimberly-Clark Australia) by Ogilvy Australia – ‘Let's move on’
Vype (British American Tobacco) by JWT – Vype quality: A tale of two marketing models
